A framework for profiling the characteristics of risk governance in natural hazard contexts

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Walker, G.; Tweed, F.; Whittle, R.

2014-01-01

Over recent decades there have been moves away from traditional forms of government towards broader practices of "governance". These moves are as relevant to the handling of natural hazards as they are to other societal concerns. Key characteristics of such changes include the emergence of multi-level governance processes, shifts away from the exercise of centralised authority towards the involvement and collaboration of a multiplicity of actors, the creation of new forms of authority and control, and changing distributions of responsibilities between the state and other actors. However, the extent to which these shifts have taken place across the varied national contexts in Europe and can be observed specifically in relation to the governance of natural hazards is not at all clear. Such developments may also be evaluated in different ways; where some might see progressive reforms, others might see damaging undermining of established arrangements. In this paper, we propose a risk governance profiling framework that can be used to draw out the key characteristics of the ways in which natural hazards are governed in a particular governance setting. The framework can be flexibly applied in relation to a specific hazard and national, regional or local context, and enables qualitative profiling across a spectrum of eight key governance characteristics. Past trends and likely future changes can also be represented. We discuss the formulation of this framework as well as giving examples of profiles for different hazards in different parts of Europe. We suggest ways in which comparisons can be made between governance profiles, providing a stimulus and focus for debate and discussion around the trends of change in governance practice that have been, and are continuing, to take place.

E-Governance and Service Oriented Computing Architecture Model

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Tejasvee, Sanjay; Sarangdevot, S. S.

2010-11-01

E-Governance is the effective application of information communication and technology (ICT) in the government processes to accomplish safe and reliable information lifecycle management. Lifecycle of the information involves various processes as capturing, preserving, manipulating and delivering information. E-Governance is meant to transform of governance in better manner to the citizens which is transparent, reliable, participatory, and accountable in point of view. The purpose of this paper is to attempt e-governance model, focus on the Service Oriented Computing Architecture (SOCA) that includes combination of information and services provided by the government, innovation, find out the way of optimal service delivery to citizens and implementation in transparent and liable practice. This paper also try to enhance focus on the E-government Service Manager as a essential or key factors service oriented and computing model that provides a dynamically extensible structural design in which all area or branch can bring in innovative services. The heart of this paper examine is an intangible model that enables E-government communication for trade and business, citizen and government and autonomous bodies.

34 CFR 636.21 - What selection criteria does the Secretary use to evaluate an application?

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-07-01

...) Agencies of local government. (ii) Public and private elementary and secondary schools. (iii) Business... implementation strategy for each key project component activity is— (i) Comprehensive; (ii) Based on a sound... operation; (5) Describe a time-line chart that relates key evaluation processes and benchmarks to other...

34 CFR 636.21 - What selection criteria does the Secretary use to evaluate an application?

Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

2014-07-01

...) Agencies of local government. (ii) Public and private elementary and secondary schools. (iii) Business... implementation strategy for each key project component activity is— (i) Comprehensive; (ii) Based on a sound... operation; (5) Describe a time-line chart that relates key evaluation processes and benchmarks to other...

34 CFR 636.21 - What selection criteria does the Secretary use to evaluate an application?

Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

2013-07-01

...) Agencies of local government. (ii) Public and private elementary and secondary schools. (iii) Business... implementation strategy for each key project component activity is— (i) Comprehensive; (ii) Based on a sound... operation; (5) Describe a time-line chart that relates key evaluation processes and benchmarks to other...

34 CFR 636.21 - What selection criteria does the Secretary use to evaluate an application?

Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

2012-07-01

...) Agencies of local government. (ii) Public and private elementary and secondary schools. (iii) Business... implementation strategy for each key project component activity is— (i) Comprehensive; (ii) Based on a sound... operation; (5) Describe a time-line chart that relates key evaluation processes and benchmarks to other...

Community representation in hospital decision making: a literature review.

PubMed

Murray, Zoë

2015-06-01

Advancing quality in health services requires structures and processes that are informed by consumer input. Although this agenda is well recognised, few researchers have focussed on the establishment and maintenance of customer input throughout the structures and processes used to produce high-quality, safe care. We present an analysis of literature outlining the barriers and enablers involved in community representation in hospital governance. The review aimed to explore how community representation in hospital governance is achieved. Studies spanning 1997-2012 were analysed using Donabedian' s model of quality systems as a guide for categories of interest: structure, in relation to administration of quality; process, which is particularly concerned with cooperation and culture; and outcome, considered, in this case, to be the achievement of effective community representation on quality of care. There are limited published studies on community representation in hospital governance in Australia. What can be gleaned from the literature is: 1) quality subcommittees set up to assist Hospital Boards are a key structure for involving community representation in decision making around quality of care, and 2) there are a number of challenges to effectively developing the process of community representation in hospital governance: ambiguity and the potential for escalated indecision; inadequate value and consideration given to it by decision makers resulting in a lack of time and resources needed to support the community engagement strategy (time, facilitation, budgets); poor support and attitude amongst staff; and consumer issues, such as feeling isolated and intimidated by expert opinion. The analysis indicates that: quality subcommittees set up to assist boards are a key structure for involving community representation in decision making around quality of care. There are clearly a number of challenges to effectively developing the process of community representation in hospital governance, associated with ambiguity, organisational and consumer issues. For an inclusive agenda to real life, work must be done on understanding the representatives' role and the decision making process, adequately supporting the representational process, and developing organisational cooperation and culture regarding community representation.

Total Quality Management Guide. A Two Volume Guide for Defense Organizations. Volume 1. Key Features of the DoD Implementation

DTIC Science & Technology

1990-02-15

XIALTM DoD 5000.51-G A * FINAL DRAFT 2/15/90 si- N ~LUM I -KY FEATRES OFTHE Do IMLEENAON TOTAL L/ De~rrn QUADefens FOREWORD Government and industry...away with all government inspectors. Rather. government oversight will change from te large scale product inspection and specifying the -how to...in class" - Set the course for the future, and - Provide a baseline for measuring progress. Benchmarking is a continuous process of comparing an

Do reimbursement recommendation processes used by government drug plans in Canada adhere to good governance principles?

PubMed

Rawson, Nigel Sb; Adams, John

2017-01-01

In democratic societies, good governance is the key to assuring the confidence of stakeholders and other citizens in how governments and organizations interact with and relate to them and how decisions are taken. Although defining good governance can be debatable, the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) set of principles is commonly used. The reimbursement recommendation processes of the Canadian Agency for Drugs and Technologies in Health (CADTH), which carries out assessments for all public drug plans outside Quebec, are examined in the light of the UNDP governance principles and compared with the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence system in England. The adherence of CADTH's processes to the principles of accountability, transparency, participatory, equity, responsiveness and consensus is poor, especially when compared with the English system, due in part to CADTH's lack of genuine independence. CADTH's overriding responsibility is toward the governments that "own," fund and manage it, while the agency's status as a not-for-profit corporation under federal law protects it from standard government forms of accountability. The recent integration of CADTH's reimbursement recommendation processes with the provincial public drug plans' collective system for price negotiation with pharmaceutical companies reinforces CADTH's role as a nonindependent partner in the pursuit of governments' cost-containment objectives, which should not be part of its function. Canadians need a national organization for evaluating drugs for reimbursement in the public interest that fully embraces the principles of good governance - one that is publicly accountable, transparent and fair and includes all stakeholders throughout its processes.

Continuum theory of gene expression waves during vertebrate segmentation.

PubMed

Jörg, David J; Morelli, Luis G; Soroldoni, Daniele; Oates, Andrew C; Jülicher, Frank

2015-09-01

The segmentation of the vertebrate body plan during embryonic development is a rhythmic and sequential process governed by genetic oscillations. These genetic oscillations give rise to traveling waves of gene expression in the segmenting tissue. Here we present a minimal continuum theory of vertebrate segmentation that captures the key principles governing the dynamic patterns of gene expression including the effects of shortening of the oscillating tissue. We show that our theory can quantitatively account for the key features of segmentation observed in zebrafish, in particular the shape of the wave patterns, the period of segmentation and the segment length as a function of time.

Continuum theory of gene expression waves during vertebrate segmentation

PubMed Central

Jörg, David J; Morelli, Luis G; Soroldoni, Daniele; Oates, Andrew C; Jülicher, Frank

2015-01-01

Abstract The segmentation of the vertebrate body plan during embryonic development is a rhythmic and sequential process governed by genetic oscillations. These genetic oscillations give rise to traveling waves of gene expression in the segmenting tissue. Here we present a minimal continuum theory of vertebrate segmentation that captures the key principles governing the dynamic patterns of gene expression including the effects of shortening of the oscillating tissue. We show that our theory can quantitatively account for the key features of segmentation observed in zebrafish, in particular the shape of the wave patterns, the period of segmentation and the segment length as a function of time. PMID:28725158

Roadmapping Future E-Government Research

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bicking, Melanie

Global electronic markets, virtual organisations, virtual identities, virtual products and services, and Internet-related crime are growing in prominence and importance. In a world that is increasingly non-physical and borderless, what are government's roles, responsibilities and limitations? The Internet plays a central role within the transformation process from traditional governments towards modern and innovative government that the requirements of an Information Society. Based on the findings of the eGovRTD2020 project, that aims at identifying key research challenges and at implementing a model for a holistic government with horizon 2020, this paper explains the necessity to investigate and understand the Internet and in particular government's role and responsibilities in it. Furthermore, the paper provides a research roadmap that details how to address certain issue related research questions.

Science-policy processes for transboundary water governance.

PubMed

Armitage, Derek; de Loë, Rob C; Morris, Michelle; Edwards, Tom W D; Gerlak, Andrea K; Hall, Roland I; Huitema, Dave; Ison, Ray; Livingstone, David; MacDonald, Glen; Mirumachi, Naho; Plummer, Ryan; Wolfe, Brent B

2015-09-01

In this policy perspective, we outline several conditions to support effective science-policy interaction, with a particular emphasis on improving water governance in transboundary basins. Key conditions include (1) recognizing that science is a crucial but bounded input into water resource decision-making processes; (2) establishing conditions for collaboration and shared commitment among actors; (3) understanding that social or group-learning processes linked to science-policy interaction are enhanced through greater collaboration; (4) accepting that the collaborative production of knowledge about hydrological issues and associated socioeconomic change and institutional responses is essential to build legitimate decision-making processes; and (5) engaging boundary organizations and informal networks of scientists, policy makers, and civil society. We elaborate on these conditions with a diverse set of international examples drawn from a synthesis of our collective experiences in assessing the opportunities and constraints (including the role of power relations) related to governance for water in transboundary settings.

Key factors that influence government policies and decision making about healthcare priorities: Lessons for the field of eating disorders.

PubMed

Whiteford, Harvey; Weissman, Ruth Striegel

2017-03-01

Worldwide, the demand for healthcare exceeds what individuals and governments are able to afford. Priority setting is therefore inevitable, and mental health services have often been given low priority in the decision-making process. Drawing on established economic criteria, and specifically the work of Philip Musgrove, key factors which influence government decision-making about health priorities are reviewed. These factors include the size of the health burden, the availability of cost-effective interventions to reduce the burden, whether private markets can provide the necessary treatment efficiently, whether there are "catastrophic costs" incurred in accessing treatment, whether negative externalities arise from not providing care, and if the "rule of rescue" applies. Beyond setting priorities for resource allocation, governments also become involved where there is a need for regulation to maintain quality in the delivery of healthcare. By providing field-specific examples for each factor, we illustrate how advocates in the eating disorder field may use evidence to inform government policy about resource allocation and regulation in support of individuals with an eating disorder. © 2017 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Transforming revenue management.

PubMed

Silveria, Richard; Alliegro, Debra; Nudd, Steven

2008-11-01

Healthcare organizations that want to undertake a patient administrative/revenue management transformation should: Define the vision with underlying business objectives and key performance measures. Strategically partner with key vendors for business process development and technology design. Create a program organization and governance infrastructure. Develop a corporate design model that defines the standards for operationalizing the vision. Execute the vision through technology deployment and corporate design model implementation.

Using a Modular Open Systems Approach in Defense Acquisitions: Implications for the Contracting Process

DTIC Science & Technology

2006-01-30

He has taught contract management courses for the UCLA Government Contracts Certificate program and is also a senior faculty member for the Keller...standards for its key interfaces, and has been subjected to successful validation and verification tests to ensure the openness of its key interfaces...widely supported and consensus based standards for its key interfaces, and is subject to validation and verification tests to ensure the openness of its

The Future of Government Funding for Persons with Disabilities: Some Key Factors.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Ross, E. Clarke

1980-01-01

The paper identifies and discusses key factors associated with government funding for disabled individuals. An introductory section traces the growth of public expenditures in recent years. Five key factors affecting government funding are examined (sample subtopics in parentheses): state government tax and spending limits (Proposition 13 and the…

Health and equity in all policies in local government: processes and outcomes in two Norwegian municipalities.

PubMed

Von Heimburg, Dina; Hakkebo, Berit

2017-08-01

To identify key factors in implementing Health and Equity in All Policies (HEiAP) at the local level in two Norwegian municipalities in order to accelerate the progress of promoting health, well-being and equity in other local governments. This case study is presented as a narrative from policy-making processes in two Norwegian municipalities. The story is told from an insider perspective, with a focus on HEiAP policy makers in these two municipalities. The narrative identified key learning from implementing HEiAP at the local level, i.e. the importance of strengthening system and human capacities. System capacity is strengthened by governing HEiAP according to national legislation and a holistic governance system at the local level. Municipal plans are based on theory, evidence and local data. A 'main story' is developed to support the vision, defining joint societal goals and co-creation strategies. Policies are anchored by measuring and monitoring outcomes, sharing accountability and continuous dialogue to ensure political commitment. Human capacity is strengthened through participatory leadership, soft skills and health promotion competences across sectors. Health promotion competence at a strategic level in the organization, participation in professional networks, crowd sourcing toward common goals, and commitment through winning hearts and minds of politicians and other stakeholders are vital aspects. Our experience pinpoints the importance of strengthening system and human capacity in local governments. Further, we found it important to focus on the two strategic objectives in the European strategy 'Health 2020': (1) Improving health for all and reducing health inequalities; (2) improving leadership and participatory governance for health.

Moderate Expectations: Barriers to Access and Complete Higher Education in Tajikistan: Listening to Stakeholders' Voices during the University Entrance Exam Reform. Report No: AUS7057

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Safir, Abla

2015-01-01

With the adoption of sweeping changes in the governance of university admission, namely the implementation of the university entrance exam (UEE) in July 2014, and with broader reforms supported by the World Bank. The UEE reform improves governance in only one step, if a key one, in the long process to access and complete higher education: this…

The internal processes and behavioral dynamics of hospital boards: an exploration of differences between high- and low-performing hospitals.

PubMed

Kane, Nancy M; Clark, Jonathan R; Rivenson, Howard L

2009-01-01

Nonprofit hospital boards are under increasing pressure to improve financial, clinical, and charitable and community benefit performance. Most research on board effectiveness focuses on variables measuring board structure and attributes associated with competing ideal models of board roles. However, the results do not provide clear evidence that one role is superior to another and suggest that in practice boards pursue hybrid roles. Board dynamics and processes have received less attention from researchers, but emerging theoretical frameworks highlight them as key to effective corporate governance. We explored differences in board processes and behavioral dynamics between financially high- and low-performing hospitals, with the goal of developing a better understanding of the best board practices in nonprofit hospitals. A comparative case study approach allowed for in-depth, qualitative assessments of how the internal workings of boards differ between low- and high-performing facilities. Boards of hospitals with strong financial performance exhibited behavioral dynamics and internal processes that differed in important ways from those of hospitals with poor financial performance. Boards need to actively attend to key processes and foster positive group dynamics in decision making to be more effective in governing hospitals.

Key Planning Factors for Recovery from a Biological Terrorism Incident

DTIC Science & Technology

2012-08-30

Goals, this document identifies key technical planning areas that may be used to inform subsequent FEMA response and recovery guidance documents. The...expressed herein do not necessarily state or reflect those of their respective organizations or the US Government. The modeling and analysis provided by...responsibility for the accuracy, completeness, or usefulness of any information, apparatus, product, or process disclosed, or represents that its use would

Governance of environmental risk: new approaches to managing stakeholder involvement.

PubMed

Benn, Suzanne; Dunphy, Dexter; Martin, Andrew

2009-04-01

Disputes concerning industrial legacies such as the disposal of toxic wastes illustrate changing pressures on corporations and governments. Business and governments are now confronted with managing the expectations of a society increasingly aware of the social and environmental impacts and risks associated with economic development and demanding more equitable distribution and democratic management of such risks. The closed managerialist decision-making of the powerful bureaucracies and corporations of the industrial era is informed by traditional management theory which cannot provide a framework for the adequate governance of these risks. Recent socio-political theories have conceptualised some key themes that must be addressed in a more fitting approach to governance. We identify more recent management and governance theory which addresses these themes and develop a process-based approach to governance of environmental disputes that allows for the evolving nature of stakeholder relations in a highly complex multiple stakeholder arena.

Electronic Commerce on the Internet.

DTIC Science & Technology

1994-03-01

electronic commerce , where companies transact business spontaneously over the Internet. In restructuring its procurement processes, The Federal Government has a unique opportunity to exploit this electronic marketplace, and to influence its development in ways that benefit us all. This report describes a vision of the electronic marketplace, the requirements it must satisfy, an architecture for addressing those requirements, and a graceful migration path to the marketplace from current EDI technology and practice. It identifies five key concepts for government

Government use licenses in Thailand: The power of evidence, civil movement and political leadership

PubMed Central

2011-01-01

This paper attempts to describe and analyse the policy processes that led to the granting and implementation of the government use licenses to enable the import and production of generic versions of medicines patented in Thailand. The decision to grant the series of government use licenses was taken despite much domestic and international controversy. The paper demonstrates that the policy processes leading to the granting of government use licenses are a successful application of the concept of "the triangle that moves the mountain". This is a well-known conceptualisation of a philosophical and strategic approach to public policy advocacy in Thailand, which propounds that the effective bridging of three powers; a.) Knowledge and evidence generated by research and analysis, b.) Civil society movements and public support, and c.) Leadership of policy makers and politicians; in a synergistic "triangle" can move "mountains", meaning the resolution of seemingly insurmountable problems. The paper provides insights into the policy context for the decision and analyses the roles of key actors, their motivations and the policy processes in the country. PMID:21910864

Factors related to the implementation and diffusion of new technologies: a pilot study

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Not Available

1979-06-01

In order to develop an understanding of how government intervention affects the processes of implementation and diffusion of new technologies, case studies of 14 technologies were carried out: automobiles; broadcast radio; frozen foods; black and white TV; color TV; polio vaccine; supersonic transport; fluoridation of water supplies; computer-aided instruction; basic oxygen process for steel; numerical control in manufacturing; digital computers; lasers; and integrated circuit. The key factors, their motivations for implementing/adopting the technology (or not doing so), the interactions among the key factors, and how these affected implementation/adoption are examined.

Governance versus government: drug consumption rooms in Australia and the UK.

PubMed

Zampini, Giulia Federica

2014-09-01

To evaluate, through a case study, the extent to which elements of governance and elements of government are influential in determining the implementation or non-implementation of a drugs intervention. Comparative analysis of the case of a drug consumption room in the UK (England) and Australia (New South Wales), including 16 semi-structured interviews with key stakeholders and analysis of relevant documents according to characteristic features of governance and government (power decentralisation, power centralisation, independent self-organising policy networks, use of evidence, top-down steering/directing, legislation). Characteristic features of both governance and government are found in the data. Elements of governance are more prominent in New South Wales, Australia than in England, UK, where government prevails. Government is seen as the most important actor at play in the making, or absence, of drug consumption rooms. Both governance and government are useful frameworks in conceptualising the policy process. The governance narrative risks overlooking the importance of traditional government structures. In the case of drug consumption rooms in the UK and Australia, a focus on government is shown to have been crucial in determining whether the intervention was implemented. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Industry and government perspectives on First Nations' participation in the British Columbia environmental assessment process

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Booth, Annie L., E-mail: annie@unbc.ca; Skelton, Norm W.

2011-04-15

Research was conducted with West Moberly First Nations, Halfway First Nation and the Treaty 8 Tribal Association (located in northeastern British Columbia, Canada) on effective engagement in environmental assessment processes. As part of this research, we examined the perspectives of a subset of resource industry proponents and their consultants, as well as staff from the British Columbia Environmental Assessment Office on their experiences with the requirement to consult with Canada's indigenous peoples. Research into the perspectives of industry proponents and consultants is almost non-existent, yet industry and governments are key participants within environmental assessments. This research found that industry proponentsmore » were disenfranchised by the British Columbia environmental assessment process and its mechanisms for consulting with First Nations, and that they sought changes to that process. Their concerns and their implications are documented and some recommendations are offered for addressing those concerns. Understanding industry and government views on First Nations engagement could suggest not only potential improvements in EA processes that facilitate all parties but provide common grounds for mutually engaging to resolve challenges.« less

Implementation of clinical governance in hospitals: challenges and the keys for success.

PubMed

Mousavi, Seyed Mohammad Hadi; Agharahimi, Zahra; Daryabeigi, Maede; Rezaei, Nima

2014-01-01

There is a number of models and strategies for improving the quality of care such as total quality management, continuous quality improvement and clinical governance. The policy of clinical governance is part of the governments overall strategy for monitoring, assuring and improving in the national health services organization. Clinical governance has been introduced as a bridge between managerial and clinical approaches to quality. For successful implementing of clinical governance, it is necessary to pay attention to firm foundations of the structure, including equipment, staffing arrangement, supporting specialties, and staff training. Therefore, as clinical governance improves safety and quality in health care services, the current situation in hospitals should be evaluated before any intervention while barriers and blocks on structure and process should be determined to select a method for changing them. Considering these points could guarantee success in implementation of clinical governance; otherwise there would be a little chance to achieve the desired results despite consumption of plenty of time and huge paper works.

Transcriptome profiling reveals regulatory mechanisms underlying Corolla Senescence in Petunia

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

Genetic regulatory mechanisms that govern petal natural senescence in petunia is complicated and unclear. To identify key genes and pathways that regulate the process, we initiated a transcriptome analysis in petunia petals at four developmental time points, including petal opening without anthesis ...

76 FR 11433 - Federal Transition To Secure Hash Algorithm (SHA)-256

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2011-03-02

... generating digital signatures. Current information systems, Web servers, applications and workstation operating systems were designed to process, and use SHA-1 generated signatures. National Institute of... cryptographic keys, and more robust algorithms by December 2013. Government systems may begin to encounter...

Delivering democracy? An analysis of New Zealand's District Health Board elections, 2001 and 2004.

PubMed

Gauld, Robin

2005-08-01

The district health board (DHB) system is New Zealand's present structure for the governance and delivery of publicly-funded health care. An aim of the DHB system is to democratise health care governance, and a key element of DHBs is elected membership of their governing boards. This article focuses on the electoral component of DHBs. It reports on the first DHB elections of 2001 and recent 2004 elections. The article presents and discusses data regarding candidates, the electoral process, voter behaviour and election results. It suggests that the extent to which the DHB elections are contributing to aims of democratisation is questionable.

Density functional theory in materials science.

PubMed

Neugebauer, Jörg; Hickel, Tilmann

2013-09-01

Materials science is a highly interdisciplinary field. It is devoted to the understanding of the relationship between (a) fundamental physical and chemical properties governing processes at the atomistic scale with (b) typically macroscopic properties required of materials in engineering applications. For many materials, this relationship is not only determined by chemical composition, but strongly governed by microstructure. The latter is a consequence of carefully selected process conditions (e.g., mechanical forming and annealing in metallurgy or epitaxial growth in semiconductor technology). A key task of computational materials science is to unravel the often hidden composition-structure-property relationships using computational techniques. The present paper does not aim to give a complete review of all aspects of materials science. Rather, we will present the key concepts underlying the computation of selected material properties and discuss the major classes of materials to which they are applied. Specifically, our focus will be on methods used to describe single or polycrystalline bulk materials of semiconductor, metal or ceramic form.

Interrogating Social Sustainability in the Biofuels Sector in Latin America: Tensions Between Global Standards and Local Experiences in Mexico, Brazil, and Colombia.

PubMed

Selfa, Theresa; Bain, Carmen; Moreno, Renata; Eastmond, Amarella; Sweitz, Sam; Bailey, Conner; Pereira, Gustavo Simas; Souza, Tatiana; Medeiros, Rodrigo

2015-12-01

Across the Americas, biofuels production systems are diverse due to geographic conditions, historical patterns of land tenure, different land use patterns, government policy frameworks, and relations between the national state and civil society, all of which shape the role that biofuels play in individual nations. Although many national governments throughout the Americas continue to incentivize growth of the biofuels industry, one key challenge for biofuels sustainability has been concern about its social impacts. In this article, we discuss some of the key social issues and tensions related to the recent expansion of biofuels production in Mexico, Colombia, and Brazil. We argue that a process of "simplification" of ecological and cultural diversity has aided the expansion of the biofuels frontier in these countries, but is also undermining their viability. We consider the ability of governments and non-state actors in multi-stakeholder initiatives (MSI) to address social and environmental concerns that affect rural livelihoods as a result of biofuels expansion. We analyze the tensions between global sustainability standards, national level policies for biofuels development, and local level impacts and visions of sustainability. We find that both government and MSI efforts to address sustainability concerns have limited impact, and recommend greater incorporation of local needs and expertise to improve governance.

Interrogating Social Sustainability in the Biofuels Sector in Latin America: Tensions Between Global Standards and Local Experiences in Mexico, Brazil, and Colombia

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Selfa, Theresa; Bain, Carmen; Moreno, Renata; Eastmond, Amarella; Sweitz, Sam; Bailey, Conner; Pereira, Gustavo Simas; Souza, Tatiana; Medeiros, Rodrigo

2015-12-01

Across the Americas, biofuels production systems are diverse due to geographic conditions, historical patterns of land tenure, different land use patterns, government policy frameworks, and relations between the national state and civil society, all of which shape the role that biofuels play in individual nations. Although many national governments throughout the Americas continue to incentivize growth of the biofuels industry, one key challenge for biofuels sustainability has been concern about its social impacts. In this article, we discuss some of the key social issues and tensions related to the recent expansion of biofuels production in Mexico, Colombia, and Brazil. We argue that a process of "simplification" of ecological and cultural diversity has aided the expansion of the biofuels frontier in these countries, but is also undermining their viability. We consider the ability of governments and non-state actors in multi-stakeholder initiatives (MSI) to address social and environmental concerns that affect rural livelihoods as a result of biofuels expansion. We analyze the tensions between global sustainability standards, national level policies for biofuels development, and local level impacts and visions of sustainability. We find that both government and MSI efforts to address sustainability concerns have limited impact, and recommend greater incorporation of local needs and expertise to improve governance.

Key Knowledge Providers as Sources of Business Innovation

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Fernandez-Esquinas, Manuel; Merchan-Hernandez, Carmen; Ramos-Vielba, Irene; Martinez-Fernandez, Cristina

2010-01-01

Studies of innovation are giving increasing attention to the relationships that businesses maintain with different participants in the innovation process. It is generally assumed that interaction with other businesses, universities and government organizations can generate knowledge that will improve the ability to innovate. However, there is…

An Analysis of the United States Air Force Energy Savings Performance Contracts

DTIC Science & Technology

2007-12-01

key element of the ESPC system. Chapter IV uses the standard contracting processes to review the USAF implementations of strategic purchasing with...process and each level facilitates regionalization, which is the current implementation method of strategic purchasing for energy service management...the existing regulations that are inconsistent with the ESPC intent , and 3) to formulate substitute regulations consistent with laws governing Federal

Deciding State School Policy in Minnesota. An Analysis of Policy Participants, Influence Relationships, and Decision Processes in the 1970s.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Mazzoni, Tim L.

This report examines the process through which the Minnesota state government established school policy during the 1970s. The analysis focuses on who shaped state school policy and how they did it. The data come in part from personal interviews to determine the perceptions key participants had of the state school policy system. These interview…

Innovation implementation in the public sector: an integration of institutional and collective dynamics.

PubMed

Choi, Jin Nam; Chang, Jae Yoon

2009-01-01

The present study integrates institutional factors and employee-based collective processes as predictors of 2 key implementation outcomes: implementation effectiveness and innovation effectiveness (Klein, Conn, & Sorra, 2001). Specifically, the authors proposed that institutional factors shape employees' collective implementation efficacy and innovation acceptance. The authors further hypothesized that these employee-based collective processes mediate the effects of institutional factors on implementation outcomes. This integrative framework was examined in the context of 47 agencies and ministries of the Korean Government that were implementing a process innovation called E-Government. Three-wave longitudinal data were collected from 60 external experts and 1,732 government employees. The results reveal the importance of management support for collective implementation efficacy, which affected employees' collective acceptance of the innovation. As hypothesized, these collective employee dynamics mediated the effects of institutional enablers on successful implementation as well as the amount of long-term benefit that accrued to the agencies and ministries. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2009 APA, all rights reserved).

Exploring governance for a One Health collaboration for leptospirosis prevention and control in Fiji: Stakeholder perceptions, evidence, and processes.

PubMed

McPherson, Anna; Hill, Peter S; Kama, Mike; Reid, Simon

2018-03-30

Fiji has a high burden of leptospirosis, with endemic infection and epidemic outbreaks with high mortality, often associated with flooding and cyclones. As a zoonosis, leptospirosis control requires interventions in sectors beyond the usual control of health-in Fiji, the dairy and sugar industries, and water and sanitation and rodent control in communities. This paper presents the findings of qualitative research to inform policy around governance for a One Health multisectoral approach to leptospirosis control. Key informants from relevant government agencies and industry organizations were interviewed in late 2014, and the interviews analyzed and triangulated with documentary analysis. The analysis identified 5 themes: perceptions of the impact of leptospirosis, governance processes, models for collaboration, leptospirosis control, and preferred leadership for leptospirosis management. Data were limited, with poor communication between ministries, and limited awareness of leptospirosis outside outbreaks. Collaboration during outbreaks was positive but not sustained in endemic periods. Mechanism for enhanced collaboration was developed for endemic and outbreak situations. The findings informed a One Health governance approach to leptospirosis, framed within a National Strategic Plan, with a specific National Action Plan for Leptospirosis. The process provides a research based One Health template for application to other zoonotic diseases. Copyright © 2018 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Strings Attached? Linking Historically Black Colleges and Universities Public Revenue Sources with Efficiency

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Coupet, Jason

2017-01-01

Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs), a set of US higher education institutions historically tasked with educating African-American students, receive both state and federal funding. However, state governments often assert operational control through the political process, potentially influencing how key resources are used. Do these…

Travelling Theory: Western Knowledge and Its Indian Object

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Seth, Sanjay

2011-01-01

From the 1830s the colonial government in India became the agency for the promotion of "Western education", that is, education that sought to disseminate modern, Western, rational knowledge through modern institutions and pedagogic processes. This paper examines a historical episode in which certain key categories of modern Western…

Engage key social concepts for sustainability

Treesearch

C. C. Hicks; A. Levine; A. Agrawal; X. Basurto; S. J. Breslow; C. Carothers; Susan Charnley; S. Coulthard; N. Dolsak; J. Donatuto; C. Garcia-Quijano; M. B. Mascia; K. Norman; M. R. Poe; T. Satterfield; K. St. Martin; P. S. Levin

2016-01-01

With humans altering climate processes, biogeochemical cycles, and ecosystem functions (1), governments and societies confront the challenge of shaping a sustainable future for people and nature. Policies and practices to address these challenges must draw on social sciences, along with natural sciences and engineering (2). Although various social science approaches...

Development of an operational manual for a consultation-liaison psychiatry service.

PubMed

Wand, Anne Pf; Sharma, Swapnil; Carpenter, Lindsay J; Gatsi, Mike

2018-02-01

Consultation-liaison psychiatry (CLP) services sit between mental health and the general hospital, and risk being poorly understood by both systems. The aim of this study was to develop an operational manual for a CLP service, which defined functions and governance. The CLP literature was reviewed with a focus on descriptions of CLP roles, organisational processes, quality measures and service development. The CLP team held service planning meetings and met with members of the mental health and hospital executives. Site visits and collaboration with other CLP services occurred in defining the roles of the CLP service and organisational governance. A CLP operational document was developed, including a description of the service, its functions, staff roles and governance. Procedural information such as the CLP timetable, referral process, triage and assessment, documentation, activity recording, quality assurance and relevant policies were outlined. The development of a dedicated operational manual for CLP clarified the roles, functions and governance of CLP within the general hospital and mental health systems. The development process facilitated the engagement of key clinicians and administrators of these systems, the determination of quality improvement targets and greater transparency and accountability.

Lessons from industry: one school's transformation toward "lean" curricular governance.

PubMed

Stratton, Terry D; Rudy, David W; Sauer, Marlene J; Perman, Jay A; Jennings, C Darrell

2007-04-01

As medical education grapples with organizational calls for centralized curricular oversight, programs may be compelled to respond by establishing highly vertical, stacked governance structures. Although these models offer discrete advantages over the horizontal, compartmentalized structures they are designed to replace, they pose new challenges to ensuring curricular quality and the educational innovations that drive the curricula. The authors describe a hybrid quality-assurance (QA) governance structure introduced in 2003 at the University of Kentucky College of Medicine (UKCOM) that ensures centralized curricular oversight of the educational product while allowing individualized creative control over the educational process. Based on a Lean production model, this approach draws on industry experiences that strategically separate institutional accountability (management) for a quality curriculum from the decision-making processes required to ensure it (production). In so doing, the authors acknowledge general similarities and key differences between overseeing the manufacture of a complex product versus the education of a physician-emphasizing the structured, sequential, and measurable nature of each process. Further, the authors briefly trace the emergence of quality approaches in manufacturing and discuss the philosophical changes that accompany transition to an institutional governance system that relies on vigorous, robust performance measures to offer continuous feedback on curricular quality.

"Weak-Center" Gentrification and the Contradictions of Containment: deconcentrating poverty in downtown Los Angeles.

PubMed

Reese, Ellen; DeVerteuil, Geoffrey; Thach, Leanne

2010-01-01

This case study of recent efforts to deconcentrate poverty within the Skid Row area of Los Angeles examines processes of "weak-center" gentrification as it applies to a "service dependent ghetto," thus filling two key gaps in prior scholarship. We document the collaboration between the government, business and development interests, and certain non-profit agencies in this process and identify two key mechanisms of poverty deconcentration: housing/service displacement and the criminalization of low income residents. Following Harvey, we argue that these efforts are driven by pressures to find a "spatial fix" for capital accumulation through Downtown redevelopment. This process has been hotly contested, however, illustrating the strength of counter-pressures to gentrification/poverty deconcentration within "weak-center" urban areas.

The Role of Civil Society Organizations in Monitoring the Global AIDS Response.

PubMed

Smith, Julia; Mallouris, Christoforos; Lee, Kelley; Alfvén, Tobias

2017-07-01

Civil society organizations (CSOs) are recognized as playing an exceptional role in the global AIDS response. However, there is little detailed research to date on how they contribute to specific governance functions. This article uses Haas' framework on global governance functions to map CSO's participation in the monitoring of global commitments to the AIDS response by institutions and states. Drawing on key informant interviews and primary documents, it focuses specifically on CSO participation in Global AIDS Response Progress Reporting and in Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria processes. It argues that the AIDS response is unique within global health governance, in that CSOs fulfill both formal and informal monitoring functions, and considers the strengths and weaknesses of these contributions. It concludes that future global health governance arrangements should include provisions and resources for monitoring by CSOs because their participation creates more inclusive global health governance and contributes to strengthening commitments to human rights.

Receiving shadows: governance and liminality in the night-time economy.

PubMed

Hobbs, D; Lister, S; Hadfield, P; Winlow, S; Hall, S

2000-12-01

This paper focuses upon the emergence of the night-time economy both materially and culturally as a powerful manifestation of post-industrial society. This emergence features two key processes: firstly a shift in economic development from the industrial to the post-industrial; secondly a significant orientation of urban governance involving a move away from the traditional managerial functions of local service provision, towards an entrepreneurial stance primarily focused on the facilitation of economic growth. Central to this new economic era is the identification and promotion of liminality. The State's apparent inability to control these new leisure zones constitutes the creation of an urban frontier that is governed by commercial imperatives.

Interdisciplinary shared governance: a partnership model for high performance in a managed care environment.

PubMed

Anderson, D A; Bankston, K; Stindt, J L; Weybright, D W

2000-09-01

Today's managed care environment is forcing hospitals to seek new and innovative ways to deliver a seamless continuum of high-quality care and services to defined populations at lower costs. Many are striving to achieve this goal through the implementation of shared governance models that support point-of-service decision making, interdisciplinary partnerships, and the integration of work across clinical settings and along the service delivery continuum. The authors describe the key processes and strategies used to facilitate the design and successful implementation of an interdisciplinary shared governance model at The University Hospital, Cincinnati, Ohio. Implementation costs and initial benefits obtained over a 2-year period also are identified.

Cranes, Crops and Conservation: Understanding Human Perceptions of Biodiversity Conservation in South Korea's Civilian Control Zone

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kim, Jin-Oh; Steiner, Frederick; Mueller, Elizabeth

2011-01-01

South Korea's Civilian Control Zone (CCZ), a relatively untouched area due to tight military oversight since the end of Korean War, has received considerable attention nationally and internationally for its rich biodiversity. However, the exclusion of local communities from the process of defining problems and goals and of setting priorities for biodiversity conservation has halted a series of biodiversity conservation efforts. Through qualitative research, we explored CCZ farmers' views of key problems and issues and also the sources of their opposition to the government-initiated conservation approaches. Key findings include the farmers' concerns about the impact of conservation restrictions on their access to necessary resources needed to farm, wildlife impacts on the value of rice and other agricultural goods they produce, and farmers' strong distrust of government, the military, and planners, based on their experiences with past conservation processes. The findings regarding farmers' perceptions should prove useful for the design of future participatory planning processes for biodiversity conservation in the CCZ. This case highlights how conservative measures, perceived to be imposed from above—however scientifically valuable—can be undermined and suggests the value that must be placed on communication among planners and stakeholders.

Cranes, crops and conservation: understanding human perceptions of biodiversity conservation in South Korea's Civilian Control Zone.

PubMed

Kim, Jin-Oh; Steiner, Frederick; Mueller, Elizabeth

2011-01-01

South Korea's Civilian Control Zone (CCZ), a relatively untouched area due to tight military oversight since the end of Korean War, has received considerable attention nationally and internationally for its rich biodiversity. However, the exclusion of local communities from the process of defining problems and goals and of setting priorities for biodiversity conservation has halted a series of biodiversity conservation efforts. Through qualitative research, we explored CCZ farmers' views of key problems and issues and also the sources of their opposition to the government-initiated conservation approaches. Key findings include the farmers' concerns about the impact of conservation restrictions on their access to necessary resources needed to farm, wildlife impacts on the value of rice and other agricultural goods they produce, and farmers' strong distrust of government, the military, and planners, based on their experiences with past conservation processes. The findings regarding farmers' perceptions should prove useful for the design of future participatory planning processes for biodiversity conservation in the CCZ. This case highlights how conservative measures, perceived to be imposed from above--however scientifically valuable--can be undermined and suggests the value that must be placed on communication among planners and stakeholders.

Analysis of a government policy to address nursing shortage and nursing education quality.

PubMed

Abhicharttibutra, K; Kunaviktikul, W; Turale, S; Wichaikhum, O-A; Srisuphan, W

2017-03-01

A well-educated, sufficient nursing workforce improves population health and standards of nursing care. Analysing workforce policies assists nurses to learn from the past and develop better future policies. Describe policy-making processes in the first Thai government plan to increase nursing capacity and improve nursing education quality. A qualitative study employing Longest's model to examine policy-making processes. Data were obtained from 28 in-depth interviews with key informants, who had been committee members and former deans of nursing involved with the policy processes in the 1990s. Both qualitative and quantitative data were extracted from relevant documents, and content analysis employed with all data. Three policy phases were identified. Policy formulation, where three streams of problems, politics and policy resulted in identification of nursing shortage, changes of government incumbents and needing to increase nurse production; Policy implementation included creating methods of implementation, appointing responsible people and committees, creating operational plans, producing more nurses and faculty development projects and Policy modification which incorporated implementing the first Thai international doctoral degree in English, a collaborative programme between universities. Not all key informants could be accessed due to the passage of time. Findings are unique to Thailand but inform internationally of nurses' abilities and need to be involved in policy. Nurses were involved in all policy phases. While the policy produced positive developments in growing nursing capacity and education in the past, nursing shortages remained and are now acute in Thailand. Lessons learned from this policy analysis help explain why the nursing education and nursing shortage policy was legislated through the government agenda, and the active involvement of Thai nurses in this process. Nurses globally need to be at the policy-making table to try to reduce nursing shortages, and enhance practice and education environments. © 2016 International Council of Nurses.

The Changing Role of ENGOs in Water Governance: Institutional Entrepreneurs?

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Davidson, Seanna L.; de Loë, Rob C.

2016-01-01

The changing role of the state in the last quarter century has been an important contemporary concern for policy makers, scholars, and the public. Equally, there is increasing recognition among governance scholars that nongovernment actors are exerting new kinds of influence over governance systems and contributing in novel ways to governance processes. The role of environmental nongovernmental organizations (ENGOs) is particularly pertinent given the continued involvement of ENGOs within collaborative, adaptive, and co-management governance, across several contexts and regions. This paper uses an analytical framework derived from recent studies on institutional entrepreneurs, to examine the skills ENGOs are applying in order to orchestrate change. An empirical case of governance for water in Canada's Lake Simcoe region provides the foundation for the research. Drawing on a mixed methods approach, the research finds that ENGOs in Lake Simcoe have taken on a role as an institutional entrepreneur, and thereby have altered the relationship between governance actors in this setting. A key outcome of their actions is a more dominant, engaged, and influential role for ENGOs in a critical, regional governance system.

The BeUpstanding Program™: Scaling up the Stand Up Australia Workplace Intervention for Translation into Practice

PubMed Central

Healy, Genevieve N; Goode, Ana; Schultz, Diane; Lee, Donna; Leahy, Bell; Dunstan, David W; Gilson, Nicholas D; Eakin, Elizabeth G

2016-01-01

Context and purpose Too much sitting is now recognised as a common risk factor for several health outcomes, with the workplace identified as a key setting in which to address prolonged sitting time. The Stand Up Australia intervention was designed to reduce prolonged sitting in the workplace by addressing influences at multiple-levels, including the organisation, the environment, and the individual. Intervention success has been achieved within the context of randomised controlled trials, where research staff deliver several of the key intervention components. This study describes the initial step in the multi-phase process of scaling up the Stand Up Australia intervention for workplace translation. Methods A research-government partnership was critical in funding and informing the prototype for the scaled up BeUpstanding program™. Evidence, protocols and materials from Stand Up Australia were adapted in collaboration with funding partner Workplace Health and Safety Queensland to ensure consistency and compatibility with existing government frameworks and resources. In recognition of the key role of workplace champions in facilitating workplace health promotion programs, the BeUpstanding program™ is designed to be delivered through a stand-alone, free, website-based toolkit using a ‘train the champion’ approach. Key findings and significance The BeUpstanding program™ was influenced by the increasing recognition of prolonged sitting as an emerging health issue as well as industry demand. The research-government partnership was critical in informing and resourcing the development of the scaled-up program. PMID:29546167

Local government alcohol policy development: case studies in three New Zealand communities

PubMed Central

Maclennan, Brett; Kypri, Kypros; Room, Robin; Langley, John

2013-01-01

Aims Local alcohol policies can be effective in reducing alcohol-related harm. The aim of this study was to examine local government responses to alcohol-related problems and identify factors influencing their development and adoption of alcohol policy. Designsettings and participants Case studies were used to examine local government responses to alcohol problems in three New Zealand communities: a rural town, a provincial city and a metropolitan city. Newspaper reports, local government documents and key informant interviews were used to collect data which were analysed using two conceptual frameworks: Kingdon's Streams model and the Stakeholder model of policy development. Measurements Key informant narratives were categorized according to the concepts of the Streams and Stakeholder models. Findings Kingdon's theoretical concepts associated with increased likelihood of policy change seemed to apply in the rural and metropolitan communities. The political environment in the provincial city, however, was not favourable to the adoption of alcohol restrictions. The Stakeholder model highlighted differences between the communities in terms of power over agenda-setting and conflict between politicians and bureaucrats over policy solutions to alcohol-related harm. These differences were reflected in the ratio of policies considered versus adopted in each location. Decisions on local alcohol policies lie ultimately with local politicians, although the policies that can be adopted by local government are restricted by central government legislation. Conclusions The adoption of policies and strategies to reduce alcohol-related harm may be better facilitated by an agenda-setting process where no ‘gate-keepers’ determine what is included into the agenda, and community mobilization efforts to create competitive local government elections around alcohol issues. Policy adoption would also be facilitated by more enabling central government legislation. PMID:23130762

University Curriculum Development -- Stuck in a Process and How to Break Free

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Hurlimann, Anna; March, Alan; Robins, Jenny

2013-01-01

Changes to governance and funding of universities have placed increasing importance on teaching quality. Curriculum development is central to teaching quality. Yet, as research has shown, it is rarely given priority in university departments. We sought to identify key barriers and facilitators of curriculum development in four professionally…

Constructing Social Inclusion through Further Education--The Dangers of Instrumentalism

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Williams, Joanna

2008-01-01

This article explores, through an analysis of key policy documents, the construction of the political concepts of social exclusion and inclusion through further education (FE). During the first decade of the New Labour government the concepts of social exclusion and inclusion have undergone a process of active construction. In between "The…

As Science Evolves, How Can Science Policy? NBER Working Paper No. 16002

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Jones, Benjamin

2010-01-01

Getting science policy right is a core objective of government that bears on scientific advance, economic growth, health, and longevity. Yet the process of science is changing. As science advances and knowledge accumulates, ensuing generations of innovators spend longer in training and become more narrowly expert, shifting key innovations (i)…

Plastic Solar Cells: A Multidisciplinary Field to Construct Chemical Concepts from Current Research

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Gomez, Rafael; Segura, Jose L.

2007-01-01

Examples of plastic solar-cell technology to illustrate core concepts in chemistry are presented. The principles of operations of a plastic solar cell could be used to introduce key concepts, which are fundamentally important to understand photosynthesis and the basic process that govern most novel optoelectronic devices.

Postings and transfers in the Ghanaian health system: a study of health workforce governance.

PubMed

Kwamie, Aku; Asiamah, Miriam; Schaaf, Marta; Agyepong, Irene Akua

2017-09-15

Decision-making on postings and transfers - that is, the geographic deployment of the health workforce - is a key element of health workforce governance. When poorly managed, postings and transfers result in maldistribution, absenteeism, and low morale. At stake is managing the balance between organisational (i.e., health system) and individual (i.e., staff preference) needs. The negotiation of this potential convergence or divergence of interests provides a window on practices of postings and transfers, and on the micro-practices of governance in health systems more generally. This article explores the policies and processes, and the interplay between formal and informal rules and norms which underpin postings and transfers practice in two rural districts in the Greater Accra Region of Ghana. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with eight district managers and 87 frontline staff from the district health administration, district hospital, polyclinic, health centres and community outreach compounds across two districts. Interviews sought to understand how the postings and transfers process works in practice, factors in frontline staff and district manager decision-making, personal experiences in being posted, and study leave as a common strategy for obtaining transfers. Differential negotiation-spaces at regional and district level exist and inform postings and transfers in practice. This is in contrast to the formal cascaded rules set to govern decision-making authority for postings and transfers. Many frontline staff lack policy clarity of postings and transfers processes and thus 'test' the system through informal staff lobbying, compounding staff perception of the postings and transfers process as being unfair. District managers are also challenged with limited decision-space embedded in broader policy contexts of systemic hierarchy and resource dependence. This underscores the negotiation process as ongoing, rather than static. These findings point to tensions between individual and organisational goals. This article contributes to a burgeoning literature on postings and transfers as a distinct dynamic which bridges the interactions between health systems governance and health workforce development. Importantly, this article helps to expand the notion of health systems governance beyond 'good' governance towards understanding governance as a process of negotiation.

Excitonic processes at organic heterojunctions

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

He, ShouJie; Lu, ZhengHong

2018-02-01

Understanding excitonic processes at organic heterojunctions is crucial for development of organic semiconductor devices. This article reviews recent research on excitonic physics that involve intermolecular charge transfer (CT) excitons, and progress on understanding relationships between various interface energy levels and key parameters governing various competing interface excitonic processes. These interface excitonic processes include radiative exciplex emission, nonradiative recombination, Auger electron emission, and CT exciton dissociation. This article also reviews various device applications involving interface CT excitons, such as organic light-emitting diodes (OLEDs), organic photovoltaic cells, organic rectifying diodes, and ultralow-voltage Auger OLEDs.

Local Government Capacity to Respond to Environmental Change: Insights from Towns in New York State.

PubMed

Larson, Lincoln R; Lauber, T Bruce; Kay, David L; Cutts, Bethany B

2017-07-01

Local governments attempting to respond to environmental change face an array of challenges. To better understand policy responses and factors influencing local government capacity to respond to environmental change, we studied three environmental issues affecting rural or peri-urban towns in different regions of New York State: climate change in the Adirondacks (n = 63 towns), loss of open space due to residential/commercial development in the Hudson Valley (n = 50), and natural gas development in the Southern Tier (n = 62). Our analysis focused on towns' progression through three key stages of the environmental policy process (issue awareness and salience, common goals and agenda setting, policy development and implementation) and the factors that affect this progression and overall capacity for environmental governance. We found that-when compared to towns addressing open space development and natural gas development-towns confronted with climate change were at a much earlier stage in the policy process and were generally less likely to display the essential resources, social support, and political legitimacy needed for an effective policy response. Social capital cultivated through collaboration and networking was strongly associated with towns' policy response across all regions and could help municipalities overcome omnipresent resource constraints. By comparing and contrasting municipal responses to each issue, this study highlights the processes and factors influencing local government capacity to address a range of environmental changes across diverse management contexts.

What controls deposition rate in electron-beam chemical vapor deposition?

PubMed

White, William B; Rykaczewski, Konrad; Fedorov, Andrei G

2006-08-25

The key physical processes governing electron-beam-assisted chemical vapor deposition are analyzed via a combination of theoretical modeling and supporting experiments. The scaling laws that define growth of the nanoscale deposits are developed and verified using carefully designed experiments of carbon deposition from methane onto a silicon substrate. The results suggest that the chamber-scale continuous transport of the precursor gas is the rate controlling process in electron-beam chemical vapor deposition.

Systems Analysis of the Hydrogen Transition with HyTrans

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Leiby, Paul Newsome; Greene, David L; Bowman, David Charles

2007-01-01

The U.S. Federal government is carefully considering the merits and long-term prospects of hydrogen-fueled vehicles. NAS (1) has called for the careful application of systems analysis tools to structure the complex assessment required. Others, raising cautionary notes, question whether a consistent and plausible transition to hydrogen light-duty vehicles can identified (2) and whether that transition would, on balance, be environmentally preferred. Modeling the market transition to hydrogen-powered vehicles is an inherently complex process, encompassing hydrogen production, delivery and retailing, vehicle manufacturing, and vehicle choice and use. We describe the integration of key technological and market factors in a dynamic transitionmore » model, HyTrans. The usefulness of HyTrans and its predictions depends on three key factors: (1) the validity of the economic theories that underpin the model, (2) the authenticity with which the key processes are represented, and (3) the accuracy of specific parameter values used in the process representations. This paper summarizes the theoretical basis of HyTrans, and highlights the implications of key parameter specifications with sensitivity analysis.« less

Risk Assessment and Risk Governance of Liquefied Natural Gas Development in Gladstone, Australia.

PubMed

van der Vegt, R G

2018-02-26

This article is a retrospective analysis of liquefied natural gas development (LNG) in Gladstone, Australia by using the structure of the risk governance framework developed by the International Risk Governance Council (IRGC). Since 2010 the port of Gladstone has undergone extensive expansion to facilitate the increasing coal export as well as the new development of three recently completed LNG facilities. Significant environmental and socio-economic impacts and concerns have occurred as a result of these developments. The overall aim of the article, therefore, is to identify the risk governance deficits that arose and to formulate processes capable of improving similar decision-making problems in the future. The structure of the IRGC framework is followed because it represents a broad analytical approach for considering risk assessment and risk governance in Gladstone in ways that include, but also go beyond, the risk approach of the ISO 31000:2009 standard that was employed at the time. The IRGC risk framework is argued to be a consistent and comprehensive risk governance framework that integrates scientific, economic, social, and cultural aspects and advocates the notion of inclusive risk governance through stakeholder communication and involvement. Key aspects related to risk preassessment, risk appraisal, risk tolerability and acceptability, risk management, and stakeholder communication and involvement are considered. The results indicate that the risk governance deficits include aspects related to (i) the risk matrix methodology, (ii) reflecting uncertainties, (iii) cumulative risks, (iv) the regulatory process, and (v) stakeholder communication and involvement. © 2018 Society for Risk Analysis.

Talent development: linking the stakeholders to the process.

PubMed

Pankhurst, Anne; Collins, Dave; Macnamara, Áine

2013-01-01

The three stakeholders (coaches, parents and the National Governing Body) in Talent Identification and Development (TID) are important factors in athlete development. How each of them perceive the key constructs of Talent Identification and Development (i.e. sport specialisation and selection, practice, athlete development, junior and adult success, and the role of the stakeholders), and the coherence of that understanding is not well understood. This study focuses on junior performance tennis and investigates the perceptions of coaches, parents and sports organisations (a National Governing Body) of the five key constructs of Talent Identification and Development. We were interested in examining (a) the extent to which stakeholder perceptions relate to research, (b) the coherence of each stakeholder's perceptions and (c) the extent to which there is coherence between what stakeholders understand each other thinks. Seventy-five coaches, parents, and National Governing Body staff completed a questionnaire that asked participants to rate their degree of agreement/disagreement with researched 'principles' of Talent Identification and Development. The results suggest that stakeholders do not strongly agree with the research supporting principles of Talent Identification and Development. Furthermore, a significant lack of coherence of stakeholder perceptions was evident. This lack of coherence was also evident in each group's understanding of what the other stakeholders believed. The impact of these results on the Talent Identification and Development process is discussed.

[Government management and society: information, technology and scientific output].

PubMed

Ribeiro, Patrícia; Sophia, Daniela Carvalho; Grigório, Deise de Araújo

2007-01-01

The complexity of government tasks today suggests that virtual interaction processes that could streamline flows and exchanges of information between governments and society in public policymaking may contribute to more effective intervention that is more closely attuned to the heterogeneity and diversity of social problems. Innovative participatory government administration initiatives have proliferated, together with the extension of public control over government actions, handled through by information technologies. Exploring this field, this paper identifies some key issues for better demarcation and qualification of such initiatives in public sector management, based on the authors' own experience in leading an institutional project designed to empower the political, technical, and communicative participation of society in discussions of the implementation of the Unified National Health System in Brazil. Based on a review of the literature analyzing the links among information, technology, development, and democracy, and particularly with regard to social management, this paper systematizes aspects for consideration drawn from in experiences of interactions between government and society, mediated by scientific knowledge, fostering greater transparency and plurality of views in government management.

Using social network analysis to evaluate health-related adaptation decision-making in Cambodia.

PubMed

Bowen, Kathryn J; Alexander, Damon; Miller, Fiona; Dany, Va

2014-01-30

Climate change adaptation in the health sector requires decisions across sectors, levels of government, and organisations. The networks that link these different institutions, and the relationships among people within these networks, are therefore critical influences on the nature of adaptive responses to climate change in the health sector. This study uses social network research to identify key organisational players engaged in developing health-related adaptation activities in Cambodia. It finds that strong partnerships are reported as developing across sectors and different types of organisations in relation to the health risks from climate change. Government ministries are influential organisations, whereas donors, development banks and non-government organisations do not appear to be as influential in the development of adaptation policy in the health sector. Finally, the study highlights the importance of informal partnerships (or 'shadow networks') in the context of climate change adaptation policy and activities. The health governance 'map' in relation to health and climate change adaptation that is developed in this paper is a novel way of identifying organisations that are perceived as key agents in the decision-making process, and it holds substantial benefits for both understanding and intervening in a broad range of climate change-related policy problems where collaboration is paramount for successful outcomes.

Using Social Network Analysis to Evaluate Health-Related Adaptation Decision-Making in Cambodia

PubMed Central

Bowen, Kathryn J.; Alexander, Damon; Miller, Fiona; Dany, Va

2014-01-01

Climate change adaptation in the health sector requires decisions across sectors, levels of government, and organisations. The networks that link these different institutions, and the relationships among people within these networks, are therefore critical influences on the nature of adaptive responses to climate change in the health sector. This study uses social network research to identify key organisational players engaged in developing health-related adaptation activities in Cambodia. It finds that strong partnerships are reported as developing across sectors and different types of organisations in relation to the health risks from climate change. Government ministries are influential organisations, whereas donors, development banks and non-government organisations do not appear to be as influential in the development of adaptation policy in the health sector. Finally, the study highlights the importance of informal partnerships (or ‘shadow networks’) in the context of climate change adaptation policy and activities. The health governance ‘map’ in relation to health and climate change adaptation that is developed in this paper is a novel way of identifying organisations that are perceived as key agents in the decision-making process, and it holds substantial benefits for both understanding and intervening in a broad range of climate change-related policy problems where collaboration is paramount for successful outcomes. PMID:24487452

Establishing a process for conducting cross-jurisdictional record linkage in Australia.

PubMed

Moore, Hannah C; Guiver, Tenniel; Woollacott, Anthony; de Klerk, Nicholas; Gidding, Heather F

2016-04-01

To describe the realities of conducting a cross-jurisdictional data linkage project involving state and Australian Government-based data collections to inform future national data linkage programs of work. We outline the processes involved in conducting a Proof of Concept data linkage project including the implementation of national data integration principles, data custodian and ethical approval requirements, and establishment of data flows. The approval process involved nine approval and regulatory bodies and took more than two years. Data will be linked across 12 datasets involving three data linkage centres. A framework was established to allow data to flow between these centres while maintaining the separation principle that serves to protect the privacy of the individual. This will be the first project to link child immunisation records from an Australian Government dataset to other administrative health datasets for a population cohort covering 2 million births in two Australian states. Although the project experienced some delays, positive outcomes were realised, primarily the development of strong collaborations across key stakeholder groups including community engagement. We have identified several recommendations and enhancements to this now established framework to further streamline the process for data linkage studies involving Australian Government data. © 2015 Public Health Association of Australia.

A legacy of struggle: the OSHA ergonomics standard and beyond, Part II.

PubMed

Delp, Linda; Mojtahedi, Zahra; Sheikh, Hina; Lemus, Jackie

2014-11-01

The OSHA ergonomics standard issued in 2000 was repealed within four months through a Congressional resolution that limits future ergonomics rulemaking. This section continues the conversation initiated in Part I, documenting a legacy of struggle for an ergonomics standard through the voices of eight labor, academic, and government key informants. Part I summarized important components of the standard; described the convergence of labor activism, research, and government action that laid the foundation for a standard; and highlighted the debates that characterized the rulemaking process. Part II explores the anti-regulatory political landscape of the 1990s, as well as the key opponents, power dynamics, and legal maneuvers that led to repeal of the standard. This section also describes the impact of the ergonomics struggle beyond the standard itself and ends with a discussion of creative state-level policy initiatives and coalition approaches to prevent work-related musculoskeletal disorders (WMSDs) in today's sociopolitical context.

Advocacy for strengthening civil registration and vital statistics.

PubMed

Upham, Susan; Mikkelsen, Lene

2012-04-01

This article has presented the key elements of the advocacy process and the steps to consider in developing an advocacy campaign. There are compelling reasons for engaging in advocacy, particularly as civil registration systems in many countries have progressed very little over the past 50 years. Lack of awareness of the benefits for individuals and governments has contributed to a vicious cycle of under development of civil registration and vital statistics systems. Advocates are needed across a range of sectors to persuade governments to make CRVS a priority and to work towards a greater political commitment and allocation of resources for establishing and improving systems. Advocating for better legal frameworks and policies that fully support a functioning and well-used CRVS system is needed. A selection of tools and resources has been included in this module to get you started in advocating for improvements in your CRVS system. Box 4 summarises some key considerations when developing your advocacy campaign.

Neoliberal Dynamics within Japan's National University Sector: Faculty Perspectives of the 2004 Reforms

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Weldon, Peter Alexander

2011-01-01

Globalization has emerged as one of the key social, political, and economic forces of the twenty-first century, challenging national borders, long-established institutions of governance, and cultural norms and behaviors across the globe. While many believe the process has been underway for centuries, what is clear is that it has both accelerated…

Popular Education in Latin America. Synthesis of the Discussion Themes. Verhandelingen no. 50.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Dam, Anke van; And Others

The objective of popular education has been associated with the creation of identity of popular groups in society. Education has been considered a key in the process to reform and modernize social structures. In the 1990s, democratic governments have promoted popular participation to solve development problems. This context poses new challenges…

Education in Times of Conflict and the Invisibility of Disability: A Focus on Iraq?

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Miles, Susie

2013-01-01

Education has come to be a key focus of the humanitarian response of international agencies in countries affected by conflict, but disabled children tend to be excluded from these education initiatives. Yet the reconstruction process can provide governments with a unique opportunity to reassess the way they educate disabled children, and consider…

Canadians Speak on Innovation and Learning=Les Canadiens, L'Innovation et L'Apprentissage.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

2003

This publication captures the thoughts, suggestions, and concerns Canadians expressed through an engagement process on behalf of the Government of Canada to animate discussion on Canada's innovation and learning challenges. The chapters provide summaries of what different groups had to say in relation to these key challenge areas and themes set…

Measuring Quality beyond Test Scores: The Impact of Regional Context on Curriculum Implementation (in Northern Uganda)

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Spreen, Carol Anne; Knapczyk, Jillian J.

2017-01-01

Although global initiatives have brought attention to the lack of quality in education systems worldwide; the question remains, how do we implement quality education? Teachers, a vital component of the education process, are not usually included in these global conversations; this results in government initiatives missing key obstacles faced by…

Key Issues and Problems in Developing New National Policy for Civic Education.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Sallada, Logan H.

The role of the federal government in civic/citizenship education is discussed in this paper. A breakdown has occurred in former socializing institutions, such as the family and church, which have ceased to influence civic education. There is a need to reconceptualize the socialization process. Four factors that impede the socialization of…

Complex adaptive systems (CAS): an overview of key elements, characteristics and application to management theory.

PubMed

Ellis, Beverley; Herbert, Stuart Ian

2011-01-01

To identify key elements and characteristics of complex adaptive systems (CAS) relevant to implementing clinical governance, drawing on lessons from quality improvement programmes and the use of informatics in primary care. The research strategy includes a literature review to develop theoretical models of clinical governance of quality improvement in primary care organisations (PCOs) and a survey of PCOs. Complex adaptive system theories are a valuable tool to help make sense of natural phenomena, which include human responses to problem solving within the sampled PCOs. The research commenced with a survey; 76% (n16) of respondents preferred to support the implementation of clinical governance initiatives guided by outputs from general practice electronic health records. There was considerable variation in the way in which consultation data was captured, recorded and organised. Incentivised information sharing led to consensus on coding policies and models of data recording ahead of national contractual requirements. Informatics was acknowledged as a mechanism to link electronic health record outputs, quality improvement and resources. Investment in informatics was identified as a development priority in order to embed clinical governance principles in practice. Complex adaptive system theory usefully describes evolutionary change processes, providing insight into how the origins of quality assurance were predicated on rational reductionism and linearity. New forms of governance do not neutralise previous models, but add further dimensions to them. Clinical governance models have moved from deterministic and 'objective' factors to incorporate cultural aspects with feedback about quality enabled by informatics. The socio-technical lessons highlighted should inform healthcare management.

Hospital decentralisation in Romania: stakeholders' perspectives in the newsprint media.

PubMed

Popa, Adela Elena

2014-01-01

In the summer of 2010, Romania undertook a process of hospital decentralisation as part of the reform in the healthcare sector. The national newsprint media covered the process thoroughly. This paper is a study of how key stakeholders' views, attitudes, beliefs and attitudes towards decentralisation are represented in print media. 106 articles, published between June and September 2010, retrieved from the online databases of six leading national dailies were analysed. A mixed methodology was used in the data analysis stage. The qualitative data exploration identified five voices belonging to stakeholders involved directly or indirectly in the process: the representatives of central government, the local authorities (district and local councils, municipal mayors), health professionals (managers and physicians in hospitals), the media (journalists, analysts) and finally voices from civil society, professional associations and advocacy groups. These were the main actors negotiating the subjective meanings of the decentralisation process. An imbalance between these key actors were observed in the frequency, content and tone of the messages delivered in media during the four months. Central government and the local authorities were the most active voices, but the respective discourses differed significantly. An analysis of the accounts identified three main themes: the financial problem (hospitals liabilities and future spending), human resource in hospitals (the impact of decentralisation upon it) and the political character of the decentralisation. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

From 'trust us' to participatory governance: Deliberative publics and science policy.

PubMed

Burgess, Michael M

2014-01-01

The last 20 years have seen a shift from the view that publics need to be educated so that they trust science and its governance to the recognition that publics possess important local knowledge and the capacity to understand technical information sufficiently to participate in policy decisions. There are now a variety of approaches to increasing the role of publics and advocacy groups in the policy and governance of science and biotechnology. This article considers recent experiences that demonstrate that it is possible to bring together those with policy making responsibility and diverse publics to co-produce policy and standards of practice that are technically informed, incorporate wide social perspectives and explicitly involve publics in key decisions. Further, the process of deliberation involving publics is capable of being incorporated into governance structures to enhance the capacity to respond to emerging issues with levels of public engagement that are proportionate to the issues.

Introducing payment for performance in the health sector of Tanzania- the policy process.

PubMed

Chimhutu, Victor; Tjomsland, Marit; Songstad, Nils Gunnar; Mrisho, Mwifadhi; Moland, Karen Marie

2015-09-02

Prompted by the need to achieve progress in health outcomes, payment for performance (P4P) schemes are becoming popular policy options in the health systems in many low income countries. This paper describes the policy process behind the introduction of a payment for performance scheme in the health sector of Tanzania illuminating in particular the interests of and roles played by the Government of Norway, the Government of Tanzania and the other development partners. The study employed a qualitative research design using in-depth interviews (IDIs), observations and document reviews. Thirteen IDIs with key-informants representing the views of ten donor agencies and government departments influential in the process of introducing the P4P scheme in Tanzania were conducted in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania and Oslo, Norway. Data was collected on the main trends and thematic priorities in development aid policy, countries and actors perceived to be proponents and opponents to the P4P scheme, and P4P agenda setting in Tanzania. The initial introduction of P4P in the health sector of Tanzania was controversial. The actors involved including the bilateral donors in the Health Basket Fund, the World Bank, the Tanzanian Government and high level politicians outside the Health Basket Fund fought for their values and interests and formed alliances that shifted in the course of the process. The process was characterized by high political pressure, conflicts, changing alliances, and, as it evolved, consensus building. The P4P policy process was highly political with external actors playing a significant role in influencing the agenda in Tanzania, leaving less space for the Government of Tanzania to provide leadership in the process. Norway in particular, took a leading role in setting the agenda. The process of introducing P4P became long and frustrating causing mistrust among partners in the Health Basket Fund.

Factors Influencing the Selection of the Systems Integration Organizational Model Type for Planning and Implementing Government High-Technology Programs

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Thomas, Leann; Utley, Dawn

2006-01-01

While there has been extensive research in defining project organizational structures for traditional projects, little research exists to support high technology government project s organizational structure definition. High-Technology Government projects differ from traditional projects in that they are non-profit, span across Government-Industry organizations, typically require significant integration effort, and are strongly susceptible to a volatile external environment. Systems Integration implementation has been identified as a major contributor to both project success and failure. The literature research bridges program management organizational planning, systems integration, organizational theory, and independent project reports, in order to assess Systems Integration (SI) organizational structure selection for improving the high-technology government project s probability of success. This paper will describe the methodology used to 1) Identify and assess SI organizational structures and their success rate, and 2) Identify key factors to be used in the selection of these SI organizational structures during the acquisition strategy process.

Linking governance mechanisms to health outcomes: a review of the literature in low- and middle-income countries.

PubMed

Ciccone, Dana Karen; Vian, Taryn; Maurer, Lydia; Bradley, Elizabeth H

2014-09-01

We conducted a synthesis of peer-reviewed literature to shed light on links between governance mechanisms and health outcomes in low- and middle-income countries. Our review yielded 30 studies, highlighting four key governance mechanisms by which governance may influence health outcomes in these settings: Health system decentralization that enables responsiveness to local needs and values; health policymaking that aligns and empowers diverse stakeholders; enhanced community engagement; and strengthened social capital. Most, but not all, studies found a positive association between governance and health. Additionally, the nature of the association between governance mechanisms and health differed across studies. In some studies (N = 9), the governance effect was direct and positive, while in others (N = 5), the effect was indirect or modified by contextual factors. In still other studies (N = 4), governance was found to have a moderating effect, indicating that governance mechanisms influenced other system processes or structures that improved health. The remaining studies reported mixed findings about the association between governance and health (N = 6), no association between governance and health (N = 4), or had inconclusive results (N = 2). Further exploration is needed to fully understand the relationship between governance and health and to inform the design and delivery of evidence-based, effective governance interventions around the world. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Wind Powering America State Outreach. Final Technical Report: Washington State

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Stearns, Tim

2013-09-30

The Washington Department of Commerce, via a U.S. Department of Energy grant, supported research into siting and permitting processes for wind projects by Skagit County, Washington. The goal was to help a local government understand key issues, consider how other areas have addressed wind siting, and establish a basis for enacting permitting and zoning ordinances that provided a more predictable permitting path and process for landowners, citizens, government and developers of small and community wind projects. The County?s contractor developed a report that looked at various approaches to wind siting, interviewed stakeholders, and examined technology options. The contractor outlined keymore » issues and recommended the adoption of a siting process. The Skagit County Commission considered the report and directed the Skagit County Planning & Development Services Department to add development of wind guidelines to its work plan for potential changes to development codes.« less

The role of non-governmental organizations in global health diplomacy: negotiating the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control.

PubMed

Lencucha, Raphael; Kothari, Anita; Labonté, Ronald

2011-09-01

The Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC) is an exemplar result of global health diplomacy, based on its global reach (binding on all World Health Organization member nations) and its negotiation process. The FCTC negotiations are one of the first examples of various states and non-state entities coming together to create a legally binding tool to govern global health. They have demonstrated that diplomacy, once consigned to interactions among state officials, has witnessed the dilution of its state-centric origins with the inclusion of non-governmental organizations (NGOs) in the diplomacy process. To engage in the discourse of global health diplomacy, NGO diplomats are immediately presented with two challenges: to convey the interests of larger publics and to contribute to inter-state negotiations in a predominantly state-centric system of governance that are often diluted by pressures from private interests or mercantilist self-interest on the part of the state itself. How do NGOs manage these challenges within the process of global health diplomacy itself? What roles do, and can, they play in achieving new forms of global health diplomacy? This paper addresses these questions through presentation of findings from a study of the roles assumed by one group of non-governmental actors (the Canadian NGOs) in the FCTC negotiations. The findings presented are drawn from a larger grounded theory study. Qualitative data were collected from 34 public documents and 18 in-depth interviews with participants from the Canadian government and Canadian NGOs. This analysis yielded five key activities or roles of the Canadian NGOs during the negotiation of the FCTC: monitoring, lobbying, brokering knowledge, offering technical expertise and fostering inclusion. This discussion begins to address one of the key goals of global health diplomacy, namely 'the challenges facing health diplomacy and how they have been addressed by different groups and at different levels of governance' (Kickbusch et al. 2007a: 972).

Health care networks implementation and regional governance challenges in the Legal Amazon Region: an analysis of the QualiSUS-Rede Project.

PubMed

Casanova, Angela Oliveira; Cruz, Marly Marques; Giovanella, Ligia; Alves, Glaydes Dos Reis; Cardoso, Gisela Cordeiro Pereira

2017-04-01

This paper aims to analyze the potential, limits and challenges of regional governance in the implementation process of health care networks in three Brazilian regions: Alto Solimões (Amazonas), Belém (Pará) and an interstate region comprising Tocantins, Pará and Maranhão states (Topama). The study is based on the evaluation study on the implementation of the Quality Health Care Network Development and Improvement Project (QualiSUS-Rede). This is a qualitative multiple case study with the analysis of official documents and use of semi-structured interviews with key stakeholders conducted from July to December 2014. Governance review encompassed three components: stakeholders involved, especially local steering groups and their regional coordination capacity; strategies used for strengthening regional governance, anchored on the intervention's modeling; and implementation of local health care networks. Results point that the regional managing commissions were the main governance strategy and that the QualiSUS-Rede Project strengthened regional governance and integration differently in every case, depending on stakeholders' administration and consensus capacity on regional and political priorities.

Leadership and governance of community health worker programmes at scale: a cross case analysis of provincial implementation in South Africa.

PubMed

Schneider, Helen; Nxumalo, Nonhlanhla

2017-09-15

National community health worker (CHW) programmes are returning to favour as an integral part of primary health care systems, often on the back of pre-existing community based initiatives. There are significant challenges to the integration and support of such programmes, and they require coordination and stewardship at all levels of the health system. This paper explores the leadership and governance tasks of large-scale CHW programmes at sub-national level, through the case of national reforms to South Africa's community based sector, referred to as the Ward Based Outreach Team (WBOT) strategy. A cross case analysis of leadership and governance roles, drawing on three case studies of adoption and implementation of the WBOTs strategy at provincial level (Western Cape, North West and Gauteng) was conducted. The primary case studies mapped system components and assessed implementation processes and contexts. They involved teams of researchers and over 200 interviews with stakeholders from senior to frontline, document reviews and analyses of routine data. The secondary, cross case analysis specifically focused on the issues and challenges facing, and strategies adopted by provincial and district policy makers and managers, as they engaged with the new national mandate. From this key sub-national leadership and governance roles were formulated. Four key roles are identified and discussed: 1. Negotiating a fit between national mandates and provincial and district histories and strategies of community based services 2. Defining new organisational and accountability relationships between CHWs, local health services, communities and NGOs 3. Revising and developing new aligned and integrated planning, human resource, financing and information systems 4. Leading change by building new collective visions, mobilising political, including budgetary, support and designing implementation strategies. This analysis, from real-life systems, adds to understanding of the processes involved in developing CHW programmes at scale, and specifically the negotiated and multilevel nature of leadership and governance in such programmes, spanning analytic, managerial, technical and political roles.

Scientific Integrity and Consensus in the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change Assessment Process

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Barrett, K.

2017-12-01

Scientific integrity is the hallmark of any assessment and is a paramount consideration in the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) assessment process. Procedures are in place for rigorous scientific review and to quantify confidence levels and uncertainty in the communication of key findings. However, the IPCC is unique in that its reports are formally accepted by governments through consensus agreement. This presentation will present the unique requirements of the IPCC intergovernmental assessment and discuss the advantages and challenges of its approach.

Who owns Australia's water--elements of an effective regulatory model.

PubMed

McKay, J

2003-01-01

This paper identifies and describes a number of global trends in regulatory theory and legal scholarship. It points out the huge level of complexity demanded by globalisation and the unfortunate complication of this is that there is legal indeterminacy. The legal indeterminacy springs from the desire to amend and alter existing models. That has been the thrust of the Council of Australian Governments changes to adapt and add huge amounts of complexity to a flawed system. This paper argues that an effective water regulatory model requires a fundamental re-examination of the concept of water ownership and a capturing by the State of the right to allocate rainfall. This foundation is effective and the way forward to deal with the key issues in this transition phase. The second key element to an effective regulatory model is the concept of performance-based assessment. This requires information and schemes to be set up to work out ways to monitor and evaluate the performance of the utility on selected criteria. For Australia at present there is a dire lack of agreed criteria on these key issues and these have the potential to pull apart the whole process. The key issues are indigenous rights, governance issues, public participation, alteration of pre-existing rights and incorporation of environmental requirements.

Fighting fire with education: what is the best way to reach out to homeowners?

Treesearch

Sarah M. McCaffrey

2004-01-01

Better understanding is needed of what makes educational efforts most effective in increasing public support for wildfire management and mitigation efforts. Results of a mail survey of homeowners in Incline Village, Nevada, indicate that personalized contact is key in the educational process and that which type of contact - government or personal - is more influential...

On the Hill, New Hands Refashion Key Law

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Field, Kelly

2008-01-01

More than three decades ago, the debate for Higher Education Act was open to the public. Today the process of crafting a compromise bill looks very different, and the forces shaping the major law governing student aid have shifted in ways both significant and subtle. The changes have given new voices a say in policy decisions and made it harder…

Getting governance right for a sustainable regionalised business model.

PubMed

Laurence, Caroline O; Black, Linda E; Rowe, Mark; Pearce, Rod

2011-06-06

The 1998 Ministerial Review of General Practice Training identified several areas for improvement that led to major changes in the provision of general practice training, including the establishment of General Practice Education and Training (GPET) and the regionalisation of training. The regionalised training business model has been in place for nearly 10 years, and several key organisations have been involved in its evolution, including the Australian Government, speciality colleges, GPET and regionalised training providers. Both the college-focused and regionalised-focused models have had some successes. These include recognition and support of general practice as a vocational specialty, increased numbers of junior doctors undertaking placements in general practice, and increased numbers of registrars training in rural areas. This period has also seen changes in the governance and decision-making processes with creation of a new framework that is inclusive of all the key players in the new regionalised training system. The future holds challenges for the regionalised training business model as the general practice education and training landscape becomes more complex. The framework in the current model will provide a base to help meet these challenges and allow for further sustainable expansion.

Improved harmonisation from policy dialogue? Realist perspectives from Guinea and Chad.

PubMed

Kwamie, Aku; Nabyonga-Orem, Juliet

2016-07-18

Harmonisation is a key principle of the Paris Declaration. The Universal Health Coverage (UHC) Partnership, an initiative of the European Union, the Government of Luxembourg and the World Health Organization, supported health policy dialogues between 2012 and 2015 in identified countries in the WHO African Region. The UHC Partnership has amongst its key objectives to strengthen national health policy development. In Guinea and Chad, policy dialogue focused on elaborating the national health plan and other key documents. This study is an analytical reflection inspired by realist evaluative approaches to understand whether policy dialogue led to improved harmonisation amongst health actors in Guinea and Chad, and if so, how and why. Interviews were conducted in Guinea and Chad with key informants at the national and sub-national government levels, civil society, and development partners. A review of relevant policy documents and reports was added to data collection to construct a full picture of the policy dialogue process. Context-mechanism-outcome configurations were used as the realist framework to guide the analysis on how participants' understanding of what policy dialogue was and the way the policy dialogue process unfolded led to improved harmonisation. Improved harmonisation as a result of policy dialogue was perceived to be stronger in Guinea than in Chad. While in both countries the participants held a shared view of what policy dialogue was and what it could achieve, and both policy dialogue processes were considered to be well implemented (i.e., well-facilitated, evidence-based, participatory, and consisted of recurring meetings and activities), certain contextual factors in Chad tempered the view of harmonisation as having improved. These were the pre-existence of dialogic policy processes that had exposed the actors to the potential that policy dialogue could have; a focus on elaborating provincial level strategies, which gave the sense that the process was more bottom-up; and the perception that there were acute resource constraints, which conditioned partners' interactions. Policy dialogue improves harmonisation in terms of fostering information exchange amongst partners; however, it does not appear to influence the operational procedures of the actors. This has implications for aid effectiveness.

Governing drug use through partnerships: Towards a genealogy of government/non-government relations in drug policy.

PubMed

Thomas, Natalie; Bull, Melissa; Dioso-Villa, Rachel; Smith, Catrin

2016-02-01

Drug policy in Australia is underpinned by the idea of partnerships wherein the non-government sector is one important partner in both delivering services and contributing to policy and decision-making processes. This article presents a genealogy of the concept of government/non-government 'partnerships', tracing its emergence and development within drug policy discourse in Australia. We find that the rise of neo-liberal policies since the 1980s has been a key factor facilitating the emergence of government/non-government 'partnerships' rhetoric in drug policy. Since the 1980s, the role of non-government organisations (NGOs) in drug policy has been articulated in relation to 'community' responsibilisation in contrast to the welfarist reliance on expert intervention. We link the rise of this rhetoric with the neo-liberal turn to governing through community and the individualisation of social problems. Furthermore, although we find that governments on the whole have encouraged the service delivery and policy work of NGOs at least in policy rhetoric, the actions of the state have at times limited the ability of NGOs to perform advocacy work and contribute to policy. Constraints on NGO drug policy work could potentially compromise the responsiveness of drug policy systems by limiting opportunities for innovative policy-making and service delivery. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Key Challenges in the Reform of Governance, Quality Assurance, and Finance in Vietnamese Higher Education--A Case Study

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Dao, Khanh Van

2015-01-01

Vietnam's higher education is highly centralized in terms of its governance and management. A couple of higher education reform plans have been introduced over the past decade but they seem to result in poor outcomes. This paper addresses the challenges faced in the areas of governance, quality assurance and finance by a "key" university…

Organisational systems and services for children of parents with mental illness and their families: processes of change and sustainability.

PubMed

Owen, Susanne

2010-09-01

Adult mental illness in the community including depression and anxiety has achieved greater public awareness and visibility in recent years and this has also resulted in increased recognition about the widespread impact on dependent children. During the past decade in Australia, policies and specific programs for infants, children and youth in terms of prevention, early intervention and promotion in relation to children of parents with a mental illness ('copmi') have been devised. However, these have generally been disconnected projects, essentially supported only by non-recurrent funding. In more recent years, systematic and interconnected responses involving a wider range of government, non-government and consumer and carer organisations to build sustainability have become the focus. However, little research about change processes affecting the organisational systems serving children of parents with mental illness and their families has been undertaken. This aim of the current study is to describe the enablers and barriers that contribute to change in systems and government and non-government organisations in relation to children of parents with a mental illness in Australia over the past decade, within the context of sustainability. The study involved interviews, focus groups and website and literature searches regarding systems change across Australian states and territories and nationally in relation to the enablers, barriers and future directions. Strategic and intentional processes within organisations, more evolutionary ongoing cross-agency processes and links to sustained changes are key systems change findings. Relevance for change in other health services is highlighted.

Sexy splicing: regulatory interplays governing sex determination from Drosophila to mammals.

PubMed

Lalli, Enzo; Ohe, Kenji; Latorre, Elisa; Bianchi, Marco E; Sassone-Corsi, Paolo

2003-02-01

A remarkable array of strategies is used to produce sexual differentiation in different species. Complex gene hierarchies govern sex determination pathways, as exemplified by the classic D. melanogaster paradigm, where an interplay of transcriptional, splicing and translational mechanisms operate. Molecular studies support the hypothesis that genetic sex determination pathways evolved in reverse order, from downstream to upstream genes, in the cascade. The recent identification of a role for the key regulatory factors SRY and WT1(+KTS) in pre-mRNA splicing indicates that important steps in the mammalian sex determination process are likely to operate at the post-transcriptional level.

Washington State reorganization: more of the story.

PubMed

Gebbie, K M

1997-01-01

The creation of a new Department of Health in Washington State in 1989 provided an opportunity for analysis of the many forces beyond the pressure of interest groups leading to such a change. Interviews with key actors from executive and legislative branches of state government, local government, and interested health organizations were conducted to uncover the full scope considered for the new department, and the interactions that led to the final, narrower entity. A process model based on these findings is presented as a useful tool for those seeking to improve public health at the state level through changes in the organizational units responsible for health activities.

Vaccination policies and programs: the federal government's role in making the system work.

PubMed

Schwartz, B; Orenstein, W A

2001-12-01

Government agencies play a key role, from preclinical development to postlicensure monitoring, in making vaccinations one of the leading public health interventions. Important steps in this process include development and testing of vaccine antigens, evaluation of clinical and manufacturing data leading to licensure, formulation of recommendations, vaccine purchase, defining strategies to improve coverage, compensation of those injured by vaccine adverse reactions, and monitoring vaccine impact and safety. Using examples of newly recommended vaccines, this article describes the infrastructure that underlies a safe and effective program and highlights some of the opportunities and threats likely to impact the system in coming years.

Upconversion-based receivers for quantum hacking-resistant quantum key distribution

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Jain, Nitin; Kanter, Gregory S.

2016-07-01

We propose a novel upconversion (sum frequency generation)-based quantum-optical system design that can be employed as a receiver (Bob) in practical quantum key distribution systems. The pump governing the upconversion process is produced and utilized inside the physical receiver, making its access or control unrealistic for an external adversary (Eve). This pump facilitates several properties which permit Bob to define and control the modes that can participate in the quantum measurement. Furthermore, by manipulating and monitoring the characteristics of the pump pulses, Bob can detect a wide range of quantum hacking attacks launched by Eve.

Public Key Infrastructure Study

DTIC Science & Technology

1994-04-01

commerce. This Public Key Infrastructure (PKI) study focuses on the United States Federal Government operations, but also addresses national and global ... issues in order to facilitate the interoperation of protected electronic commerce among the various levels of government in the U.S., private citizens

A survey of urban climate change experiments in 100 cities

PubMed Central

Castán Broto, Vanesa; Bulkeley, Harriet

2013-01-01

Cities are key sites where climate change is being addressed. Previous research has largely overlooked the multiplicity of climate change responses emerging outside formal contexts of decision-making and led by actors other than municipal governments. Moreover, existing research has largely focused on case studies of climate change mitigation in developed economies. The objective of this paper is to uncover the heterogeneous mix of actors, settings, governance arrangements and technologies involved in the governance of climate change in cities in different parts of the world. The paper focuses on urban climate change governance as a process of experimentation. Climate change experiments are presented here as interventions to try out new ideas and methods in the context of future uncertainties. They serve to understand how interventions work in practice, in new contexts where they are thought of as innovative. To study experimentation, the paper presents evidence from the analysis of a database of 627 urban climate change experiments in a sample of 100 global cities. The analysis suggests that, since 2005, experimentation is a feature of urban responses to climate change across different world regions and multiple sectors. Although experimentation does not appear to be related to particular kinds of urban economic and social conditions, some of its core features are visible. For example, experimentation tends to focus on energy. Also, both social and technical forms of experimentation are visible, but technical experimentation is more common in urban infrastructure systems. While municipal governments have a critical role in climate change experimentation, they often act alongside other actors and in a variety of forms of partnership. These findings point at experimentation as a key tool to open up new political spaces for governing climate change in the city. PMID:23805029

Global trade, public health, and health services: stakeholders' constructions of the key issues.

PubMed

Waitzkin, Howard; Jasso-Aguilar, Rebeca; Landwehr, Angela; Mountain, Carolyn

2005-09-01

Focusing mainly on the United States and Latin America, we aimed to identify the constructions of social reality held by the major stakeholders participating in policy debates about global trade, public health, and health services. In a multi-method, qualitative design, we used three sources of data: research and archival literature, 1980-2004; interviews with key informants who represented major organizations participating in these debates, 2002-2004; and organizational reports, 1980-2004. We targeted several types of organizations: government agencies, international financial institutions (IFIs) and trade organizations, international health organizations, multinational corporations, and advocacy groups. Many governments in Latin America define health as a right and health services as a public good. Thus, the government bears responsibility for that right. In contrast, the US government's philosophy of free trade and promoting a market economy assumes that by expanding the private sector, improved economic conditions will improve overall health with a minimum government provision of health care. US government agencies also view promotion of global health as a means to serve US interests. IFIs have emphasized reforms that include reduction and privatization of public sector services. International health organizations have tended to adopt the policy perspectives of IFIs and trade organizations. Advocacy groups have emphasized the deleterious effects of international trade agreements on public health and health services. Organizational stakeholders hold widely divergent constructions of reality regarding trade, public health, and health services. Social constructions concerning trade and health reflect broad ideologies concerning the impacts of market processes. Such constructions manifest features of "creed," regarding the role of the market in advancing human purposes and meeting human needs. Differences in constructions of trade and health constrain policies to address the profound changes generated by global trade.

Archive of side scan sonar and bathymetry data collected during USGS Cruise 06FSH01 offshore of Siesta Key, Florida, May 2006

USGS Publications Warehouse

Ciembronowicz, Katherine T.; Flocks, James G.; Wiese, Dana S.; DeWitt, Nancy T.; Ferina, Nick F.; Robbins, Lisa L.; Harrison, Arnell S.

2007-01-01

This DVD publication was prepared by an agency of the United States Government. Although these data have been processed successfully on a computer system at the U.S. Geological Survey, no warranty expressed or implied is made regarding the display or utility of the data on any other system, or for general or scientific purposes, nor shall the act of distribution imply any such warranty. The U.S. Geological Survey shall not be held liable for improper or incorrect use of the data described and (or) contained herein. Reference herein to any specific commercial product, process, or service by trade name, trademark, manufacturer, or otherwise does not constitute or imply its endorsement, recommendation, or favoring by the United States Government or any agency thereof.

Supporting and activating clinical governance development in Ireland: sharing our learning.

PubMed

Flynn, Maureen A; Burgess, Thora; Crowley, Philip

2015-01-01

The purpose of this paper is to present a description of the Irish national clinical governance development initiative and an evaluation of the initiative with the purpose of sharing the learning and proposing actions to activate structures and processes for quality and safety. The Quality and Patient Safety Division of the Health Service Executive established the initiative to counterbalance a possible focus on finances during the economic crisis in Ireland and bring attention to the quality of clinical care. A clinical governance framework for quality in healthcare in Ireland was developed to clearly articulate the fundamentals of clinical governance. The project plan involved three overlapping phases. The first was designing resources for practice; the second testing the implementation of the national resources in practice; and the third phase focused on gathering feedback and learning. Staff responded positively to the clinical governance framework. At a time when there are a lot of demands (measurement and scrutiny) the health services leads and responds well to focused support as they improve the quality and safety of services. Promoting the use of the term "governance for quality and safety" assisted in gaining an understanding of the more traditional term "clinical governance". The experience and outcome of the initiative informed the identification of 12 key learning points and a series of recommendations The initial evaluation was conducted at 24 months so at this stage it is not possible to assess the broader impact of the clinical governance framework beyond the action project hospitals. The single most important obligation for any health system is patient safety and improving the quality of care. The easily accessible, practical resources assisted project teams to lead changes in structures and processes within their services. This paper describes the fundamentals of the clinical governance framework which might serve as a guide for more integrative research endeavours on governance for quality and safety. Experience was gained in both the development of national guidance and their practical use in targeted action projects activating structures and processes that are a prerequisite to delivering safe quality services.

Using Concept Mapping to Develop a Conceptual Framework for Creating Virtual Communities of Practice to Translate Cancer Research into Practice

PubMed Central

2014-01-01

Introduction Translating government-funded cancer research into clinical practice can be accomplished via virtual communities of practice that include key players in the process: researchers, health care practitioners, and intermediaries. This study, conducted from November 2012 through January 2013, examined issues that key stakeholders believed should be addressed to create and sustain government-sponsored virtual communities of practice to integrate cancer control research, practice, and policy and demonstrates how concept mapping can be used to present relevant issues. Methods Key stakeholders brainstormed statements describing what is needed to create and sustain virtual communities of practice for moving cancer control research into practice. Participants rated them on importance and feasibility, selected most relevant statements, and sorted them into clusters. I used concept mapping to examine the issues identified and multidimensional scaling analyses to create a 2-dimensional conceptual map of the statement clusters. Results Participants selected 70 statements and sorted them into 9 major clusters related to creating and sustaining virtual communities of practice: 1) standardization of best practices, 2) external validity, 3) funding and resources, 4) social learning and collaboration, 5) cooperation, 6) partnerships, 7) inclusiveness, 8) social determinants and cultural competency, and 9) preparing the environment. Researchers, health care practitioners, and intermediaries were in relative agreement regarding issues of importance for creating these communities. Conclusion Virtual communities of practice can be created to address the needs of researchers, health care practitioners, and intermediaries by using input from these key stakeholders. Increasing linkages between these subgroups can improve the translation of research into practice. Similarities and differences between groups can provide valuable information to assist the government in developing virtual communities of practice. PMID:24762532

Using concept mapping to develop a conceptual framework for creating virtual communities of practice to translate cancer research into practice.

PubMed

Vinson, Cynthia A

2014-04-24

Translating government-funded cancer research into clinical practice can be accomplished via virtual communities of practice that include key players in the process: researchers, health care practitioners, and intermediaries. This study, conducted from November 2012 through January 2013, examined issues that key stakeholders believed should be addressed to create and sustain government-sponsored virtual communities of practice to integrate cancer control research, practice, and policy and demonstrates how concept mapping can be used to present relevant issues. Key stakeholders brainstormed statements describing what is needed to create and sustain virtual communities of practice for moving cancer control research into practice. Participants rated them on importance and feasibility, selected most relevant statements, and sorted them into clusters. I used concept mapping to examine the issues identified and multidimensional scaling analyses to create a 2-dimensional conceptual map of the statement clusters. Participants selected 70 statements and sorted them into 9 major clusters related to creating and sustaining virtual communities of practice: 1) standardization of best practices, 2) external validity, 3) funding and resources, 4) social learning and collaboration, 5) cooperation, 6) partnerships, 7) inclusiveness, 8) social determinants and cultural competency, and 9) preparing the environment. Researchers, health care practitioners, and intermediaries were in relative agreement regarding issues of importance for creating these communities. Virtual communities of practice can be created to address the needs of researchers, health care practitioners, and intermediaries by using input from these key stakeholders. Increasing linkages between these subgroups can improve the translation of research into practice. Similarities and differences between groups can provide valuable information to assist the government in developing virtual communities of practice.

Moving towards Universal Health Coverage through the Development of Integrated Service Delivery Packages for Primary Health Care in the Solomon Islands

PubMed Central

Whiting, Stephen; Postma, Sjoerd; Jamshaid de Lorenzo, Ayesha; Aumua, Audrey

2016-01-01

The Solomon Islands Government is pursuing integrated care with the goal of improving the quality of health service delivery to rural populations. Under the auspices of Universal Health Coverage, integrated service delivery packages were developed which defined the clinical and public health services that should be provided at different levels of the health system. The process of developing integrated service delivery packages helped to identify key policy decisions the government needed to make in order to improve service quality and efficiency. The integrated service delivery packages have instigated the revision of job descriptions and are feeding into the development of a human resource plan for health. They are also being used to guide infrastructure development and health system planning and should lead to better management of resources. The integrated service delivery packages have become a key tool to operationalise the government’s policy to move towards a more efficient, equitable, quality and sustainable health system. PMID:28321177

Interpretive flexibility in mobile health: lessons from a government-sponsored home care program.

PubMed

Nielsen, Jeppe Agger; Mathiassen, Lars

2013-10-30

Mobile technologies have emerged as important tools that health care personnel can use to gain easy access to client data anywhere. This is particularly useful for nurses and care workers in home health care as they provide services to clients in many different settings. Although a growing body of evidence supports the use of mobile technologies, the diverse implications of mobile health have yet to be fully documented. Our objective was to examine a large-scale government-sponsored mobile health implementation program in the Danish home care sector and to understand how the technology was used differently across home care agencies. We chose to perform a longitudinal case study with embedded units of analysis. We included multiple data sources, such as written materials, a survey to managers across all 98 Danish municipalities, and semistructured interviews with managers, care workers, and nurses in three selected home care agencies. We used process models of change to help analyze the overall implementation process from a longitudinal perspective and to identify antecedent conditions, key events, and practical outcomes. Strong collaboration between major stakeholders in the Danish home care sector (government bodies, vendors, consultants, interest organizations, and managers) helped initiate and energize the change process, and government funding supported quick and widespread technology adoption. However, although supported by the same government-sponsored program, mobile technology proved to have considerable interpretive flexibility with variation in perceived nature of technology, technology strategy, and technology use between agencies. What was first seen as a very promising innovation across the Danish home care sector subsequently became the topic of debate as technology use arrangements ran counter to existing norms and values in individual agencies. Government-sponsored programs can have both positive and negative results, and managers need to be aware of this and the interpretive flexibility of mobile technology. Mobile technology implementation is a complex process that is best studied by combining organization-level analysis with features of the wider sociopolitical and interorganizational environment.

Key Elements for Judging the Quality of a Risk Assessment

PubMed Central

Fenner-Crisp, Penelope A.; Dellarco, Vicki L.

2016-01-01

Background: Many reports have been published that contain recommendations for improving the quality, transparency, and usefulness of decision making for risk assessments prepared by agencies of the U.S. federal government. A substantial measure of consensus has emerged regarding the characteristics that high-quality assessments should possess. Objective: The goal was to summarize the key characteristics of a high-quality assessment as identified in the consensus-building process and to integrate them into a guide for use by decision makers, risk assessors, peer reviewers and other interested stakeholders to determine if an assessment meets the criteria for high quality. Discussion: Most of the features cited in the guide are applicable to any type of assessment, whether it encompasses one, two, or all four phases of the risk-assessment paradigm; whether it is qualitative or quantitative; and whether it is screening level or highly sophisticated and complex. Other features are tailored to specific elements of an assessment. Just as agencies at all levels of government are responsible for determining the effectiveness of their programs, so too should they determine the effectiveness of their assessments used in support of their regulatory decisions. Furthermore, if a nongovernmental entity wishes to have its assessments considered in the governmental regulatory decision-making process, then these assessments should be judged in the same rigorous manner and be held to similar standards. Conclusions: The key characteristics of a high-quality assessment can be summarized and integrated into a guide for judging whether an assessment possesses the desired features of high quality, transparency, and usefulness. Citation: Fenner-Crisp PA, Dellarco VL. 2016. Key elements for judging the quality of a risk assessment. Environ Health Perspect 124:1127–1135; http://dx.doi.org/10.1289/ehp.1510483 PMID:26862984

Empathic and Self-Regulatory Processes Governing Doping Behavior

PubMed Central

Boardley, Ian D.; Smith, Alan L.; Mills, John P.; Grix, Jonathan; Wynne, Ceri

2017-01-01

Evidence associating doping behavior with moral disengagement (MD) has accumulated over recent years. However, to date, research examining links between MD and doping has not considered key theoretically grounded influences and outcomes of MD. As such, there is a need for quantitative research in relevant populations that purposefully examines the explanatory pathways through which MD is thought to operate. Toward this end, the current study examined a conceptually grounded model of doping behavior that incorporated empathy, doping self-regulatory efficacy (SRE), doping MD, anticipated guilt and self-reported doping/doping susceptibility. Participants were specifically recruited to represent four key physical-activity contexts and consisted of team- (n = 195) and individual- (n = 169) sport athletes and hardcore- (n = 125) and corporate- (n = 121) gym exercisers representing both genders (nmale = 371; nfemale = 239); self-reported lifetime prevalence of doping across the sample was 13.6%. Each participant completed questionnaires assessing the aforementioned variables. Structural equation modeling indicated strong support for all study hypotheses. Specifically, we established: (a) empathy and doping SRE negatively predicted reported doping; (b) the predictive effects of empathy and doping SRE on reported doping were mediated by doping MD and anticipated guilt; (c) doping MD positively predicted reported doping; (d) the predictive effects of doping MD on reported doping were partially mediated by anticipated guilt. Substituting self-reported doping for doping susceptibility, multisample analyses then demonstrated these predictive effects were largely invariant between males and females and across the four physical-activity contexts represented. These findings extend current knowledge on a number of levels, and in doing so aid our understanding of key psychosocial processes that may govern doping behavior across key physical-activity contexts. PMID:29018370

Empathic and Self-Regulatory Processes Governing Doping Behavior.

PubMed

Boardley, Ian D; Smith, Alan L; Mills, John P; Grix, Jonathan; Wynne, Ceri

2017-01-01

Evidence associating doping behavior with moral disengagement (MD) has accumulated over recent years. However, to date, research examining links between MD and doping has not considered key theoretically grounded influences and outcomes of MD. As such, there is a need for quantitative research in relevant populations that purposefully examines the explanatory pathways through which MD is thought to operate. Toward this end, the current study examined a conceptually grounded model of doping behavior that incorporated empathy, doping self-regulatory efficacy (SRE), doping MD, anticipated guilt and self-reported doping/doping susceptibility. Participants were specifically recruited to represent four key physical-activity contexts and consisted of team- ( n = 195) and individual- ( n = 169) sport athletes and hardcore- ( n = 125) and corporate- ( n = 121) gym exercisers representing both genders ( n male = 371; n female = 239); self-reported lifetime prevalence of doping across the sample was 13.6%. Each participant completed questionnaires assessing the aforementioned variables. Structural equation modeling indicated strong support for all study hypotheses. Specifically, we established: (a) empathy and doping SRE negatively predicted reported doping; (b) the predictive effects of empathy and doping SRE on reported doping were mediated by doping MD and anticipated guilt; (c) doping MD positively predicted reported doping; (d) the predictive effects of doping MD on reported doping were partially mediated by anticipated guilt. Substituting self-reported doping for doping susceptibility, multisample analyses then demonstrated these predictive effects were largely invariant between males and females and across the four physical-activity contexts represented. These findings extend current knowledge on a number of levels, and in doing so aid our understanding of key psychosocial processes that may govern doping behavior across key physical-activity contexts.

Problem formulation and option assessment (PFOA) linking governance and environmental risk assessment for technologies: a methodology for problem analysis of nanotechnologies and genetically engineered organisms.

PubMed

Nelson, Kristen C; Andow, David A; Banker, Michael J

2009-01-01

Societal evaluation of new technologies, specifically nanotechnology and genetically engineered organisms (GEOs), challenges current practices of governance and science. Employing environmental risk assessment (ERA) for governance and oversight assumes we have a reasonable ability to understand consequences and predict adverse effects. However, traditional ERA has come under considerable criticism for its many shortcomings and current governance institutions have demonstrated limitations in transparency, public input, and capacity. Problem Formulation and Options Assessment (PFOA) is a methodology founded on three key concepts in risk assessment (science-based consideration, deliberation, and multi-criteria analysis) and three in governance (participation, transparency, and accountability). Developed through a series of international workshops, the PFOA process emphasizes engagement with stakeholders in iterative stages, from identification of the problem(s) through comparison of multiple technology solutions that could be used in the future with their relative benefits, harms, and risk. It provides "upstream public engagement" in a deliberation informed by science that identifies values for improved decision making.

Adaptive governance and institutional strategies for climate-induced community relocations in Alaska.

PubMed

Bronen, Robin; Chapin, F Stuart

2013-06-04

This article presents governance and institutional strategies for climate-induced community relocations. In Alaska, repeated extreme weather events coupled with climate change-induced coastal erosion impact the habitability of entire communities. Community residents and government agencies concur that relocation is the only adaptation strategy that can protect lives and infrastructure. Community relocation stretches the financial and institutional capacity of existing governance institutions. Based on a comparative analysis of three Alaskan communities, Kivalina, Newtok, and Shishmaref, which have chosen to relocate, we examine the institutional constraints to relocation in the United States. We identify policy changes and components of a toolkit that can facilitate community-based adaptation when environmental events threaten people's lives and protection in place is not possible. Policy changes include amendment of the Stafford Act to include gradual geophysical processes, such as erosion, in the statutory definition of disaster and the creation of an adaptive governance framework to allow communities a continuum of responses from protection in place to community relocation. Key components of the toolkit are local leadership and integration of social and ecological well-being into adaptation planning.

Governance Change and Institutional Adaptation: A Case Study from Harenna Forest, Ethiopia

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wakjira, Dereje T.; Fischer, Anke; Pinard, Michelle A.

2013-04-01

Many common pool resources have traditionally been managed through intricate local governance arrangements. Over time, such arrangements are confronted with manifold political, social, economic and ecological changes. However, the ways in which local governance arrangements react to such changes are poorly understood. Using the theoretical concept of institutional adaptation, we analyse the history of Harenna forest, Ethiopia, to examine processes of institutional change over the last 150 years. We find that the traditional institutions that governed Harenna's resources persisted, in essence, over time. However, these institutions were modified repeatedly to address changes caused by varying formal, supra-regional governance regimes, the development of markets for forest products, increasing population pressure and changes in formal property rights. A key mechanism for adaptation was combining elements from both informal and formal institutions, which allowed traditional rules to persist in the guise of more formal arrangements. Our findings also highlight several constraints of institutional adaptation. For example, by abolishing fora for collective decision-making, regime changes limited adaptive capacity. To conclude, we argue that such insights into traditional resource governance and its adaptability and dynamics over time are essential to develop sustainable approaches to participatory forest management for the future, both in Harenna and more generally.

Scenario analysis for biodiversity conservation: a social-ecological system approach in the Australian Alps.

PubMed

Mitchell, Michael; Lockwood, Michael; Moore, Susan A; Clement, Sarah

2015-03-01

Current policy interventions are having limited success in addressing the ongoing decline in global biodiversity. In part, this is attributable to insufficient attention being paid to the social and governance processes that drive decisions and can undermine their implementation. Scenario planning that draws on social-ecological systems (SES) analysis provides a useful means to systematically explore and anticipate future uncertainties regarding the interaction between humans and biodiversity outcomes. However, the effective application of SES models has been limited by the insufficient attention given to governance influences. Understanding the influence governance attributes have on the future trajectory of SES is likely to assist choice of effective interventions, as well as needs and opportunities for governance reform. In a case study in the Australian Alps, we explore the potential of joint SES and scenario analyses to identify how governance influences landscape-scale biodiversity outcomes. Novel aspects of our application of these methods were the specification of the focal system's governance attributes according to requirements for adaptive capacity, and constraining scenarios according to the current governance settings while varying key social and biophysical drivers. This approach allowed us to identify how current governance arrangements influence landscape-scale biodiversity outcomes, and establishes a baseline from which the potential benefits of governance reform can be assessed. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Perceptions of the Invention Disclosure Process at a Federal Laboratory after the America Invents Act of 2011

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Rice-Moore, Sharla V.

The America Invents Act of 2011 reformed the patent process in the United States. This study focused on the effect of one provision which allows the first inventor to file the application of patent to become the owner of the intellectual property. Prior to this, the Patent and Trademark Act of 1980 allowed small businesses, universities, and non-profit institutions to pursue ownership of intellectual property developed from federally funded research. The new regulations could influence government employees' disclosure of invention and new technology. There is limited research on the disclosure of technology process for government employees. This study examined 1,389 invention disclosure forms from March 2009 to March 2015 during three phases of the law: before it was signed, before the implementation of the first inventor to file provision in 2013, and after full enactment. The reported State of Development showed significant changes prior to implementation for large companies. The findings reveal disclosures were filed at an earlier stage of development, but no change was noted in the significance of the technology. A survey was also distributed using the framework of Organizational Justice theory. The results showed the disclosure reporting process was fair and unbiased. The research supports the efforts of management to keep employees informed about the disclosure process and the importance of technology transfer of government developed innovation. Key words: America Invents Act, Organizational Justice, patent process.

Governing Academic Medical Center Systems: Evaluating and Choosing Among Alternative Governance Approaches.

PubMed

Chari, Ramya; O'Hanlon, Claire; Chen, Peggy; Leuschner, Kristin; Nelson, Christopher

2018-02-01

The ability of academic medical centers (AMCs) to fulfill their triple mission of patient care, medical education, and research is increasingly being threatened by rising financial pressures and resource constraints. Many AMCs are, therefore, looking to expand into academic medical systems, increasing their scale through consolidation or affiliation with other health care systems. As clinical operations grow, though, the need for effective governance becomes even more critical to ensure that the business of patient care does not compromise the rest of the triple mission. Multi-AMC systems, a model in which multiple AMCs are governed by a single body, pose a particular challenge in balancing unity with the needs of component AMCs, and therefore offer lessons for designing AMC governance approaches. This article describes the development and application of a set of criteria to evaluate governance options for one multi-AMC system-the University of California (UC) and its five AMCs. Based on a literature review and key informant interviews, the authors identified criteria for evaluating governance approaches (structures and processes), assessed current governance approaches using the criteria, identified alternative governance options, and assessed each option using the identified criteria. The assessment aided UC in streamlining governance operations to enhance their ability to respond efficiently to change and to act collectively. Although designed for UC and a multi-AMC model, the criteria may provide a systematic way for any AMC to assess the strengths and weaknesses of its governance approaches.

Development of EarthCube Governance: An Agile Approach

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Pearthree, G.; Allison, M. L.; Patten, K.

2013-12-01

Governance of geosciences cyberinfrastructure is a complex and essential undertaking, critical in enabling distributed knowledge communities to collaborate and communicate across disciplines, distances, and cultures. Advancing science with respect to 'grand challenges," such as global climate change, weather prediction, and core fundamental science, depends not just on technical cyber systems, but also on social systems for strategic planning, decision-making, project management, learning, teaching, and building a community of practice. Simply put, a robust, agile technical system depends on an equally robust and agile social system. Cyberinfrastructure development is wrapped in social, organizational and governance challenges, which may significantly impede progress. An agile development process is underway for governance of transformative investments in geosciences cyberinfrastructure through the NSF EarthCube initiative. Agile development is iterative and incremental, and promotes adaptive planning and rapid and flexible response. Such iterative deployment across a variety of EarthCube stakeholders encourages transparency, consensus, accountability, and inclusiveness. A project Secretariat acts as the coordinating body, carrying out duties for planning, organizing, communicating, and reporting. A broad coalition of stakeholder groups comprises an Assembly (Mainstream Scientists, Cyberinfrastructure Institutions, Information Technology/Computer Sciences, NSF EarthCube Investigators, Science Communities, EarthCube End-User Workshop Organizers, Professional Societies) to serve as a preliminary venue for identifying, evaluating, and testing potential governance models. To offer opportunity for broader end-user input, a crowd-source approach will engage stakeholders not involved otherwise. An Advisory Committee from the Earth, ocean, atmosphere, social, computer and library sciences is guiding the process from a high-level policy point of view. Developmental evaluators from the social sciences embedded in the project provide real-time review and adjustments. While a large number of agencies and organizations have agreed to participate, in order to ensure an open and inclusive process, community selected leaders yet to be identified will play key roles through an Assembly Advisory Council. Once consensus is reached on a governing framework, a community-selected demonstration governance pilot will help facilitate community convergence on system design.

Measuring Stability and Security in Iraq: Report to Congress in Accordance with the Department of Defense Appropriations Act 2007 (Section 9010, Public Law 109-289)

DTIC Science & Technology

2006-11-01

initiatives. Political Stability Iraq’s Council of Representatives has passed key legislation to initiate the constitutional review process, to...facilitate foreign invest- ment, and to outline a process for region formation. Most important for long-term political stability is the success of...November 30, 2006 5 1. Stability and Security in Iraq 1.1 Political Stability 1.1.1 Steps to a Free and Self-Governing Iraq As detailed in the August

Review of Australian Higher Education: An Australian Policy Perspective

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Montague, Alan

2013-01-01

Higher education is one of the key foundations that economic prosperity is founded upon. Government policies, funding and strategic planning require a fine balance to stimulate growth, prosperity health and well-being. The key Australian government policies influenced by a Review of Australian Higher Education report include attracting many more…

Education Facilities Sector-Specific Plan: An Annex to the Government Facilities Sector-Specific Plan

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

US Department of Homeland Security, 2010

2010-01-01

Critical infrastructure and key resources (CIKR) provide the essential services that support basic elements of American society. Compromise of these CIKR could disrupt key government and industry activities, facilities, and systems, producing cascading effects throughout the Nation's economy and society and profoundly affecting the national…

Social-ecological resilience and geomorphic systems

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Chaffin, Brian C.; Scown, Murray

2018-03-01

Governance of coupled social-ecological systems (SESs) and the underlying geomorphic processes that structure and alter Earth's surface is a key challenge for global sustainability amid the increasing uncertainty and change that defines the Anthropocene. Social-ecological resilience as a concept of scientific inquiry has contributed to new understandings of the dynamics of change in SESs, increasing our ability to contextualize and implement governance in these systems. Often, however, the importance of geomorphic change and geomorphological knowledge is somewhat missing from processes employed to inform SES governance. In this contribution, we argue that geomorphology and social-ecological resilience research should be integrated to improve governance toward sustainability. We first provide definitions of engineering, ecological, community, and social-ecological resilience and then explore the use of these concepts within and alongside geomorphology in the literature. While ecological studies often consider geomorphology as an important factor influencing the resilience of ecosystems and geomorphological studies often consider the engineering resilience of geomorphic systems of interest, very few studies define and employ a social-ecological resilience framing and explicitly link the concept to geomorphic systems. We present five key concepts-scale, feedbacks, state or regime, thresholds and regime shifts, and humans as part of the system-which we believe can help explicitly link important aspects of social-ecological resilience inquiry and geomorphological inquiry in order to strengthen the impact of both lines of research. Finally, we discuss how these five concepts might be used to integrate social-ecological resilience and geomorphology to better understand change in, and inform governance of, SESs. To compound these dynamics of resilience, complex systems are nested and cross-scale interactions from smaller and larger scales relative to the system of interest can play formative roles during periods of collapse and reorganization. Large- and small-scale disturbances as well as large-scale system memory/capacity and small-scale innovation can have significant impacts on the trajectory of a reorganizing system (Gunderson and Holling, 2002; Chaffin and Gunderson, 2016). Attempts to measure the property of ecological resilience across complex systems amounts to attempts to measure the persistence of system-controlling variables, including processes, parameters, and important feedbacks, when the system is exposed to varying degrees of disturbance (Folke, 2016).

Dynamics Govern Specificity of a Protein-Protein Interface: Substrate Recognition by Thrombin.

PubMed

Fuchs, Julian E; Huber, Roland G; Waldner, Birgit J; Kahler, Ursula; von Grafenstein, Susanne; Kramer, Christian; Liedl, Klaus R

2015-01-01

Biomolecular recognition is crucial in cellular signal transduction. Signaling is mediated through molecular interactions at protein-protein interfaces. Still, specificity and promiscuity of protein-protein interfaces cannot be explained using simplistic static binding models. Our study rationalizes specificity of the prototypic protein-protein interface between thrombin and its peptide substrates relying solely on binding site dynamics derived from molecular dynamics simulations. We find conformational selection and thus dynamic contributions to be a key player in biomolecular recognition. Arising entropic contributions complement chemical intuition primarily reflecting enthalpic interaction patterns. The paradigm "dynamics govern specificity" might provide direct guidance for the identification of specific anchor points in biomolecular recognition processes and structure-based drug design.

Shared leadership in a medical practice: keys to success.

PubMed

Daiker, Barbara L

2009-01-01

Medical practices are in a complex industry and require the expertise of both physician and business leaders to be successful. Sharing the leadership between these two professionals brings with it challenges that are best met if the environment is supportive. This support comes in the form of external aspects such as selection, role definition, organizational hierarchy, time, and process. Critical to shared leadership is communication, both frequency and quality. Conflicts are likely to occur, and how they are resolved is what determines the strength of a shared governance relationship. Reality is that finding the balance in shared governance is diffcult, but with effort and commitment, it can provide the organization with the performance it hopes to achieve.

Opportunities in Vietnam

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Burke, F.; Donoghue, N.

1994-11-01

Vietnam`s energy needs are clear and acute. Economic reforms have triggered a dynamic development process with a large and growing appetite for power. In view of the Vietnamese government`s own shortages of capital, private international power companies have been identified as key problem-solvers in the country`s efforts to meet a skyrocketing demand for energy resources. There are no restrictions on the nature of projects in which non-Vietnamese investors may participate. A number of legal issues need resolution before independent power producers can take advantage of the Republic`s recently created Builder-Operator-Transfer Contracts (the BOT Regulations). This paper discusses these regulations andmore » how they affect independent power producers« less

Support to the Safe Motherhood Programme in Nepal: an integrated approach.

PubMed

Barker, Carol E; Bird, Cherry E; Pradhan, Ajit; Shakya, Ganga

2007-11-01

Evidence gathered from 1997 to 2006 indicates progress in reducing maternal mortality in Nepal, but public health services are still constrained by resource and staff shortages, especially in rural areas. The five-year Support to the Safe Motherhood Programme builds on the experience of the Nepal Safer Motherhood Project (1997-2004). It is working with the Government of Nepal to build capacity to institute a minimum package of essential maternity services, linking evidence-based policy development with health system strengthening. It has supported long-term planning, working towards skilled attendance at every birth, safe blood supplies, staff training, building management capacity, improving monitoring systems and use of process indicators, promoting dialogue between women and providers on quality of care, and increasing equity and access at district level. An incentives scheme finances transport costs to a health facility for all pregnant women and incentives to health workers attending deliveries, with free services and subsidies to facilities in the poorest 25 districts. Despite bureaucracy, frequent transfer of key government staff and political instability, there has been progress in policy development, and public health sector expenditure has increased. For the future, a human resources strategy with career paths that encourage skilled staff to stay in the government service is key.

Muscle as a “Mediator“ of Systemic Metabolism

PubMed Central

Baskin, Kedryn K.; Winders, Benjamin R.; Olson, Eric N.

2015-01-01

Skeletal and cardiac muscles play key roles in the regulation of systemic energy homeostasis and display remarkable plasticity in their metabolic responses to caloric availability and physical activity. In this Perspective we discuss recent studies highlighting transcriptional mechanisms that govern systemic metabolism by striated muscles. We focus on the participation of the Mediator complex in this process, and suggest that tissue-specific regulation of Mediator subunits impacts metabolic homeostasis. PMID:25651178

Strengthening mental health system governance in six low- and middle-income countries in Africa and South Asia: challenges, needs and potential strategies

PubMed Central

Marais, Debbie; Abdulmalik, Jibril; Ahuja, Shalini; Alem, Atalay; Chisholm, Dan; Egbe, Catherine; Gureje, Oye; Hanlon, Charlotte; Lund, Crick; Shidhaye, Rahul; Jordans, Mark; Kigozi, Fred; Mugisha, James; Upadhaya, Nawaraj; Thornicroft, Graham

2017-01-01

Abstract Poor governance has been identified as a barrier to effective integration of mental health care in low- and middle-income countries. Governance includes providing the necessary policy and legislative framework to promote and protect the mental health of a population, as well as health system design and quality assurance to ensure optimal policy implementation. The aim of this study was to identify key governance challenges, needs and potential strategies that could facilitate adequate integration of mental health into primary health care settings in low- and middle-income countries. Key informant qualitative interviews were held with 141 participants across six countries participating in the Emerging mental health systems in low- and middle-income countries (Emerald) research program: Ethiopia, India, Nepal, Nigeria, South Africa, and Uganda. Data were transcribed (and where necessary, translated into English) and analysed thematically using framework analysis, first at the country level, then synthesized at a cross-country level. While all the countries fared well with respect to strategic vision in the form of the development of national mental health policies, key governance strategies identified to address challenges included: strengthening capacity of managers at sub-national levels to develop and implement integrated plans; strengthening key aspects of the essential health system building blocks to promote responsiveness, efficiency and effectiveness; developing workable mechanisms for inter-sectoral collaboration, as well as community and service user engagement; and developing innovative approaches to improving mental health literacy and stigma reduction. Inadequate financing emerged as the biggest challenge for good governance. In addition to the need for overall good governance of a health care system, this study identifies a number of specific strategies to improve governance for integrated mental health care in low- and middle-income countries. PMID:28369396

Strengthening health professions regulation in Cambodia: a rapid assessment.

PubMed

Clarke, David; Duke, Jan; Wuliji, Tana; Smith, Alyson; Phuong, Keat; San, Un

2016-03-10

This paper describes a rapid assessment of Cambodia's current system for regulating its health professions. The assessment forms part of a co-design process to set strategic priorities for strengthening health profession regulation to improve the quality and safety of health services. A health system approach for strengthening health professions' regulation is underway and aims to support the Government of Cambodia's plans for scaling up its health workforce, improving health services' safety and quality, and meeting its Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN) obligations to facilitate trade in health care services. The assessment used a mixed methods approach including: A desktop review of key laws, plans, reports and other documents relating to the regulation of the health professions in Cambodia (medicine, dentistry, midwifery, nursing and pharmacy); Key informant interviews with stakeholders in Cambodia (The term "stakeholders" refers to government officials, people working on health professional regulation, people working for the various health worker training institutions and health workers at the national and provincial level); Surveys and questionnaires to assess Cambodian stakeholder knowledge of regulation; Self-assessments by members of the five Cambodian regulatory councils regarding key capacities and activities of high-performing regulatory bodies; and A rapid literature review to identify: The key functions of health professional regulation; The key issues affecting the Cambodian health sector (including relevant developments in the wider ASEAN region); and "Smart" health profession regulation practices of possible relevance to Cambodia. We found that the current regulatory system only partially meets Cambodia's needs. A number of key regulatory functions are being performed, but overall, the current system was not designed with Cambodia's specific needs in mind. The existing system is also overly complex, with considerable duplication and overlap between governance and regulatory arrangements for the five regulated professions. There is considerable scope for reform to the current regulatory system to better align the system to Cambodia's: Current needs and circumstances; Health system strategic priorities; and International obligations. Cambodia is also well placed to base its reformed regulatory system on recent developments of "smart regulatory practices" for health professionals.

Senior managers' viewpoints toward challenges of implementing clinical governance: a national study in iran.

PubMed

Ravaghi, Hamid; Heidarpour, Peigham; Mohseni, Maryam; Rafiei, Sima

2013-11-01

Quality improvement should be assigned as the main mission for healthcare providers. Clinical Governance (CG) is used not only as a strategy focusing on responding to public and government's intolerance of poor healthcare standards, but also it is implemented for quality improvement in a number of countries. This study aims to identify the key contributing factors in the implementation process of CG from the viewpoints of senior managers in curative deputies of Medical Universities in Iran. A quantitative method was applied via a questionnaire distributed to 43 senior managers in curative deputies of Iran Universities of Medical Sciences. Data were analyzed using SPSS. Analysis revealed that a number of items were important in the successful implementation of CG from the senior managers' viewpoints. These items included: knowledge and attitude toward CG, supportive culture, effective communication, teamwork, organizational commitment, and the support given by top managers. Medical staff engagement in CG implementation process, presence of an official position for CG officers, adequate resources, and legal challenges were also regarded as important factors in the implementation process. Knowledge about CG, organizational culture, managerial support, ability to communicate goals and strategies, and the presence of effective structures to support CG, were all related to senior managers' attitude toward CG and ultimately affected the success of quality improvement activities.

The environmental controls that govern the end product of bacterial nitrate respiration

DOE PAGES

Kraft, Beate; Tegetmeyer, Halina E.; Sharma, Ritin; ...

2014-08-08

In the biogeochemical nitrogen cycle, microbial respiration processes compete for nitrate as an electron acceptor. Denitrification converts nitrate into nitrogenous gas and thus removes fixed nitrogen from the biosphere, whereas ammonification converts nitrate into ammonium, which is directly reusable by primary producers. In this paper, we combined multiple parallel long-term incubations of marine microbial nitrate-respiring communities with isotope labeling and metagenomics to unravel how specific environmental conditions select for either process. Microbial generation time, supply of nitrite relative to nitrate, and the carbon/nitrogen ratio were identified as key environmental controls that determine whether nitrite will be reduced to nitrogenous gasmore » or ammonium. Finally, our results define the microbial ecophysiology of a biogeochemical feedback loop that is key to global change, eutrophication, and wastewater treatment.« less

The Role of Law in Adaptive Governance | Science Inventory ...

EPA Pesticide Factsheets

The term “governance” encompasses both governmental and nongovernmental participation in collective choice and action. Law dictates the structure, boundaries, rules, and processes within which governmental action takes place, and in doing so becomes one of the focal points for analysis of barriers to adaptation as the effects of climate change are felt. Adaptive governance must therefore contemplate a level of flexibility and evolution in governmental action beyond that currently found in the heavily administrative governments of many democracies. Nevertheless, over time, law itself has proven highly adaptive in western systems of government, evolving to address and even facilitate the emergence of new social norms (such as the rights of women and minorities) or to provide remedies for emerging problems (such as pollution). Thus, there is no question that law can adapt, evolve, and be reformed to make room for adaptive governance. In doing this, not only may barriers be removed, but law may be adjusted to facilitate adaptive governance and to aid in institutionalizing new and emerging approaches to governance. The key is to do so in a way that also enhances legitimacy, accountability, and justice, or else such reforms will never be adopted by democratic societies, or if adopted, will destabilize those societies. By identifying those aspects of the frameworks for adaptive governance reviewed in the introduction to this special feature relevant to the legal sy

European Healthy Cities come to terms with health network governance.

PubMed

de Leeuw, Evelyne; Kickbusch, Ilona; Palmer, Nicola; Spanswick, Lucy

2015-06-01

A focus on good governance in the WHO European network of Healthy Cities mirrors the WHO Region's strategic emphasis-its member states in the Health 2020 strategy espouse governance for health as key. Healthy Cities adopted governance as a key value and approach to delivering specific health programmes and policies. This article reviews the extent to which they actually introduce and align governance concepts and approaches with their local government commitments. Healthy Cities show that better participation, policy-making and intersectoral action result from an emphasis on governance. This happens across the designated cities and is not limited to a certain class (in terms of population or geographical location) or the time they have been designated. The support of WHO in driving the governance agenda seems important, but no data are available to show that European Healthy Cities are different from other urban environments. © The Author 2015. Published by Oxford University Press. All rights reserved. For Permissions, please email: journals.permissions@oup.com.

Responding to non-communicable diseases in Zambia: a policy analysis.

PubMed

Mukanu, Mulenga M; Zulu, Joseph Mumba; Mweemba, Chrispin; Mutale, Wilbroad

2017-04-24

Non-communicable diseases (NCDs) are an emerging global health concern. Reports have shown that, in Zambia, NCDs are also an emerging problem and the government has begun initiating a policy response. The present study explores the policy response to NCDs by the Ministry of Health in Zambia using the policy triangle framework of Walt and Gilson. A qualitative approach was used for the study. Data collected through key informant interviews with stakeholders who were involved in the NCD health policy development process as well as review of key planning and policy documents were analysed using thematic analysis. The government's policy response was as a result of international strategies from WHO, evidence of increasing disease burden from NCDs and pressure from interest groups. The government developed the NCD strategic plan based on the WHO Global Action Plan for NCDs 2013-2030. Development of the NCD strategic plan was driven by the government through the Ministry of Health, who set the agenda and adopted the final document. Stakeholders participated in the fine tuning of the draft document from the Ministry of Health. The policy development process was lengthy and this affected consistency in composition of the stakeholders and policy development momentum. Lack of representative research evidence for some prioritised NCDs and use of generic targets and indicators resulted in the NCD strategic plan being inadequate for the Zambian context. The interventions in the strategic plan also underutilised the potential of preventing NCDs through health education. Recent government pronouncements were also seen to be conflicting the risk factor reduction strategies outlined in the NCD strategic plan. The content of the NCD strategic plan inadequately covered all the major NCDs in Zambia. Although contextual factors like international strategies and commitments are crucial catalysts to policy development, there is need for domestication of international guidelines and frameworks to match the disease burden, resources and capacities in the local context if policy measures are to be comprehensive, relevant and measurable. Such domestication should be guided by representative local research evidence.

Enhancing the use of research in health-promoting, anti-racism policy.

PubMed

Ferdinand, Angeline S; Paradies, Yin; Kelaher, Margaret

2017-07-11

The Localities Embracing and Accepting Diversity (LEAD) programme was established to improve the health of ethnic minority communities through the reduction of racial discrimination. Local governments in the state of Victoria, Australia, were at the forefront of LEAD implementation in collaboration with leading state and national organisations. Key aims included expanding the available evidence regarding effective anti-racism interventions and facilitating the uptake of this evidence in organisational policies and practices. One rural and one metropolitan local government areas were selected to participate in LEAD. Key informant interviews and discussions were conducted with individuals who had participated in LEAD implementation and members of LEAD governance structures. Data were also collected on programme processes and implementation, partnership formation and organisational assessments. The LEAD model demonstrated both strengths and weaknesses in terms of facilitating the use of evidence in a complex, community-based health promotion initiative. Representation of implementing, funding and advisory bodies at different levels of governance enabled the input of technical advice and guidance alongside design and implementation. The representation structure assisted in ensuring the development of a programme that was acceptable to all partners and informed by the best available evidence. Simultaneous evaluation also enhanced perceived validity of the intervention, allowed for strategy correction when necessary and supported the process of double-loop organisational learning. However, due to the model's demand for simultaneous and intensive effort by various organisations, when particular elements of the intervention were not functional, there was a considerable loss of time and resources across the partner organisations. The complexity of the model also presented a challenge in ensuring clarity regarding roles, functions and the direction of the programme. The example of LEAD provides guidance on mechanisms to strengthen the entry of evidence into complex community-based health promotion programmes. The paper highlights some of the strengths and weaknesses of the LEAD model and implications for practical collaboration between policymakers, implementers and researchers.

Navigating the transition to ecosystem-based management of the Great Barrier Reef, Australia

PubMed Central

Olsson, Per; Folke, Carl; Hughes, Terry P.

2008-01-01

We analyze the strategies and actions that enable transitions toward ecosystem-based management using the recent governance changes of the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park as a case study. The interplay among individual actors, organizations, and institutions at multiple levels is central in such transitions. A flexible organization, the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority, was crucial in initiating the transition to ecosystem-based management. This agency was also instrumental in the subsequent transformation of the governance regime and provided leadership throughout the process. Strategies involved internal reorganization and management innovation, leading to an ability to coordinate the scientific community, to increase public awareness of environmental issues and problems, to involve a broader set of stakeholders, and to maneuver the political system for support at critical times. The transformation process was induced by increased pressure on the Great Barrier Reef (from terrestrial runoff, overharvesting, and global warming) that triggered a new sense of urgency to address these challenges. The focus of governance shifted from protection of selected individual reefs to stewardship of the larger-scale seascape. The study emphasizes the significance of stewardship that can change patterns of interactions among key actors and allow for new forms of management and governance to emerge in response to environmental change. This example illustrates that enabling legislations or other social bounds are essential, but not sufficient for shifting governance toward adaptive comanagement of complex marine ecosystems. PMID:18621698

Extended principle component analysis - a useful tool to understand processes governing water quality at catchment scales

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Selle, B.; Schwientek, M.

2012-04-01

Water quality of ground and surface waters in catchments is typically driven by many complex and interacting processes. While small scale processes are often studied in great detail, their relevance and interplay at catchment scales remain often poorly understood. For many catchments, extensive monitoring data on water quality have been collected for different purposes. These heterogeneous data sets contain valuable information on catchment scale processes but are rarely analysed using integrated methods. Principle component analysis (PCA) has previously been applied to this kind of data sets. However, a detailed analysis of scores, which are an important result of a PCA, is often missing. Mathematically, PCA expresses measured variables on water quality, e.g. nitrate concentrations, as linear combination of independent, not directly observable key processes. These computed key processes are represented by principle components. Their scores are interpretable as process intensities which vary in space and time. Subsequently, scores can be correlated with other key variables and catchment characteristics, such as water travel times and land use that were not considered in PCA. This detailed analysis of scores represents an extension of the commonly applied PCA which could considerably improve the understanding of processes governing water quality at catchment scales. In this study, we investigated the 170 km2 Ammer catchment in SW Germany which is characterised by an above average proportion of agricultural (71%) and urban (17%) areas. The Ammer River is mainly fed by karstic springs. For PCA, we separately analysed concentrations from (a) surface waters of the Ammer River and its tributaries, (b) spring waters from the main aquifers and (c) deep groundwater from production wells. This analysis was extended by a detailed analysis of scores. We analysed measured concentrations on major ions and selected organic micropollutants. Additionally, redox-sensitive variables and environmental tracers indicating groundwater age were analysed for deep groundwater from production wells. For deep groundwater, we found that microbial turnover was stronger influenced by local availability of energy sources than by travel times of groundwater to the wells. Groundwater quality primarily reflected the input of pollutants determined by landuse, e.g. agrochemicals. We concluded that for water quality in the Ammer catchment, conservative mixing of waters with different origin is more important than reactive transport processes along the flow path.

A Decision Support Framework for Science-Based, Multi-Stakeholder Deliberation: A Coral Reef Example

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Rehr, Amanda P.; Small, Mitchell J.; Bradley, Patricia; Fisher, William S.; Vega, Ann; Black, Kelly; Stockton, Tom

2012-12-01

We present a decision support framework for science-based assessment and multi-stakeholder deliberation. The framework consists of two parts: a DPSIR (Drivers-Pressures-States-Impacts-Responses) analysis to identify the important causal relationships among anthropogenic environmental stressors, processes, and outcomes; and a Decision Landscape analysis to depict the legal, social, and institutional dimensions of environmental decisions. The Decision Landscape incorporates interactions among government agencies, regulated businesses, non-government organizations, and other stakeholders. It also identifies where scientific information regarding environmental processes is collected and transmitted to improve knowledge about elements of the DPSIR and to improve the scientific basis for decisions. Our application of the decision support framework to coral reef protection and restoration in the Florida Keys focusing on anthropogenic stressors, such as wastewater, proved to be successful and offered several insights. Using information from a management plan, it was possible to capture the current state of the science with a DPSIR analysis as well as important decision options, decision makers and applicable laws with a the Decision Landscape analysis. A structured elicitation of values and beliefs conducted at a coral reef management workshop held in Key West, Florida provided a diversity of opinion and also indicated a prioritization of several environmental stressors affecting coral reef health. The integrated DPSIR/Decision landscape framework for the Florida Keys developed based on the elicited opinion and the DPSIR analysis can be used to inform management decisions, to reveal the role that further scientific information and research might play to populate the framework, and to facilitate better-informed agreement among participants.

China's International Education Initiatives and View of Its Role in Global Governance

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Li, Sharon X.

2012-01-01

China is becoming an increasingly important actor in global governance. This paper contends that China participates by promoting its own global governance concepts on the one hand and by complying with the established global norms on the other. The paper introduces several key global governance concepts of the Chinese government and argues that…

The role of law in adaptive governance.

PubMed

Cosens, Barbara A; Craig, Robin K; Hirsch, Shana Lee; Arnold, Craig Anthony Tony; Benson, Melinda H; DeCaro, Daniel A; Garmestani, Ahjond S; Gosnell, Hannah; Ruhl, J B; Schlager, Edella

2017-03-01

The term "governance" encompasses both governmental and nongovernmental participation in collective choice and action. Law dictates the structure, boundaries, rules, and processes within which governmental action takes place, and in doing so becomes one of the focal points for analysis of barriers to adaptation as the effects of climate change are felt. Adaptive governance must therefore contemplate a level of flexibility and evolution in governmental action beyond that currently found in the heavily administrative governments of many democracies. Nevertheless, over time, law itself has proven highly adaptive in western systems of government, evolving to address and even facilitate the emergence of new social norms (such as the rights of women and minorities) or to provide remedies for emerging problems (such as pollution). Thus, there is no question that law can adapt, evolve, and be reformed to make room for adaptive governance. In doing this, not only may barriers be removed, but law may be adjusted to facilitate adaptive governance and to aid in institutionalizing new and emerging approaches to governance. The key is to do so in a way that also enhances legitimacy, accountability, and justice, or else such reforms will never be adopted by democratic societies, or if adopted, will destabilize those societies. By identifying those aspects of the frameworks for adaptive governance reviewed in the introduction to this special feature relevant to the legal system, we present guidelines for evaluating the role of law in environmental governance to identify the ways in which law can be used, adapted, and reformed to facilitate adaptive governance and to do so in a way that enhances the legitimacy of governmental action.

Sustainability appraisal of water governance regimes: the case of Guanacaste, Costa Rica.

PubMed

Kuzdas, Christopher; Wiek, Arnim; Warner, Benjamin; Vignola, Raffaele; Morataya, Ricardo

2014-08-01

Sustainability appraisals produce evidence for how well water governance regimes operate and where problems exist. This evidence is particularly relevant for regions that face water scarcity and conflicts. In this study, we present a criteria-based and participatory sustainability appraisal of water governance in a region with such characteristics-the dry tropics of NW Costa Rica. Data collection included 47 interviews and three stakeholder workshops. The appraisal was conducted through a collaborative and iterative process between researchers and stakeholders. Out of the 25 sustainability criteria used, seven posed a significant challenge for the governance regime. We found challenges faced by the governance regime primarily clustered around and were re-enforced by failing coordination related to the use, management, and protection of groundwater resources; and inadequate leadership to identify collective goals and to constructively deliberate alternative ways of governing water with diverse groups. The appraisal yielded some positive impact in the study area, yet we found its application provided only limited strategic information to support broader problem-solving efforts. Insights from this study suggest key starting points for sustainable water governance in the Central American dry tropics, including investing in increasingly influential collective organizations that are already active in water governance; and leveraging policy windows that can be used to build confidence and disperse more governing authority to regional and local governing actors that are in-tune with the challenges faced in the dry tropics. We conclude the article with reflections on how to produce research results that are actionable for sustainable water governance.

Sustainability Appraisal of Water Governance Regimes: The Case of Guanacaste, Costa Rica

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kuzdas, Christopher; Wiek, Arnim; Warner, Benjamin; Vignola, Raffaele; Morataya, Ricardo

2014-08-01

Sustainability appraisals produce evidence for how well water governance regimes operate and where problems exist. This evidence is particularly relevant for regions that face water scarcity and conflicts. In this study, we present a criteria-based and participatory sustainability appraisal of water governance in a region with such characteristics—the dry tropics of NW Costa Rica. Data collection included 47 interviews and three stakeholder workshops. The appraisal was conducted through a collaborative and iterative process between researchers and stakeholders. Out of the 25 sustainability criteria used, seven posed a significant challenge for the governance regime. We found challenges faced by the governance regime primarily clustered around and were re-enforced by failing coordination related to the use, management, and protection of groundwater resources; and inadequate leadership to identify collective goals and to constructively deliberate alternative ways of governing water with diverse groups. The appraisal yielded some positive impact in the study area, yet we found its application provided only limited strategic information to support broader problem-solving efforts. Insights from this study suggest key starting points for sustainable water governance in the Central American dry tropics, including investing in increasingly influential collective organizations that are already active in water governance; and leveraging policy windows that can be used to build confidence and disperse more governing authority to regional and local governing actors that are in-tune with the challenges faced in the dry tropics. We conclude the article with reflections on how to produce research results that are actionable for sustainable water governance.

22 CFR 140.6 - Foreign government entities.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

2013-04-01

... 22 Foreign Relations 1 2013-04-01 2013-04-01 false Foreign government entities. 140.6 Section 140... Enforcement § 140.6 Foreign government entities. (a) Determination Procedures. (1) The Country Narcotics... allegations that a key individual who is a senior government official of the host nation has been convicted of...

22 CFR 140.6 - Foreign government entities.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

2012-04-01

... 22 Foreign Relations 1 2012-04-01 2012-04-01 false Foreign government entities. 140.6 Section 140... Enforcement § 140.6 Foreign government entities. (a) Determination Procedures. (1) The Country Narcotics... allegations that a key individual who is a senior government official of the host nation has been convicted of...

22 CFR 140.6 - Foreign government entities.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-04-01

... 22 Foreign Relations 1 2011-04-01 2011-04-01 false Foreign government entities. 140.6 Section 140... Enforcement § 140.6 Foreign government entities. (a) Determination Procedures. (1) The Country Narcotics... allegations that a key individual who is a senior government official of the host nation has been convicted of...

[Health governance and social protection indicators in Latin-America: strengths, weaknesses and lessons-learned from six Mexican states].

PubMed

Arredondo-López, Armando; Orozco-Núñez, Emanuel

2014-01-01

Evaluative research projects for identifying good practice have been postponed regarding health system reform. This study was thus aimed at identifying health governance and social protection indicators. This study involved evaluative research regarding the health system for the uninsured part of the population in six Mexican states. The primary data was obtained from in-depth interviews with key players from the participating states; official statistics and the results of a macro-project concerned with Mexican health and governance reform and policy was used for secondary. Atlas Ti and Policy Maker software were used for processing and analysing the data. A list of strengths and weaknesses was presented as evidence of health system governance. Accountability at federal level (even though not lacking) was of a prescriptive nature and a system of accountability and transparency regarding the assignment of resources and strategies for the democratisation of health in the states and municipalities was still lacking. All six states had low levels of governance and experienced difficulty in conducting effective reform programmes and strategies involving a lack of precision regarding the rules and roles adopted by different health system actors.

A multi-level, multi-jurisdictional strategy: Transnational tobacco companies' attempts to obstruct tobacco packaging restrictions.

PubMed

Hawkins, Benjamin; Holden, Chris; Mackinder, Sophie

2018-03-09

Despite the extensive literature on the tobacco industry, there has been little attempt to study how transnational tobacco companies (TTCs) coordinate their political activities globally, or to theorise TTC strategies within the context of global governance structures and policy processes. This article draws on three concepts from political science - policy transfer, multi-level governance and venue shifting - to analyse TTCs' integrated, global strategies to oppose augmented packaging requirements across multiple jurisdictions. Following Uruguay's introduction of extended labelling requirements, Australia became the first country in the world to require tobacco products to be sold in standardised ('plain') packaging in 2012. Governments in the European Union, including in the United Kingdom and Ireland, adopted similar laws, with other member states due to follow. TTCs vehemently opposed these measures and developed coordinated, global strategies to oppose their implementation, exploiting the complexity of contemporary global governance arrangements. These included a series of legal challenges in various jurisdictions, alongside political lobbying and public relations campaigns. This article draws on analysis of public documents and 32 semi-structured interviews with key policy actors. It finds that TTCs developed coordinated and highly integrated strategies to oppose packaging restrictions across multiple jurisdictions and levels of governance.

"In the driver's seat": the Health Sector Strategic Master Plan as an instrument for aid coordination in Mongolia.

PubMed

Ulikpan, Anar; Narula, Indermohan; Malik, Asmat; Hill, Peter

2014-04-03

In 2005, the Ministry of Health (MoH) in Mongolia initiated the process of developing its Health Sector Strategic Master Plan (HSSMP), using a wide-ranging consultative process, driven by the MoH, and requiring participation from all levels of health facilities, other ministries, donor agencies and NGOs. Among other objectives, the MoH sought to coordinate the disparate inputs from key donors through the HSSMP, aligning them with the Plan's structure. This research explores the extent to which the HSSMP process served as a mechanism for effective aid coordination while promoting ownership and capacity building and the lessons learned for the wider international development community. The study is based on document review, key-informant interviews and authors' experience and participation in the MoH planning processes. The HSSMP process improved alignment and harmonisation. It enabled a better local understanding of the benefits of aid coordination, and the recognition that aid coordination as not only a mere administrative task, but a strategic step towards comprehensive management of both domestic and external resources. The process was not challenge free; the fractious political environment, the frequent turnover of key MoH staff, the resistance of some donors towards MoH scrutiny over their programmes and the dismantling of the central coordination and return of seconded staff following completion of the HSSMP, has slowed the pace of reform. Despite the challenges, the approach resulted in positive outcomes in the areas of ownership and better aid coordination, with HSSMP development emphasising ownership and capacity building. This contrasted with the usual outcomes focus, and neglect of the capacity building learning processes and structural and policy changes needed to ensure sustainable change. The largest and most influential programmes in the health sector are now largely aligned with HSSMP strategies, enabling the MoH to utilize these opportunities to optimise the HSSMP outcomes. The lessons for Ministries of Health in similar Post-Soviet countries--or other emerging economies where government capacity and local policy processes are relatively strong--are clear: the development of solid governance and technical infrastructure in terms of planning and evaluation provide a solid structure for donor coordination and insure against local political change.

“In the driver’s seat”: The Health Sector Strategic Master Plan as an instrument for aid coordination in Mongolia

PubMed Central

2014-01-01

In 2005, the Ministry of Health (MoH) in Mongolia initiated the process of developing its Health Sector Strategic Master Plan (HSSMP), using a wide-ranging consultative process, driven by the MoH, and requiring participation from all levels of health facilities, other ministries, donor agencies and NGOs. Among other objectives, the MoH sought to coordinate the disparate inputs from key donors through the HSSMP, aligning them with the Plan’s structure. This research explores the extent to which the HSSMP process served as a mechanism for effective aid coordination while promoting ownership and capacity building and the lessons learned for the wider international development community. The study is based on document review, key-informant interviews and authors’ experience and participation in the MoH planning processes. The HSSMP process improved alignment and harmonisation. It enabled a better local understanding of the benefits of aid coordination, and the recognition that aid coordination as not only a mere administrative task, but a strategic step towards comprehensive management of both domestic and external resources. The process was not challenge free; the fractious political environment, the frequent turnover of key MoH staff, the resistance of some donors towards MoH scrutiny over their programmes and the dismantling of the central coordination and return of seconded staff following completion of the HSSMP, has slowed the pace of reform. Despite the challenges, the approach resulted in positive outcomes in the areas of ownership and better aid coordination, with HSSMP development emphasising ownership and capacity building. This contrasted with the usual outcomes focus, and neglect of the capacity building learning processes and structural and policy changes needed to ensure sustainable change. The largest and most influential programmes in the health sector are now largely aligned with HSSMP strategies, enabling the MoH to utilize these opportunities to optimise the HSSMP outcomes. The lessons for Ministries of Health in similar Post-Soviet countries--or other emerging economies where government capacity and local policy processes are relatively strong--are clear: the development of solid governance and technical infrastructure in terms of planning and evaluation provide a solid structure for donor coordination and insure against local political change. PMID:24708860

"It puts a human face on the researched"--A qualitative evaluation of an Indigenous health research governance model.

PubMed

Bond, Chelsea; Foley, Wendy; Askew, Deborah

2016-04-01

To describe the Inala Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Community Jury for Health Research, and evaluate its usefulness as a model of Indigenous research governance within an urban Indigenous primary health care service from the perspectives of jury members and researchers. Informed by a phenomenological approach and using narrative inquiry, a focus group was conducted with jury members and key informant interviews were undertaken with researchers who had presented to the Community Jury in its first year of operation. The jury was a site of identity work for researchers and jury members, providing an opportunity to observe and affirm community cultural protocols. Although researchers and jury members had differing levels of research literacy, the jury processes enabled respectful communication and relationships to form, which positively influenced research practice, community aspirations and clinical care. The jury processes facilitated transformative research practice among researchers and resulted in transference of power from researchers to the jury members, to the mutual benefit of both. Ethical Indigenous health research practice requires an engagement with Indigenous peoples and knowledge at the research governance level, not simply as subjects or objects of research. © 2015 The Authors.

Dynamics Govern Specificity of a Protein-Protein Interface: Substrate Recognition by Thrombin

PubMed Central

Fuchs, Julian E.; Huber, Roland G.; Waldner, Birgit J.; Kahler, Ursula; von Grafenstein, Susanne; Kramer, Christian; Liedl, Klaus R.

2015-01-01

Biomolecular recognition is crucial in cellular signal transduction. Signaling is mediated through molecular interactions at protein-protein interfaces. Still, specificity and promiscuity of protein-protein interfaces cannot be explained using simplistic static binding models. Our study rationalizes specificity of the prototypic protein-protein interface between thrombin and its peptide substrates relying solely on binding site dynamics derived from molecular dynamics simulations. We find conformational selection and thus dynamic contributions to be a key player in biomolecular recognition. Arising entropic contributions complement chemical intuition primarily reflecting enthalpic interaction patterns. The paradigm “dynamics govern specificity” might provide direct guidance for the identification of specific anchor points in biomolecular recognition processes and structure-based drug design. PMID:26496636

Public Health and Politics: Using the Tax Code to Expand Advocacy.

PubMed

Gorovitz, Eric

2017-03-01

Protecting the public's health has always been an inherently political endeavor. The field of public health, however, is conspicuously and persistently absent from sustained, sophisticated engagement in political processes, particularly elections, that determine policy outcomes. This results, in large part, from widespread misunderstanding of rules governing how, and how much, public advocates working in tax-exempt organizations can participate in public policy development. This article briefly summarizes the rules governing public policy engagement by exempt organizations. It then describes different types of exempt organizations, and how they can work together to expand engagement. Next, it identifies several key mechanisms of policy development that public health advocates could influence. Finally, it suggests some methods of applying the tax rules to increase participation in these arenas.

The factors affecting the institutionalisation of two policy units in Burkina Faso's health system: a case study.

PubMed

Zida, Andre; Lavis, John N; Sewankambo, Nelson K; Kouyate, Bocar; Moat, Kaelan

2017-07-17

This paper is one of three linked studies that attempts to understand the process of institutionalisation of policy units within Burkina Faso's health system. It examines the relationships between the existence of an institutional framework, data production capacity and other resource availability in the institutionalisation of policy units in health systems. It therefore contributes to our understanding of the dynamics linking the key drivers and indicators of institutionalisation. Additionally, it examines how factors within the managerial setting, including workplace environment, and budgetary and human resource availability, may influence the institutionalisation process. The study used an explanatory qualitative case study approach, examining two policy units in Burkina Faso's Ministry of Health, the first of which had been institutionalised successfully and the other less so. Data were collected from key policymakers, including 13 connected with the first policy unit and 10 with the second, plus two funders. We also conducted a documentary analysis of the National Program for Health Development, two mid-term strategic plans, 230 action plans, eight Ministry of Health state budgets, eight Ministry of Health annual statistics reports, 16 policy unit budgets and published literature. The framework within which the government gave the policy unit its mandate and policy focus had the strongest effect on the institutionalisation process. Institutionalisation depended on political will, in both the host government and any donors, and the priority given to the policy unit's focus. It was also affected by the leadership of the policy unit managers. These factors were influenced by human resource capacity, and our findings suggest that, for successful institutionalisation in Burkina Faso's health system, policy units need to be given sufficient human resources to achieve their objectives. Policy units' institutionalisation in Burkina Faso's health system depend on the leadership of the unit managers to implement relevant activities, mobilise funding, and recruit and maintain enough human resources, as well as the mandate given by the government.

An overview of clinical governance policies, practices and initiatives.

PubMed

Braithwaite, Jeffrey; Travaglia, Joanne F

2008-02-01

To map the emergence of, and define, clinical governance; to discuss current best practices, and to explore the implications of these for boards of directors and executives wishing to promote a clinical governance approach in their health services. Review and analysis of the published and grey literature on clinical governance from 1966 to 2006. Medline and CINAHL databases, key journals and websites were systematically searched. Central issues were identified in the literature as key to effective clinical governance. These include: ensuring that links are made between health services' clinical and corporate governance; the use of clinical governance to promote quality and safety through a focus on quality assurance and continuous improvement; the creation of clinical governance structures to improve safety and quality and manage risk and performance; the development of strategies to ensure the effective exchange of data, knowledge and expertise; and the sponsoring of a patient-centred approach to service delivery. A comprehensive approach to clinical governance necessarily includes the active participation of boards and executives in sponsoring and promoting clinical governance as a quality and safety strategy. Although this is still a relatively recent development, the signs are promising.

Health impact assessment of agriculture and food policies: lessons learnt from the Republic of Slovenia.

PubMed

Lock, Karen; Gabrijelcic-Blenkus, Mojca; Martuzzi, Marco; Otorepec, Peter; Wallace, Paul; Dora, Carlos; Robertson, Aileen; Zakotnic, Jozica Maucec

2003-01-01

The most important public health priority in agricultural policy-making is currently food safety, despite the relatively higher importance of food security, nutrition, and other agricultural-related health issues in terms of global burden of disease. There is limited experience worldwide of using health impact assessment (HIA) during the development of agriculture and food policies, which perhaps reflects the complex nature of this policy sector. This paper presents methods of HIA used in the Republic of Slovenia, which is conducting a HIA of proposed agricultural and food policies due to its accession to the European Union. It is the first time that any government has attempted to assess the health effects of agricultural policy at a national level. The HIA has basically followed a six-stage process: policy analysis; rapid appraisal workshops with stakeholders from a range of backgrounds; review of research evidence relevant to the agricultural policy; analysis of Slovenian data for key health-related indicators; a report on the findings to a key cross-government group; and evaluation. The experience in Slovenia shows that the HIA process has been a useful mechanism for raising broader public health issues on the agricultural policy agenda, and it has already had positive results for policy formation. HIA is one useful approach to more integrated policy-making across sectors, but clearly it is not the only mechanism to achieve this. A comparison of the approach used in Slovenia with HIA methods in other countries and policy contexts shows that there are still many limitations with HIA application at a government level. Lessons can be learnt from these case studies for future development and application of HIA that is more relevant to policy-makers, and assists them in making more healthy policy choices.

Health impact assessment of agriculture and food policies: lessons learnt from the Republic of Slovenia.

PubMed Central

Lock, Karen; Gabrijelcic-Blenkus, Mojca; Martuzzi, Marco; Otorepec, Peter; Wallace, Paul; Dora, Carlos; Robertson, Aileen; Zakotnic, Jozica Maucec

2003-01-01

The most important public health priority in agricultural policy-making is currently food safety, despite the relatively higher importance of food security, nutrition, and other agricultural-related health issues in terms of global burden of disease. There is limited experience worldwide of using health impact assessment (HIA) during the development of agriculture and food policies, which perhaps reflects the complex nature of this policy sector. This paper presents methods of HIA used in the Republic of Slovenia, which is conducting a HIA of proposed agricultural and food policies due to its accession to the European Union. It is the first time that any government has attempted to assess the health effects of agricultural policy at a national level. The HIA has basically followed a six-stage process: policy analysis; rapid appraisal workshops with stakeholders from a range of backgrounds; review of research evidence relevant to the agricultural policy; analysis of Slovenian data for key health-related indicators; a report on the findings to a key cross-government group; and evaluation. The experience in Slovenia shows that the HIA process has been a useful mechanism for raising broader public health issues on the agricultural policy agenda, and it has already had positive results for policy formation. HIA is one useful approach to more integrated policy-making across sectors, but clearly it is not the only mechanism to achieve this. A comparison of the approach used in Slovenia with HIA methods in other countries and policy contexts shows that there are still many limitations with HIA application at a government level. Lessons can be learnt from these case studies for future development and application of HIA that is more relevant to policy-makers, and assists them in making more healthy policy choices. PMID:12894321

Prospects for public participation on nuclear risks and policy options: innovations in governance practices for sustainable development in the European Union.

PubMed

O'Connor, M; van den Hove, S

2001-09-14

We outline the potential participative governance and risk management in application to technological choices in the nuclear sector within the European Union (EU). Well-conducted public participation, stakeholder consultation and deliberation procedures can enhance the policy process and improve the robustness of strategies dealing with high-stakes investment and risk management challenges. Key nuclear issues now confronting EU member states are: public concern with large-scale environmental and health issues; the Chernobyl accident (and others less catastrophic) whose effect has been to erode public confidence and trust in the nuclear sector; the maturity of the nuclear plant, hence the emerging prominence of waste transportation, reprocessing and disposal issues as part of historical liability within the EU; the nuclear energy heritage of central and eastern European candidate countries to EU accession. The obligatory management of inherited technological risks and uncertainties on large temporal and geographical scales, is a novel feature of technology assessment and governance. Progress in the nuclear sector will aid the development of methodologies for technological foresight and risk governance in fields other than the nuclear alone.

Research and development of methods and tools for achieving and maintaining consensus processes in the face of change within and among government oversite agencies: First annual performance report: Research status, October 1988--September 1989

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Kurstedt, H.A. Jr.

1989-01-01

In contrast to the autonomy of authoritarian rule implemented through edict and backed by force, the key defining feature of the organizations responsible for making American government work today is ''polyonomy'' a term we've invented to signify that responsibility and power are lodged not with any one agency but are apportioned among many agencies and subagencies. Polyonomy requires consensus backed by negotiation and persuasion. Government Oversight Agencies (GOA's) -- those bodies at all levels of government (federal, state, and local) charged with implementing laws made by the Congress and by state legislatures -- face the monumental but essential task ofmore » coordinating their overlapping roles and responsibilities. And that's not all. They must learn to cooperate within an environment which engenders and rewards adversariality, and they must further learn to maintain the ability to cooperate over long periods of time, to coordinate necessary adaptation to inevitable change. The need is urgent for longitudinal, real-world research on mechanisms to create and maintain processes for helping GOA's achieve quality consensus decisions. We hypothesize that consensus evolves and recycles through four phases -- Planning, Building/Maintaining, Implementing, and Post-Implementation -- within an external environment determined by four elements -- Compulsions (Drivers), Information Gathering, Communications, and Reward Systems. 5 figs.« less

Building a transformative adaptation: Comparing municipal government’ and community’s initiatives on minimizing the risk of coastal inundation in Pekalongan

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Artiningsih; Worosuprojo, S.; Rijanta, R.; Hardoyo, S. R.; Pratama, M. H. S.; Putri, N. C.

2017-06-01

In 2006, coastal inundation was firstly reported to start entering community’s agriculture land in Northern part of Pekalongan, Central Java, Indonesia. The exposure covered most of paddy fields and fishponds. The disturbance has become bigger, when the exposure of coastal inundation has started to cover some part of settlement areas in 2010. Increasing salinity has prevented farmers to grow paddy cultivation and has forced them to find a new way for living. Pekalongan Municipal Government prepared Pekalongan City’s Resilience Strategy (PCRS) in 2010 in cooperation with PAKLIM-GIZ, and it involved significant and meaningful local stakeholders’ participation process. One of the concerning strategies was to minimize the risk of coastal inundation. In terms of PCRS implementation, observed local community has different planning interpretation in comparison to the municipal government. This paper aims to evaluate the implementation of PCRS by comparing the municipal government’ and community’s initiatives - either in the stage of planning or/and implementation - from a transformative adaptation perspective. Data for this study was collected through interviews with several key informants, who were selected by purposive sampling method. These key informants consist of Pekalongan Municipal Government Agencies’ members and local community figures in Northern Pekalongan Sub-district. This research reveals a double development standard from the side of municipal government, when it comes to prioritize both the economy and the environment. However, the local community prefers to choose a new livelihood, which provides them not just economic security, but also social and ecological benefits.

Seeking consensus for cyberinfrastructure governance in the USA

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Allison, M. Lee; Zanzkerkia, Eva

2014-05-01

Governance of geosciences cyberinfrastructure is a complex and essential undertaking, critical in enabling distributed knowledge communities to collaborate and communicate across disciplines, distances, and cultures. Advancing science with respect to "grand challenges," such as global change, Earth system observation, modeling, and prediction, and core fundamental science, depends not just on technical cyber systems, but also on social systems for strategic planning, decision-making, project management, learning, teaching, and building a community of practice. Simply put, a robust, agile technical system depends on an equally robust and adaptable social system. Cyberinfrastructure development is wrapped in social, organizational and governance challenges which may significantly impede technical progress and result in inefficiencies, duplication of effort, incompatibilities, wasted resources or user frustration. These issues are also the most time consuming to resolve due to significant institutional and social inertia: hence the urgency for developing a governance blueprint. An agile development process is underway for governance of transformative investments in geosciences cyberinfrastructure through the US National Science Foundation's EarthCube Program. Agile development is iterative and incremental, and promotes adaptive planning and rapid and flexible response. Such iterative deployment across a variety of EarthCube stakeholders encourages transparency, consensus, accountability, and inclusiveness. A broad coalition of stakeholder groups comprises an Assembly to serve as a preliminary venue for identifying, evaluating, and testing potential governance models. To offer opportunity for ensure broader end-user input and buy-in, a crowd-source approach engages stakeholders not involved otherwise in the Assembly. Developmental evaluators from the social sciences embedded in the project will provide real-time review and adjustments. In order to ensure an open and inclusive process, community-selected leaders play key roles through an Assembly Advisory Council. If consensus is reached on a governing framework, a community-selected demonstration governance demonstration pilot will help facilitate community convergence on system design.

Interpretive Flexibility in Mobile Health: Lessons From a Government-Sponsored Home Care Program

PubMed Central

Mathiassen, Lars

2013-01-01

Background Mobile technologies have emerged as important tools that health care personnel can use to gain easy access to client data anywhere. This is particularly useful for nurses and care workers in home health care as they provide services to clients in many different settings. Although a growing body of evidence supports the use of mobile technologies, the diverse implications of mobile health have yet to be fully documented. Objective Our objective was to examine a large-scale government-sponsored mobile health implementation program in the Danish home care sector and to understand how the technology was used differently across home care agencies. Methods We chose to perform a longitudinal case study with embedded units of analysis. We included multiple data sources, such as written materials, a survey to managers across all 98 Danish municipalities, and semistructured interviews with managers, care workers, and nurses in three selected home care agencies. We used process models of change to help analyze the overall implementation process from a longitudinal perspective and to identify antecedent conditions, key events, and practical outcomes. Results Strong collaboration between major stakeholders in the Danish home care sector (government bodies, vendors, consultants, interest organizations, and managers) helped initiate and energize the change process, and government funding supported quick and widespread technology adoption. However, although supported by the same government-sponsored program, mobile technology proved to have considerable interpretive flexibility with variation in perceived nature of technology, technology strategy, and technology use between agencies. What was first seen as a very promising innovation across the Danish home care sector subsequently became the topic of debate as technology use arrangements ran counter to existing norms and values in individual agencies. Conclusions Government-sponsored programs can have both positive and negative results, and managers need to be aware of this and the interpretive flexibility of mobile technology. Mobile technology implementation is a complex process that is best studied by combining organization-level analysis with features of the wider sociopolitical and interorganizational environment. PMID:24172852

The research-policy-deliberation nexus: a case study approach.

PubMed

La Brooy, Camille; Kelaher, Margaret

2017-09-02

Decision-makers tend to make connections with researchers far too late in the game of public policy, expecting to find a retail store in which researchers are busy filling shop-front shelves with a comprehensive set of all possible relevant studies that a decision-maker might some day drop by to purchase. This linear type of relation between research and policy needs to be replaced by a more interactive model that facilitates both researchers obtaining a better understanding of policy processes and policymakers being more aware and involved in the conceptualisation and conduct of research. This paper explores the role of governance in facilitating the research-policy nexus, testing a typology of research utilisation based on Murray's (Soc Policy Society 10(4):459-70, 2011) analysis that considers various degrees of researcher-policymaker deliberation in decision-making processes. The projects were all part of various evaluation efforts carried out by the researchers to explore the use of governance in health promotion activities. Three case studies were chosen to provide some specific examples that illustrate each level of Murray's typology. The examples involve intersectoral health promotion collaborations that combine evidence-based research in health policy initiatives with various levels of researcher involvement. For all three projects, interview data was collated in the same way, coded thematically and analysed to consider the relationship between researchers and policymakers. Comparing the three models and their applicability to health promotion interventions, it could be observed that all programmes demonstrated successful examples of research translation. Strong governance imperatives structuring relationships led to more successful outcomes, whereby research was successfully translated into a public policy initiative that also led to improved health outcomes. The key idea across all of these models was that strong governance arrangements mitigated some of the barriers evidenced by the varying degrees of deliberation and researcher involvement in processes. The paper demonstrates that successful research utilisation is related to strong governance agendas and that early and ongoing involvement of relevant decision-makers and researchers in the governance processes, that is both the conceptualisation and conduct of a study, tend to be the best predictors of success.

Does Government Funding Alter Nonprofit Governance? Evidence from New York City Nonprofit Contractors

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

O'Regan, Katherine; Oster, Sharon

2002-01-01

Government contracting has raised a collection of issues with respect to adequate oversight and accountability. This paper explores one avenue through which contracting agencies may achieve these tasks: through the governance practices of the contractor's board. Oversight and monitoring are a board's key responsibilities, and influencing a board's…

A political economy analysis of decision-making on natural disaster preparedness in Kenya.

PubMed

Rono-Bett, Karen C

2018-01-01

Most deaths from natural disasters occur in low- or middle-income countries; among them, countries in the Horn of Africa - where Kenya lies. Between September 2015 and September 2016, 23.4 million people in this region faced food insecurity because of the 2015 El Niño, characterised by floods and droughts. The importance of effective government decision-making on preparedness and response are critical to saving lives during such disasters. But this decision-making process occurs in a political context which is marred by uncertainty with other factors at play. Yet, good practice requires making investments on a 'no-regrets' basis. This article looks at the factors influencing Kenya's decision-making process for natural disasters, the preparedness for the 2015 El Niño as a case study. I explored what stakeholders understand by 'no-regrets investments' and its application. I assessed financial allocations by government and donors to disaster preparedness. Based on key informant interviews, focus group discussions and financial analyses, this article presents evidence at national and subnational levels. The findings indicate that in making decisions relating to preparedness, the government seeks information primarily from sources it trusts - other government departments, its communities and the media. With no existing legal frameworks guiding Kenya's disaster preparedness, the coordination of preparedness is not strong. It appears that there is a lack of political will to prioritise these frameworks. The no-regrets approach is applied predominantly by non-state actors. Because there have been 'non-events' in the past, government has become overcautious in committing resources on a no-regrets basis. Government allocation to preparedness exceeds donor funding by almost tenfold.

Strengthening mental health system governance in six low- and middle-income countries in Africa and South Asia: challenges, needs and potential strategies.

PubMed

Petersen, Inge; Marais, Debbie; Abdulmalik, Jibril; Ahuja, Shalini; Alem, Atalay; Chisholm, Dan; Egbe, Catherine; Gureje, Oye; Hanlon, Charlotte; Lund, Crick; Shidhaye, Rahul; Jordans, Mark; Kigozi, Fred; Mugisha, James; Upadhaya, Nawaraj; Thornicroft, Graham

2017-06-01

Poor governance has been identified as a barrier to effective integration of mental health care in low- and middle-income countries. Governance includes providing the necessary policy and legislative framework to promote and protect the mental health of a population, as well as health system design and quality assurance to ensure optimal policy implementation. The aim of this study was to identify key governance challenges, needs and potential strategies that could facilitate adequate integration of mental health into primary health care settings in low- and middle-income countries. Key informant qualitative interviews were held with 141 participants across six countries participating in the Emerging mental health systems in low- and middle-income countries (Emerald) research program: Ethiopia, India, Nepal, Nigeria, South Africa, and Uganda. Data were transcribed (and where necessary, translated into English) and analysed thematically using framework analysis, first at the country level, then synthesized at a cross-country level. While all the countries fared well with respect to strategic vision in the form of the development of national mental health policies, key governance strategies identified to address challenges included: strengthening capacity of managers at sub-national levels to develop and implement integrated plans; strengthening key aspects of the essential health system building blocks to promote responsiveness, efficiency and effectiveness; developing workable mechanisms for inter-sectoral collaboration, as well as community and service user engagement; and developing innovative approaches to improving mental health literacy and stigma reduction. Inadequate financing emerged as the biggest challenge for good governance. In addition to the need for overall good governance of a health care system, this study identifies a number of specific strategies to improve governance for integrated mental health care in low- and middle-income countries. © The Author 2017. Published by Oxford University Press in association with The London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine.

Embedding climate change risk assessment within a governance context

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Preston, Benjamin L

Climate change adaptation is increasingly being framed in the context of climate risk management. This has contributed to the proliferation of climate change vulnerability and/or risk assessments as means of supporting institutional decision-making regarding adaptation policies and measures. To date, however, little consideration has been given to how such assessment projects and programs interact with governance systems to facilitate or hinder the implementation of adaptive responses. An examination of recent case studies involving Australian local governments reveals two key linkages between risk assessment and the governance of adaptation. First, governance systems influence how risk assessment processes are conducted, by whommore » they are conducted, and whom they are meant to inform. Australia s governance system emphasizes evidence-based decision-making that reinforces a knowledge deficit model of decision support. Assessments are often carried out by external experts on behalf of local government, with limited participation by relevant stakeholders and/or civil society. Second, governance systems influence the extent to which the outputs from risk assessment activities are translated into adaptive responses and outcomes. Technical information regarding risk is often stranded by institutional barriers to adaptation including poor uptake of information, competition on the policy agenda, and lack of sufficient entitlements. Yet, risk assessments can assist in bringing such barriers to the surface, where they can be debated and resolved. In fact, well-designed risk assessments can contribute to multi-loop learning by institutions, and that reflexive problem orientation may be one of the more valuable benefits of assessment.« less

Policy content and stakeholder network analysis for infant and young child feeding in Nepal.

PubMed

Karn, Sumit; Devkota, Madhu Dixit; Uddin, Shahadat; Thow, Anne Marie

2017-06-13

Despite concerted effort from government and partners, Nepal continues to have a high burden of under nutrition among children. Identifying opportunities to strengthen policy support for infant and young child feeding (IYCF) is a key component to improve child survival, growth and development. This study aims to explore policy support for IYCF and to identify the influential stakeholders for IYCF for effective future policy development and programmatic action. Policies relevant to IYCF were identified through web searches and direct approaches to relevant government ministries. Policy content was analysed based on four key domains focussed on mothers, using a qualitative synthesis approach. Three group interviews were conducted using the participatory tool "Net-Map", to identify the influential stakeholders in IYCF policy and programming processes. Twenty-six relevant policy documents were analysed for content relating to IYCF. General support for IYCF was found in most of the development plans and high-level health sector policies. Most implementation level documents included support for provision of correct information to mothers. Capacity building of frontline workers for IYCN and system strengthening were well supported through sectoral plans and policies. However, gaps were identified regarding maternity protection, support for monitoring and evaluation, and translation of high-level policy directives into implementation level guidelines, resulting in a lack of clarity over roles and responsibilities. Both government and non-governmental stakeholders, particularly donors, emerged as influential drivers of IYCF policy decisions in Nepal, through technical assistance and funding. The Nutrition Technical Committee under the Ministry of Health, UNICEF, Suaahara, USAID and WHO were identified as key actors providing technical assistance. Key funding agencies were identified as UNICEF and USAID. This study reveals strong policy support for key dimensions of IYCF, supported by a highly networked stakeholder environment. Opportunities to further strengthen IYCF policy in Nepal include: further support for training of frontline workers and complementary feeding interventions; extending maternity leave provisions; and clarifying roles and responsibilities of actors, particularly non-governmental actors. Engaging technical and funding agencies and developing partnerships with other relevant actors will be crucial for ensuring effective policy translates into effective practice.

Beyond fossil fuel-driven nitrogen transformations.

PubMed

Chen, Jingguang G; Crooks, Richard M; Seefeldt, Lance C; Bren, Kara L; Bullock, R Morris; Darensbourg, Marcetta Y; Holland, Patrick L; Hoffman, Brian; Janik, Michael J; Jones, Anne K; Kanatzidis, Mercouri G; King, Paul; Lancaster, Kyle M; Lymar, Sergei V; Pfromm, Peter; Schneider, William F; Schrock, Richard R

2018-05-25

Nitrogen is fundamental to all of life and many industrial processes. The interchange of nitrogen oxidation states in the industrial production of ammonia, nitric acid, and other commodity chemicals is largely powered by fossil fuels. A key goal of contemporary research in the field of nitrogen chemistry is to minimize the use of fossil fuels by developing more efficient heterogeneous, homogeneous, photo-, and electrocatalytic processes or by adapting the enzymatic processes underlying the natural nitrogen cycle. These approaches, as well as the challenges involved, are discussed in this Review. Copyright © 2018 The Authors, some rights reserved; exclusive licensee American Association for the Advancement of Science. No claim to original U.S. Government Works.

Medical accuracy in sexuality education: ideology and the scientific process.

PubMed

Santelli, John S

2008-10-01

Recently, many states have implemented requirements for scientific or medical accuracy in sexuality education and HIV prevention programs. Although seemingly uncontroversial, these requirements respond to the increasing injection of ideology into sexuality education, as represented by abstinence-only programs. I describe the process by which health professionals and government advisory groups within the United States reach scientific consensus and review the legal requirements and definitions for medical accuracy. Key elements of this scientific process include the weight of scientific evidence, the importance of scientific theory, peer review, and recognition by mainstream scientific and health organizations. I propose a concise definition of medical accuracy that may be useful to policymakers, health educators, and other health practitioners.

Wicked problems in space technology development at NASA

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Balint, Tibor S.; Stevens, John

2016-01-01

Technological innovation is key to enable future space exploration missions at NASA. Technology development, however, is not only driven by performance and resource considerations, but also by a broad range of directly or loosely interconnected factors. These include, among others, strategy, policy and politics at various levels, tactics and programmatics, interactions between stakeholders, resource requirements, performance goals from component to system level, mission infusion targets, portfolio execution and tracking, and technology push or mission pull. Furthermore, at NASA, these influences occur on varying timescales and at diverse geographic locations. Such a complex and interconnected system could impede space technology innovation in this examined segment of the government environment. Hence, understanding the process through NASA's Planning, Programming, Budget and Execution cycle could benefit strategic thinking, planning and execution. Insights could be gained through suitable models, for example assessing the key drivers against the framework of Wicked Problems. This paper discusses NASA specific space technology innovation and innovation barriers in the government environment through the characteristics of Wicked Problems; that is, they do not have right or wrong solutions, only improved outcomes that can be reached through authoritative, competitive, or collaborative means. We will also augment the Wicked Problems model to account for the temporally and spatially coupled, and cyclical nature of this NASA specific case, and propose how appropriate models could improve understanding of the key influencing factors. In turn, such understanding may subsequently lead to reducing innovation barriers, and stimulating technology innovation at NASA. Furthermore, our approach can be adopted for other government-directed environments to gain insights into their structures, hierarchies, operational flow, and interconnections to facilitate circular dialogs towards preferred outcomes.

Bubbles

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Prosperetti, Andrea

2002-11-01

``Vanitas vanitatum et omnia vanitas": bubbles are emptiness, non-liquid, a tiny cloud shielding a mathematical singularity. Born from chance, a violent and brief life ending in the union with the (nearly) infinite. But a wealth of phenomena spring forth from this nothingness: underwater noise, sonoluminescence, boiling, many others. Ultimately, diffusive processes govern much of the physics, and the difference between the diffusivity of heat and dissolved gases in ordinary liquids holds the key to the striking differences between gas and vapor bubbles.

Solar Requests for Proposals | State, Local, and Tribal Governments | NREL

Science.gov Websites

who have a lot of experience in this area may handle the process on their own while others may decide greatest number of respondents and give the agency the greatest number of options. Solar RFP Elements As to the selection criteria. Sources Solar Powering Your Community: Key Elements of Solar Requests for

A policy analysis of the implementation of a Reproductive Health Vouchers Program in Kenya.

PubMed

Abuya, Timothy; Njuki, Rebecca; Warren, Charlotte E; Okal, Jerry; Obare, Francis; Kanya, Lucy; Askew, Ian; Bellows, Ben

2012-07-23

Innovative financing strategies such as those that integrate supply and demand elements like the output-based approach (OBA) have been implemented to reduce financial barriers to maternal health services. The Kenyan government with support from the German Development Bank (KfW) implemented an OBA voucher program to subsidize priority reproductive health services. Little evidence exists on the experience of implementing such programs in different settings. We describe the implementation process of the Kenyan OBA program and draw implications for scale up. Policy analysis using document review and qualitative data from 10 in-depth interviews with facility in-charges and 18 with service providers from the contracted facilities, local administration, health and field managers in Kitui, Kiambu and Kisumu districts as well as Korogocho and Viwandani slums in Nairobi. The OBA implementation process was designed in phases providing an opportunity for learning and adapting the lessons to local settings; the design consisted of five components: a defined benefit package, contracting and quality assurance; marketing and distribution of vouchers and claims processing and reimbursement. Key implementation challenges included limited feedback to providers on the outcomes of quality assurance and accreditation and budgetary constraints that limited effective marketing leading to inadequate information to clients on the benefit package. Claims processing and reimbursement was sophisticated but required adherence to time consuming procedures and in some cases private providers complained of low reimbursement rates for services provided. OBA voucher schemes can be implemented successfully in similar settings. For effective scale up, strong partnership will be required between the public and private entities. The government's role is key and should include provision of adequate funding, stewardship and looking for opportunities to utilize existing platforms to scale up such strategies.

Responding to Poverty through Education and Teacher Education Initiatives: A Critical Evaluation of Key Trends in Government Policy in England 1997-2015

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Burn, Katharine; Childs, Ann

2016-01-01

This paper presents a comparative critique of key education and teacher education policies in England adopted by New Labour (1997-2010) and the Coalition government (2010-2015). It focuses on direct measures intended to alleviate the effects of poverty on young people's educational outcomes, and on teacher education policies with implications for…

Re-Inventing Shared Governance: Implications for Organisational Culture and Institutional Leadership

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Stensaker, Bjorn; Vabo, Agnete

2013-01-01

Shared governance has been a key historical characteristic of higher education although this form of governance has come under increased pressure in recent decades. It is often argued that shared governance is less relevant for tackling the challenges related to a more dynamic environment of the sector. This paper discusses underlying premises for…

The role of evidence and the expert in contemporary processes of governance: the case of opioid substitution treatment policy in England.

PubMed

Duke, Karen; Thom, Betsy

2014-09-01

This paper is based on research examining stakeholder involvement in substitution treatment policy which was undertaken as part of the EU funded FP7 ALICE-RAP (Addictions and Lifestyles in Contemporary Europe - Reframing Addictions Project). In England, the research coincided with a policy shift towards a recovery orientated drug treatment framework and a heated debate surrounding the role of substitute prescribing. The study aimed to explore the various influences on the development of the new 'recovery' policy from the perspectives of the key stakeholders involved. The paper is based on documentary analyses and key informant interviews with a range of stakeholders, including representatives of user organisations, treatment providers, civil servants, and members of expert committees. Drawing on the theoretical insights offered by Backstrand's 'civic science' framework, the changing role of evidence and the position of experts in the processes of drugs policy governance are explored. 'Evidence' was used to problematise the issue of substitution treatment and employed to legitimise, justify and construct arguments around the possible directions of policy and practice. Conflicting beliefs about drug treatment and about motivation for policy change emerge in the argumentation, illustrating tensions in the governance of drug treatment and the power differentials separating different groups of stakeholders. Their role in the production of evidence also illustrates issues of power regarding the definition and development of 'usable knowledge'. There were various attempts at greater representation of different forms of evidence and participation by a wider group of stakeholders in the debates surrounding substitution treatment. However, key national and international experts and the appointment of specialist committees continued to play dominant roles in building consensus and translating scientific evidence into policy discourse. Substitution treatment policy has witnessed a challenge to the dominance of 'scientific evidence' within policy decision making, but in the absence of alternative evidence with an acceptable credibility and legitimacy base, traditional notions of what constitutes evidence based policy persist and there is a continuing lack of recognition of 'civic science'. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

IWRM: What should we teach? A report on curriculum development at the University of the Western Cape, South Africa

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Jonker, Lewis

In South Africa, the national government has taken deliberate steps to ensure that tertiary education programmes help to meet societal and economic needs. This article reports on the process of developing a programme in Integrated Water Resources Management at the University of the Western Cape (UWC) that speaks directly to current government policy. It describes two different approaches to curriculum development an eclectic approach that takes as its starting point courses already on offer, and a framework development approach that takes as its starting point identification of particular needs and deliberately builds a curriculum around these needs. The article illustrates how seemingly unrelated policy processes in education and water management could impact on curriculum development. The article suggests that, while curriculum development is a first key step, challenges remain in fine-tuning the IWRM M.Sc. programme so that graduates are equipped with skills that may contribute to equitable and sustainable development in the evolving context of 21st century South Africa.

Public Hearing or `Hearing Public'? An Evaluation of the Participation of Local Stakeholders in Environmental Impact Assessment of Ghana's Jubilee Oil Fields

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bawole, Justice Nyigmah

2013-08-01

This article investigates the involvement of local stakeholders in the environmental impact assessment (EIA) processes of Ghana's first off-shore oil fields (the Jubilee fields). Adopting key informants interviews and documentary reviews, the article argues that the public hearings and the other stakeholder engagement processes were cosmetic and rhetoric with the view to meeting legal requirements rather than a purposeful interest in eliciting inputs from local stakeholders. It further argues that the operators appear to lack the social legitimacy and social license that will make them acceptable in the project communities. A rigorous community engagement along with a commitment to actively involving local stakeholders in the corporate social responsibility (CSR) programmes of the partners may enhance the image of the partners and improve their social legitimacy. Local government agencies should be capacitated to actively engage project organisers; and government must mitigate the impact of the oil projects through well-structured social support programmes.

Stochastic Modeling of Airlines' Scheduled Services Revenue

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Hamed, M. M.

1999-01-01

Airlines' revenue generated from scheduled services account for the major share in the total revenue. As such, predicting airlines' total scheduled services revenue is of great importance both to the governments (in case of national airlines) and private airlines. This importance stems from the need to formulate future airline strategic management policies, determine government subsidy levels, and formulate governmental air transportation policies. The prediction of the airlines' total scheduled services revenue is dealt with in this paper. Four key components of airline's scheduled services are considered. These include revenues generated from passenger, cargo, mail, and excess baggage. By addressing the revenue generated from each schedule service separately, air transportation planners and designers arc able to enhance their ability to formulate specific strategies for each component. Estimation results clearly indicate that the four stochastic processes (scheduled services components) are represented by different Box-Jenkins ARIMA models. The results demonstrate the appropriateness of the developed models and their ability to provide air transportation planners with future information vital to the planning and design processes.

Stochastic Modeling of Airlines' Scheduled Services Revenue

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Hamed, M. M.

1999-01-01

Airlines' revenue generated from scheduled services account for the major share in the total revenue. As such, predicting airlines' total scheduled services revenue is of great importance both to the governments (in case of national airlines) and private airlines. This importance stems from the need to formulate future airline strategic management policies, determine government subsidy levels, and formulate governmental air transportation policies. The prediction of the airlines' total scheduled services revenue is dealt with in this paper. Four key components of airline's scheduled services are considered. These include revenues generated from passenger, cargo, mail, and excess baggage. By addressing the revenue generated from each schedule service separately, air transportation planners and designers are able to enhance their ability to formulate specific strategies for each component. Estimation results clearly indicate that the four stochastic processes (scheduled services components) are represented by different Box-Jenkins ARIMA models. The results demonstrate the appropriateness of the developed models and their ability to provide air transportation planners with future information vital to the planning and design processes.

Australia and New Zealand Dialysis and Transplant Registry.

PubMed

McDonald, Stephen P

2015-06-01

The ANZDATA Registry includes all patients treated with renal replacement therapy (RRT) throughout Australia and New Zealand. Funding is predominantly from government sources, together with the non-government organization Kidney Health Australia. Registry operations are overseen by an Executive committee, and a Steering Committee with wide representation. Data is collected from renal units throughout Australia and New Zealand on a regular basis, and forwarded to the Registry. Areas covered include demographic details, primary renal disease, type of renal replacement therapy, process measures, and a variety of outcomes. From this data collection a number of themes of work are produced. These include production of Registry reports with an extensive range of national and regional data, a suite of quality assurance reports, key process indicator (KPI) reports, and data sets for a variety of audit and research purposes. The various types of information from the ANZDATA Registry are used in a wide variety of areas, including health services planning, safety and quality programs, and clinical research projects.

Public hearing or 'hearing public'? an evaluation of the participation of local stakeholders in environmental impact assessment of Ghana's Jubilee oil fields.

PubMed

Bawole, Justice Nyigmah

2013-08-01

This article investigates the involvement of local stakeholders in the environmental impact assessment (EIA) processes of Ghana's first off-shore oil fields (the Jubilee fields). Adopting key informants interviews and documentary reviews, the article argues that the public hearings and the other stakeholder engagement processes were cosmetic and rhetoric with the view to meeting legal requirements rather than a purposeful interest in eliciting inputs from local stakeholders. It further argues that the operators appear to lack the social legitimacy and social license that will make them acceptable in the project communities. A rigorous community engagement along with a commitment to actively involving local stakeholders in the corporate social responsibility (CSR) programmes of the partners may enhance the image of the partners and improve their social legitimacy. Local government agencies should be capacitated to actively engage project organisers; and government must mitigate the impact of the oil projects through well-structured social support programmes.

Report on Progress Toward Security and Stability in Afghanistan

DTIC Science & Technology

2010-11-01

National Governance Policy The Sub National Governance ( SNG ) Policy establishes a framework for instituting government reforms over the next 15 years.34...governance and development initiatives, such as the National Solidarity Program and the Afghan Social Outreach Program, align with the new SNG policy...review implementation progress from a financing perspective. 4. Municipal governance - A key component of the SNG policy reform will be to draft a

European Society of Gastrointestinal Endoscopy - Establishing the key unanswered research questions within gastrointestinal endoscopy.

PubMed

Rees, Colin J; Ngu, Wee Sing; Regula, Jaroslaw; Bisschops, Raf; Saftoiu, Adrian; Dekker, Evelien; Gralnek, Ian; Ciocirlan, Mihai; Dinis-Ribeiro, Mario; Jover, Rodrigo; Meisner, Søren; Spada, Cristiano; Hassan, Cesare; Valori, Roland; Hucl, Tomas; Le Moine, Olivier; Domagk, Dirk; Kaminski, Michal F; Bretthauer, Michael; Rutter, Matthew D; Aabakken, Lars; Ponchon, Thierry; Fockens, Paul; Siersema, Peter D

2016-10-01

Background and study aim: Gastrointestinal endoscopy is a rapidly evolving research field. The European Society of Gastrointestinal Endoscopy (ESGE) plays a key role in shaping opinion and endoscopy activity throughout Europe and further afield. Establishing key unanswered questions within the field of endoscopy and prioritizing those that are important enables researchers and funders to appropriately allocate resources. Methods: Over 2 years, the ESGE Research Committee gathered information on research priorities and refined them through a modified Delphi approach. Consultations were held with the ESGE Governing Board and Quality Improvement Committee to identify important unanswered questions. Research workshops were held at the 21st United European Gastroenterology Week. Research questions were refined by the ESGE Research Committee and Governing Board, compiled into an online survey, and distributed to all ESGE members, who were invited to rank each question by priority. Results: The final questionnaire yielded 291 responses from over 60 countries. The three countries with the highest response rates were Spain, Italy, and United Kingdom. Most responders were from teaching hospitals (62 %) and were specialist endoscopists (51 %). Responses were analyzed with weighted rankings, resulting in prioritization of 26 key unanswered questions. The top ranked generic questions were: 1) How do we define the correct surveillance interval following endoscopic diagnosis? 2) How do we correctly utilize advanced endoscopic imaging? 3) What are the best markers of endoscopy quality? Conclusion: Following this comprehensive process, the ESGE has identified and ranked the key unanswered questions within the field of gastrointestinal endoscopy. Researchers, funders, and journals should prioritize studies that seek to answer these important questions. © Georg Thieme Verlag KG Stuttgart · New York.

Effect of government actions on technological innovation for SO2 control.

PubMed

Taylor, Margaret R; Rubin, Edward S; Hounshell, David A

2003-10-15

The relationship between government actions and innovation in environmental control technology is important for the design of cost-effective policies to achieve environmental goals. This paper examines such relationships for the case of sulfur dioxide control technology for U.S. coal-fired power plants. The study employs several complementary research methods, including analyses of key government actions, technology patenting activity, technology performance and cost trends, knowledge transfer activities, and expert elicitations. Our results indicate that government regulation appears to be a greater stimulus to inventive activity than government-sponsored research support alone, and that the anticipation of regulation also spurs inventive activity. Regulatory stringency focuses this activity along particular technical pathways and is a key factor in creating markets for environmental technologies. We also find that with greater technology adoption, both new and existing systems experience notable efficiency improvements and capital cost reductions. The important role of government in fostering knowledge transfer via technical conferences and other measures is also seen as an important factor in promoting environmental technology innovation.

Consensus and contention in the priority setting process: examining the health sector in Uganda.

PubMed

Colenbrander, Sarah; Birungi, Charles; Mbonye, Anthony K

2015-06-01

Health priority setting is a critical and contentious issue in low-income countries because of the high burden of disease relative to the limited resource envelope. Many sophisticated quantitative tools and policy frameworks have been developed to promote transparent priority setting processes and allocative efficiency. However, low-income countries frequently lack effective governance systems or implementation capacity, so high-level priorities are not determined through evidence-based decision-making processes. This study uses qualitative research methods to explore how key actors' priorities differ in low-income countries, using Uganda as a case study. Human resources for health, disease prevention and family planning emerge as the common priorities among actors in the health sector (although the last of these is particularly emphasized by international agencies) because of their contribution to the long-term sustainability of health-care provision. Financing health-care services is the most disputed issue. Participants from the Ugandan Ministry of Health preferentially sought to increase net health expenditure and government ownership of the health sector, while non-state actors prioritized improving the efficiency of resource use. Ultimately it is apparent that the power to influence national health outcomes lies with only a handful of decision-makers within key institutions in the health sector, such as the Ministries of Health, the largest bilateral donors and the multilateral development agencies. These power relations reinforce the need for ongoing research into the paradigms and strategic interests of these actors. Published by Oxford University Press in association with The London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine © The Author 2014; all rights reserved.

Where Public Health Meets Human Rights

PubMed Central

Kiragu, Karusa; Sawicki, Olga; Smith, Sally; Brion, Sophie; Sharma, Aditi; Mworeko, Lilian; Iovita, Alexandrina

2017-01-01

Abstract In 2014, the World Health Organization (WHO) initiated a process for validation of the elimination of mother-to-child transmission (EMTCT) of HIV and syphilis by countries. For the first time in such a process for the validation of disease elimination, WHO introduced norms and approaches that are grounded in human rights, gender equality, and community engagement. This human rights-based validation process can serve as a key opportunity to enhance accountability for human rights protection by evaluating EMTCT programs against human rights norms and standards, including in relation to gender equality and by ensuring the provision of discrimination-free quality services. The rights-based validation process also involves the assessment of participation of affected communities in EMTCT program development, implementation, and monitoring and evaluation. It brings awareness to the types of human rights abuses and inequalities faced by women living with, at risk of, or affected by HIV and syphilis, and commits governments to eliminate those barriers. This process demonstrates the importance and feasibility of integrating human rights, gender, and community into key public health interventions in a manner that improves health outcomes, legitimizes the participation of affected communities, and advances the human rights of women living with HIV. PMID:29302179

IPAD: A unique approach to government/industry cooperation for technology development and transfer

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Fulton, Robert E.; Salley, George C.

1985-01-01

A key element to improved industry productivity is effective management of Computer Aided Design / Computer Aided Manufacturing (CAD/CAM) information. To stimulate advancement, a unique joint government/industry project designated Integrated Programs for Aerospace-Vehicle Design (IPAD) was carried out from 1971 to 1984. The goal was to raise aerospace industry productivity through advancement of computer based technology to integrate and manage information involved in the design and manufacturing process. IPAD research was guided by an Industry Technical Advisory Board (ITAB) composed of over 100 representatives from aerospace and computer companies. The project complemented traditional NASA/DOD research to develop aerospace design technology and the Air Force's Integrated Computer Aided Manufacturing (ICAM) program to advance CAM technology. IPAD had unprecedented industry support and involvement and served as a unique approach to government industry cooperation in the development and transfer of advanced technology. The IPAD project background, approach, accomplishments, industry involvement, technology transfer mechanisms and lessons learned are summarized.

Power and Agenda-Setting in Tanzanian Health Policy: An Analysis of Stakeholder Perspectives

PubMed Central

Fischer, Sara Elisa; Strandberg-Larsen, Martin

2016-01-01

Background: Global health policy is created largely through a collaborative process between development agencies and aid-recipient governments, yet it remains unclear whether governments retain ownership over the creation of policy in their own countries. An assessment of the power structure in this relationship and its influence over agenda-setting is thus the first step towards understanding where progress is still needed in policy-making for development. Methods: This study employed qualitative policy analysis methodology to examine how health-related policy agendas are adopted in low-income countries, using Tanzania as a case study. Semi-structured, in-depth, key informant interviews with 11 policy-makers were conducted on perspectives of the agenda-setting process and its actors. Kingdon’s stream theory was chosen as the lens through which to interpret the data analysis. Results: This study demonstrates that while stakeholders each have ways of influencing the process, the power to do so can be assessed based on three major factors: financial incentives, technical expertise, and influential position. Since donors often have two or all of these elements simultaneously a natural power imbalance ensues, whereby donor interests tend to prevail over recipient government limitations in prioritization of agendas. One way to mediate these imbalances seems to be the initiation of meaningful policy dialogue. Conclusion: In Tanzania, the agenda-setting process operates within a complex network of factors that interact until a "policy window" opens and a decision is made. Power in this process often lies not with the Tanzanian government but with the donors, and the contrast between latent presence and deliberate use of this power seems to be based on the donor ideology behind giving aid (defined here by funding modality). Donors who used pooled funding (PF) modalities were less likely to exploit their inherent power, whereas those who preferred to maintain maximum control over the aid they provided (ie, non-pooled funders) more readily wielded their intrinsic power to push their own priorities. PMID:27285513

Power and Agenda-Setting in Tanzanian Health Policy: An Analysis of Stakeholder Perspectives.

PubMed

Fischer, Sara Elisa; Strandberg-Larsen, Martin

2016-02-09

Global health policy is created largely through a collaborative process between development agencies and aid-recipient governments, yet it remains unclear whether governments retain ownership over the creation of policy in their own countries. An assessment of the power structure in this relationship and its influence over agenda-setting is thus the first step towards understanding where progress is still needed in policy-making for development. This study employed qualitative policy analysis methodology to examine how health-related policy agendas are adopted in low-income countries, using Tanzania as a case study. Semi-structured, in-depth, key informant interviews with 11 policy-makers were conducted on perspectives of the agenda-setting process and its actors. Kingdon's stream theory was chosen as the lens through which to interpret the data analysis. This study demonstrates that while stakeholders each have ways of influencing the process, the power to do so can be assessed based on three major factors: financial incentives, technical expertise, and influential position. Since donors often have two or all of these elements simultaneously a natural power imbalance ensues, whereby donor interests tend to prevail over recipient government limitations in prioritization of agendas. One way to mediate these imbalances seems to be the initiation of meaningful policy dialogue. In Tanzania, the agenda-setting process operates within a complex network of factors that interact until a "policy window" opens and a decision is made. Power in this process often lies not with the Tanzanian government but with the donors, and the contrast between latent presence and deliberate use of this power seems to be based on the donor ideology behind giving aid (defined here by funding modality). Donors who used pooled funding (PF) modalities were less likely to exploit their inherent power, whereas those who preferred to maintain maximum control over the aid they provided (ie, non-pooled funders) more readily wielded their intrinsic power to push their own priorities. © 2016 by Kerman University of Medical Sciences.

Networks as systems.

PubMed

Best, Allan; Berland, Alex; Greenhalgh, Trisha; Bourgeault, Ivy L; Saul, Jessie E; Barker, Brittany

2018-03-19

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to present a case study of the World Health Organization's Global Healthcare Workforce Alliance (GHWA). Based on a commissioned evaluation of GHWA, it applies network theory and key concepts from systems thinking to explore network emergence, effectiveness, and evolution to over a ten-year period. The research was designed to provide high-level strategic guidance for further evolution of global governance in human resources for health (HRH). Design/methodology/approach Methods included a review of published literature on HRH governance and current practice in the field and an in-depth case study whose main data sources were relevant GHWA background documents and key informant interviews with GHWA leaders, staff, and stakeholders. Sampling was purposive and at a senior level, focusing on board members, executive directors, funders, and academics. Data were analyzed thematically with reference to systems theory and Shiffman's theory of network development. Findings Five key lessons emerged: effective management and leadership are critical; networks need to balance "tight" and "loose" approaches to their structure and processes; an active communication strategy is key to create and maintain support; the goals, priorities, and membership must be carefully focused; and the network needs to support shared measurement of progress on agreed-upon goals. Shiffman's middle-range network theory is a useful tool when guided by the principles of complex systems that illuminate dynamic situations and shifting interests as global alliances evolve. Research limitations/implications This study was implemented at the end of the ten-year funding cycle. A more continuous evaluation throughout the term would have provided richer understanding of issues. Experience and perspectives at the country level were not assessed. Practical implications Design and management of large, complex networks requires ongoing attention to key issues like leadership, and flexible structures and processes to accommodate the dynamic reality of these networks. Originality/value This case study builds on growing interest in the role of networks to foster large-scale change. The particular value rests on the longitudinal perspective on the evolution of a large, complex global network, and the use of theory to guide understanding.

Governing for a Healthy Population: Towards an Understanding of How Decision-Making Will Determine Our Global Health in a Changing Climate

PubMed Central

Bowen, Kathryn J.; Friel, Sharon; Ebi, Kristie; Butler, Colin D.; Miller, Fiona; McMichael, Anthony J.

2011-01-01

Enhancing the adaptive capacity of individuals, communities, institutions and nations is pivotal to protecting and improving human health and well-being in the face of systemic social inequity plus dangerous climate change. However, research on the determinants of adaptive capacity in relation to health, particularly concerning the role of governance, is in its infancy. This paper highlights the intersections between global health, climate change and governance. It presents an overview of these key concerns, their relation to each other, and the potential that a greater understanding of governance may present opportunities to strengthen policy and action responses to the health effects of climate change. Important parallels between addressing health inequities and sustainable development practices in the face of global environmental change are also highlighted. We propose that governance can be investigated through two key lenses within the earth system governance theoretical framework; agency and architecture. These two governance concepts can be evaluated using methods of social network research and policy analysis using case studies and is the subject of further research. PMID:22470278

Distributed Energy Planning for Climate Resilience

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Stout, Sherry R; Hotchkiss, Elizabeth L; Day, Megan H

At various levels of government across the United States and globally climate resilient solutions are being adopted and implemented. Solutions vary based on predicted hazards, community context, priorities, complexity, and available resources. Lessons are being learned through the implementation process, which can be replicated regardless of level or type of government entity carrying out the resiliency planning. Through a number of analyses and technical support across the world, NREL has learned key lessons related to resilience planning associated with power generation and water distribution. Distributed energy generation is a large factor in building resilience with clean energy technologies and solutions.more » The technical and policy solutions associated with distributed energy implementation for resilience fall into a few major categories, including spatial diversification, microgrids, water-energy nexus, policy, and redundancy.« less

Information technology Governance standards on mobile applications for fishing zone based onCobIT 5 Framework in Majene

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Palalloi, Irfan Andi; Anwar, Azwar; Syarifuddin

2018-05-01

Most of the activities of Majene regency society dominant as a fisherman, by and large, they work based on the hereditary experiences of their ancestors. This is proven by fishery industry statistic that highest from other industry with 18,30 % in the distribution of the gross regional domestic product. In each specific case, utilization of technology becomes a necessity that plays a key role. Adoption of technology for fishermen groups in use of GPSequipment has frequently committed by the government also non-profit organization go through training and mentoring. Nowadays there are some modern mobile applications has been developed by government agency assist the group of fishermen handy on managing their fishing activity. Such us ZPPI data row from Lapan Satelite, nelpinwas also known as smart fisheries, infrastructure development for space oceanography (indeso). However, all of them carry out of the risk and problems on the user side. One of them related toaccuracy and reliability. In this research, we elaborate technical factor, governance, through Cobit framework and analyze the best practice standardfor implementing the technology. All in all, the result presented of the governance standard on control and implementing technology under customer dimension in information technology governance on the standard process to ensure benefit delivery for implementing mobile application fishery in DKP Majene regency.

The role of law in adaptive governance

PubMed Central

Cosens, Barbara A.; Craig, Robin K.; Hirsch, Shana Lee; Arnold, Craig Anthony (Tony); Benson, Melinda H.; DeCaro, Daniel A.; Garmestani, Ahjond S.; Gosnell, Hannah; Ruhl, J.B.; Schlager, Edella

2018-01-01

The term “governance” encompasses both governmental and nongovernmental participation in collective choice and action. Law dictates the structure, boundaries, rules, and processes within which governmental action takes place, and in doing so becomes one of the focal points for analysis of barriers to adaptation as the effects of climate change are felt. Adaptive governance must therefore contemplate a level of flexibility and evolution in governmental action beyond that currently found in the heavily administrative governments of many democracies. Nevertheless, over time, law itself has proven highly adaptive in western systems of government, evolving to address and even facilitate the emergence of new social norms (such as the rights of women and minorities) or to provide remedies for emerging problems (such as pollution). Thus, there is no question that law can adapt, evolve, and be reformed to make room for adaptive governance. In doing this, not only may barriers be removed, but law may be adjusted to facilitate adaptive governance and to aid in institutionalizing new and emerging approaches to governance. The key is to do so in a way that also enhances legitimacy, accountability, and justice, or else such reforms will never be adopted by democratic societies, or if adopted, will destabilize those societies. By identifying those aspects of the frameworks for adaptive governance reviewed in the introduction to this special feature relevant to the legal system, we present guidelines for evaluating the role of law in environmental governance to identify the ways in which law can be used, adapted, and reformed to facilitate adaptive governance and to do so in a way that enhances the legitimacy of governmental action. PMID:29780426

Developing a City Governance Index: Based on Surveys in Five Major Chinese Cities

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Yong, Guo; Wenhao, Cheng

2012-01-01

This article explores the establishment of a City Governance Index to evaluate the levels of governance of cities. We identified seven key dimensions of governance and then divided each of them into four stages: input, mechanism, result and effect. Each dimension/stage mix is correlated with indicators that can be measured with both objective and…

The Abnormal vs. Normal ECG Classification Based on Key Features and Statistical Learning

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Dong, Jun; Tong, Jia-Fei; Liu, Xia

As cardiovascular diseases appear frequently in modern society, the medicine and health system should be adjusted to meet the new requirements. Chinese government has planned to establish basic community medical insurance system (BCMIS) before 2020, where remote medical service is one of core issues. Therefore, we have developed the "remote network hospital system" which includes data server and diagnosis terminal by the aid of wireless detector to sample ECG. To improve the efficiency of ECG processing, in this paper, abnormal vs. normal ECG classification approach based on key features and statistical learning is presented, and the results are analyzed. Large amount of normal ECG could be filtered by computer automatically and abnormal ECG is left to be diagnosed specially by physicians.

Plant Hormones: Key Players in Gut Microbiota and Human Diseases?

PubMed

Chanclud, Emilie; Lacombe, Benoît

2017-09-01

It is well established that plant hormones such as auxins, cytokinins (CKs), and abscisic acid (ABA) not only govern important plant physiological traits but are key players in plant-microbe interactions. A poorly appreciated fact, however, is that both microbes and animals produce and perceive plant hormones and their mimics. Moreover, dietary plant hormones impact on human physiological process such as glucose assimilation, inflammation, and cell division. This leads us to wonder whether plant hormones could ensure functions in microbes per se as well as in animal-microbe interactions. We propose here and explore the hypothesis that plant hormones play roles in animal-microbiota relationships, with consequences for human health. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Supply Chain Resilience: Development of a Conceptual Framework, an Assessment Tool and an Implementation Process

DTIC Science & Technology

2008-10-01

Japan’s Car Makers Backfires,” The Wall Street Journal, July 20, 2007, p. B1. Council on Competitiveness (2007), “The resilient economy: Integrating...Logistics and Transport Focus, Vol. 4, No. 4, pp. 59-64. Chozick, Amy (2007), “A key strategy of Japan’s car makers backfires,” Wall Street...in developed nations is the utility infrastructure, which in many cases is provided by governments or agents outside the firm. Without electrical

Key attributes of global partnerships in food and nutrition to align research agendas and improve public health.

PubMed

Bertolo, Robert F; Hentges, Eric; Makarchuk, Mary-Jo; Wiggins, Ashleigh K A; Steele, Heather; Levin, Julia; Grantham, Andrea; Gramlich, Leah; Ma, David W L

2018-07-01

Partnerships among academia, government, and industry have emerged in response to global challenges in food and nutrition. At a workshop reviewing international partnerships, we concluded that to build a partnership, partners must establish a common goal, identify barriers, and engage all stakeholders to ensure project sustainability. To be effective, partnerships must synchronize methodologies and adopt evidence-based processes, and be led by governmental or nonprofit organizations to ensure trust among partners and with the public.

Interoperability for Space Mission Monitor and Control: Applying Technologies from Manufacturing Automation and Process Control Industries

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Jones, Michael K.

1998-01-01

Various issues associated with interoperability for space mission monitor and control are presented in viewgraph form. Specific topics include: 1) Space Project Mission Operations Control Architecture (SuperMOCA) goals and methods for achieving them; 2) Specifics on the architecture: open standards ad layering, enhancing interoperability, and promoting commercialization; 3) An advertisement; 4) Status of the task - government/industry cooperation and architecture and technology demonstrations; and 5) Key features of messaging services and virtual devices.

'A major lobbying effort to change and unify the excise structure in six Central American countries': How British American Tobacco influenced tax and tariff rates in the Central American Common Market.

PubMed

Holden, Chris; Lee, Kelley

2011-05-19

Transnational tobacco companies (TTCs) may respond to processes of regional trade integration both by acting politically to influence policy and by reorganising their own operations. The Central American Common Market (CACM) was reinvigorated in the 1990s, reflecting processes of regional trade liberalisation in Latin America and globally. This study aimed to ascertain how British American Tobacco (BAT), which dominated the markets of the CACM, sought to influence policy towards it by member country governments and how the CACM process impacted upon BAT's operations. The study analysed internal tobacco industry documents released as a result of litigation in the US and available from the online Legacy Tobacco Documents Library at http://legacy.library.ucsf.edu/. Documents were retrieved by searching the BAT collection using key terms in an iterative process. Analysis was based on an interpretive approach involving a process of attempting to understand the meanings of individual documents and relating these to other documents in the set, identifying the central themes of documents and clusters of documents, contextualising the documentary data, and choosing representative material in order to present findings. Utilising its multinational character, BAT was able to act in a coordinated way across the member countries of the CACM to influence tariffs and taxes to its advantage. Documents demonstrate a high degree of access to governments and officials. The company conducted a coordinated, and largely successful, attempt to keep external tariff rates for cigarettes high and to reduce external tariffs for key inputs, whilst also influencing the harmonisation of excise taxes between countries. Protected by these high external tariffs, it reorganised its own operations to take advantage of regional economies of scale. In direct contradiction to arguments presented to CACM governments that affording the tobacco industry protection via high cigarette tariffs would safeguard employment, the company's regional reorganisation involved the loss of hundreds of jobs. Regional integration organisations and their member states should be aware of the capacity of TTCs to act in a coordinated transnational manner to influence policy in their own interests, and coordinate their own public health and tax policies in a similarly effective way.

'A major lobbying effort to change and unify the excise structure in six Central American countries': How British American Tobacco influenced tax and tariff rates in the Central American Common Market

PubMed Central

2011-01-01

Background Transnational tobacco companies (TTCs) may respond to processes of regional trade integration both by acting politically to influence policy and by reorganising their own operations. The Central American Common Market (CACM) was reinvigorated in the 1990s, reflecting processes of regional trade liberalisation in Latin America and globally. This study aimed to ascertain how British American Tobacco (BAT), which dominated the markets of the CACM, sought to influence policy towards it by member country governments and how the CACM process impacted upon BAT's operations. Methods The study analysed internal tobacco industry documents released as a result of litigation in the US and available from the online Legacy Tobacco Documents Library at http://legacy.library.ucsf.edu/. Documents were retrieved by searching the BAT collection using key terms in an iterative process. Analysis was based on an interpretive approach involving a process of attempting to understand the meanings of individual documents and relating these to other documents in the set, identifying the central themes of documents and clusters of documents, contextualising the documentary data, and choosing representative material in order to present findings. Results Utilising its multinational character, BAT was able to act in a coordinated way across the member countries of the CACM to influence tariffs and taxes to its advantage. Documents demonstrate a high degree of access to governments and officials. The company conducted a coordinated, and largely successful, attempt to keep external tariff rates for cigarettes high and to reduce external tariffs for key inputs, whilst also influencing the harmonisation of excise taxes between countries. Protected by these high external tariffs, it reorganised its own operations to take advantage of regional economies of scale. In direct contradiction to arguments presented to CACM governments that affording the tobacco industry protection via high cigarette tariffs would safeguard employment, the company's regional reorganisation involved the loss of hundreds of jobs. Conclusions Regional integration organisations and their member states should be aware of the capacity of TTCs to act in a coordinated transnational manner to influence policy in their own interests, and coordinate their own public health and tax policies in a similarly effective way. PMID:21595921

The Census: A Key to a Stable, Rational, Democratic Government.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Pereira, Carolyn; Rosenblum, Warren

1989-01-01

Examines the importance of the census to the management of a democratic government. States that the census has historically served as a means for apportioning representatives among the states and preventing corruption in political representation. Provides suggestions for teaching about the census in government classes. (LS)

Education and Nationalism in Scotland: Governing a "Learning Nation"

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Arnott, Margaret; Ozga, Jenny

2016-01-01

Nationalism is a key resource for the political work of governing Scotland, and education offers the Scottish National Party (SNP) government a policy space in which political nationalism (self determination) along with social and cultural forms of civic nationalism can be formed and propagated, through referencing "inwards" to…

Determinants for the success of regional ICT ventures: a close examination of South Korea.

PubMed

Park, Eunil; Kim, Ki Joon; Kwon, Sang Jib; Ohm, Jay Y; Del Pobil, Angel P; Yoo, Kyeongsik

2016-01-01

This study identifies the key motivational factors in enhancing economic performance and increasing new job opportunities for information and communication technology ventures (ICTVs) in South Korea and examines their potential causal relationships through structural equation modeling analysis on data collected from over 200 ICTVs located in Daedeok Innopolis. The results indicate that the economic performance of ICTVs is determined mainly by government support, innovation effort, and private equity and support. Government support and innovation effort are also positively associated with new job opportunities. The theoretical, industrial implications of the key findings, and recommendations for the Korean government are discussed.

Nurse practitioner integration: Qualitative experiences of the change management process.

PubMed

Lowe, Grainne; Plummer, Virginia; Boyd, Leanne

2018-04-30

The aim of this qualitative research was to explore perceptions of organisational change related to the integration of nurse practitioners from key nursing stakeholders. The ongoing delivery of effective and efficient patient services is reliant upon the development and sustainability of nurse practitioner roles. Examination of the factors contributing to the underutilization of nurse practitioner roles is crucial to inform future management policies. A change management theory is used to reveal the complexity involved. Qualitative interviews were undertaken using a purposive sampling strategy of key stakeholders. Thematic analysis was undertaken and key themes were correlated to the theoretical framework. The results confirm the benefits of nurse practitioner roles, but suggest organisational structures and embedded professional cultures present barriers to full role optimization. Complicated policy processes are creating barriers to the integration of nurse practitioner roles. The findings increase understanding of the links between strategic planning, human resource management, professional and organisational cultures, governance and politics in change management. Effective leadership drives the change process through the ability to align key components necessary for success. Sustainability of nurse practitioners relies on recognition of their full potential in the health care team. The results of this study highlight the importance of management and leadership in the promotion of advanced nursing skills and experience to better meet patient outcomes. The findings reinforce the potential of nurse practitioners to deliver patient centred, timely and efficient health care. © 2018 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Workshop on Critical Issues in Microgravity Fluids, Transport, and Reaction Processes in Advanced Human Support Technology

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Chiaramonte, Francis P.; Joshi, Jitendra A.

2004-01-01

This workshop was designed to bring the experts from the Advanced Human Support Technologies communities together to identify the most pressing and fruitful areas of research where success hinges on collaborative research between the two communities. Thus an effort was made to bring together experts in both advanced human support technologies and microgravity fluids, transport and reaction processes. Expertise was drawn from academia, national laboratories, and the federal government. The intent was to bring about a thorough exchange of ideas and develop recommendations to address the significant open design and operation issues for human support systems that are affected by fluid physics, transport and reaction processes. This report provides a summary of key discussions, findings, and recommendations.

Role of Osmolytes in Regulating Immune System.

PubMed

Kumar, Tarun; Yadav, Manisha; Singh, Laishram Rajendrakumar

2016-01-01

The immune system has evolved to protect the host organism from diverse range of pathogenic microbes that are themselves constantly evolving. It is a complex network of cells, humoral factors, chemokines and cytokines. Dysregulation of immune system results in various kinds of immunological disorders. There are several external agents which govern the regulation of immune system. Recent studies have indicated the role of osmolytes in regulation of various immunological processes such as Ag-Ab interaction, Ig assembly, Ag presentation etc. In this present review, we have systematically discussed the role of osmolytes involved in regulation of several key immunological processes. Osmolytes are involved in the regulation of several key immunological processes such as immunoglobulin assembly and folding, immune cells proliferation, regulation of immune cells function, Ag-Ab interaction, antigen presentation, inflammatory response and protection against photo-immunosuppression. Hence, osmolytes and their transporters might be used as potential drug and drug targets respectively. This review is therefore designed to help clinicians in development of osmolyte based therapeutic strategies in the treatment of various immunological disorders. Appropriate future perspectives have also been included.

How Participatory Should Environmental Governance Be? Testing the Applicability of the Vroom-Yetton-Jago Model in Public Environmental Decision-Making

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lührs, Nikolas; Jager, Nicolas W.; Challies, Edward; Newig, Jens

2018-02-01

Public participation is potentially useful to improve public environmental decision-making and management processes. In corporate management, the Vroom-Yetton-Jago normative decision-making model has served as a tool to help managers choose appropriate degrees of subordinate participation for effective decision-making given varying decision-making contexts. But does the model recommend participatory mechanisms that would actually benefit environmental management? This study empirically tests the improved Vroom-Jago version of the model in the public environmental decision-making context. To this end, the key variables of the Vroom-Jago model are operationalized and adapted to a public environmental governance context. The model is tested using data from a meta-analysis of 241 published cases of public environmental decision-making, yielding three main sets of findings: (1) The Vroom-Jago model proves limited in its applicability to public environmental governance due to limited variance in its recommendations. We show that adjustments to key model equations make it more likely to produce meaningful recommendations. (2) We find that in most of the studied cases, public environmental managers (implicitly) employ levels of participation close to those that would have been recommended by the model. (3) An ANOVA revealed that such cases, which conform to model recommendations, generally perform better on stakeholder acceptance and environmental standards of outputs than those that diverge from the model. Public environmental management thus benefits from carefully selected and context-sensitive modes of participation.

How Participatory Should Environmental Governance Be? Testing the Applicability of the Vroom-Yetton-Jago Model in Public Environmental Decision-Making.

PubMed

Lührs, Nikolas; Jager, Nicolas W; Challies, Edward; Newig, Jens

2018-02-01

Public participation is potentially useful to improve public environmental decision-making and management processes. In corporate management, the Vroom-Yetton-Jago normative decision-making model has served as a tool to help managers choose appropriate degrees of subordinate participation for effective decision-making given varying decision-making contexts. But does the model recommend participatory mechanisms that would actually benefit environmental management? This study empirically tests the improved Vroom-Jago version of the model in the public environmental decision-making context. To this end, the key variables of the Vroom-Jago model are operationalized and adapted to a public environmental governance context. The model is tested using data from a meta-analysis of 241 published cases of public environmental decision-making, yielding three main sets of findings: (1) The Vroom-Jago model proves limited in its applicability to public environmental governance due to limited variance in its recommendations. We show that adjustments to key model equations make it more likely to produce meaningful recommendations. (2) We find that in most of the studied cases, public environmental managers (implicitly) employ levels of participation close to those that would have been recommended by the model. (3) An ANOVA revealed that such cases, which conform to model recommendations, generally perform better on stakeholder acceptance and environmental standards of outputs than those that diverge from the model. Public environmental management thus benefits from carefully selected and context-sensitive modes of participation.

Understanding the Collaborative Planning Process in Homeless Services: Networking, Advocacy, and Local Government Support May Reduce Service Gaps.

PubMed

Jarpe, Meghan; Mosley, Jennifer E; Smith, Bikki Tran

2018-06-07

The Continuum of Care (CoC) process-a nationwide system of regional collaborative planning networks addressing homelessness-is the chief administrative method utilized by the US Department of Housing and Urban Development to prevent and reduce homelessness in the United States. The objective of this study is to provide a benchmark comprehensive picture of the structure and practices of CoC networks, as well as information about which of those factors are associated with lower service gaps, a key goal of the initiative. A national survey of the complete population of CoCs in the United States was conducted in 2014 (n = 312, 75% response rate). This survey is the first to gather information on all available CoC networks. Ordinary least squares (OLS) regression was used to determine the relationship between internal networking, advocacy frequency, government investment, and degree of service gaps for CoCs of different sizes. United States. Lead contacts for CoCs (n = 312) that responded to the 2014 survey. Severity of regional service gaps for people who are homeless. Descriptive statistics show that CoCs vary considerably in regard to size, leadership, membership, and other organizational characteristics. Several independent variables were associated with reduced regional service gaps: networking for small CoCs (β = -.39, P < .05) and local government support for midsized CoCs (β = -.10, P < .05). For large CoCs, local government support was again significantly associated with lower service gaps, but there was also a significant interaction effect between advocacy and networking (β = .04, P < .05). To reduce service gaps and better serve the homeless, CoCs should consider taking steps to improve networking, particularly when advocacy is out of reach, and cultivate local government investment and support.

Who runs public health? A mixed-methods study combining qualitative and network analyses.

PubMed

Oliver, Kathryn; de Vocht, Frank; Money, Annemarie; Everett, Martin

2013-09-01

Persistent health inequalities encourage researchers to identify new ways of understanding the policy process. Informal relationships are implicated in finding evidence and making decisions for public health policy (PHP), but few studies use specialized methods to identify key actors in the policy process. We combined network and qualitative data to identify the most influential individuals in PHP in a UK conurbation and describe their strategies to influence policy. Network data were collected by asking for nominations of powerful and influential people in PHP (n = 152, response rate 80%), and 23 semi-structured interviews were analysed using a framework approach. The most influential PHP makers in this conurbation were mid-level managers in the National Health Service and local government, characterized by managerial skills: controlling policy processes through gate keeping key organizations, providing policy content and managing selected experts and executives to lead on policies. Public health professionals and academics are indirectly connected to policy via managers. The most powerful individuals in public health are managers, not usually considered targets for research. As we show, they are highly influential through all stages of the policy process. This study shows the importance of understanding the daily activities of influential policy individuals.

Iran: U.S. Concerns and Policy Responses

DTIC Science & Technology

2007-12-05

Lebanese Hezbollah. However, the threat perception of other governments might change following the December 3, 2007 release of key judgements from a...success, have included trying to persuade European governments to curb trade, investment, and credits to Iran; and pressuring foreign banks not to do...Election, Government , and Popularity . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5 Human Rights Practices and the Opposition

The Search for New Governance: Corporatisation and Privatisation of Public Universities in Malaysia and Thailand

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Mok, Ka Ho

2007-01-01

This paper attempts to analyse how governments in Malaysia and Thailand have adopted indirect policy instruments along the lines of "corporatisation" and "privatisation" to reform higher education governance. By focusing on a few key issues related to changing state and education relationships and new regulatory arrangements…

Corporate Governance: Can Universities Learn from the Private Sector?

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Henze, Raphaela

2010-01-01

Corporate governance has several objectives: growth, transparency, leadership, social responsibility and trust, as well as the protection of shareholders and company assets. It also plays a key role in determining a company's control environment. In this article, the author takes a closer look at corporate governance in the private sector,…

Policy, Practice and Innovative Governance in the English Further Education and Skills Sector

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Clapham, Andrew; Vickers, Rob

2017-01-01

This paper examines "innovative" governance in the English further education and skills (FE) sector. Drawing on the work of Lyotard, Foucault and Ball, the paper explores how practitioners enacted innovative governance in a sector facing increasingly performative conditions. Analysis identified the key category of opportunity and risk…

Developing Educational Resources to Advance Umbilical Cord Blood Banking and Research: A Canadian Perspective.

PubMed

Beak, Carla Pereira; Chargé, Sophie B; Isasi, Rosario; Knoppers, Bartha M

2015-05-01

In 2013 Canadian Blood Services (CBS) launched the National Public Cord Blood Bank (NPCBB), a program to collect, process, test, and store cord blood units donated for use in transplantation. A key component of the creation of the NPCBB is the establishment of a program that enables cord blood not suitable for banking or transplantation to be used for biomedical research purposes. Along with the development of processes and policies to manage the NPCBB and the cord blood research program, CBS-in collaboration with researchers from the Stem Cell Network-have also developed educational tools to provide relevant information for target audiences to aid implementation and operation. We describe here one of these tools, the REB Primer on Research and Cord Blood Donation (the Primer), which highlights key ethical and legal considerations and identifies Canadian documents that are relevant to the use of cord blood in biomedical research. The Primer also introduces the NPCBB and describes the systems CBS is implementing to address ethical issues. The Primer is intended to assist research ethics boards in evaluating the ethical acceptability of research protocols, to facilitate harmonized decision-making by providing a common reference, and to highlight the role of research ethics boards in governance frameworks. With the Primer we hope to illustrate how the development of such educational tools can facilitate the ethical implementation and governance of programs related to stem cell research in Canada and abroad.

The role of health informatics in clinical audit: part of the problem or key to the solution?

PubMed

Georgiou, Andrew; Pearson, Michael

2002-05-01

The concepts of quality assurance (for which clinical audit is an essential part), evaluation and clinical governance each depend on the ability to derive and record measurements that describe clinical performance. Rapid IT developments have raised many new possibilities for managing health care. They have allowed for easier collection and processing of data in greater quantities. These developments have encouraged the growth of quality assurance as a key feature of health care delivery. In the past most of the emphasis has been on hospital information systems designed predominantly for the administration of patients and the management of financial performance. Large, hi-tech information system capacity does not guarantee quality information. The task of producing information that can be confidently used to monitor the quality of clinical care requires attention to key aspects of the design and operation of the audit. The Myocardial Infarction National Audit Project (MINAP) utilizes an IT-based system to collect and process data on large numbers of patients and make them readily available to contributing hospitals. The project shows that IT systems that employ rigorous health informatics methodologies can do much to improve the monitoring and provision of health care.

Democratizing Process Innovation? On Citizen Involvement in Public Sector BPM

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Niehaves, Björn; Malsch, Robert

‘Open Innovation’ has been heavily discussed for product innovations; however, an information systems (IS) perspective on ‘process innovation’ has not yet been taken. Analyzing the example of the public sector in Germany, the paper seeks to investigate the factors that hinder and support ‘open process innovation’, a concept we define as the involvement of citizens in business process management (BPM) activities. With the help of a quantitative study (n=358), six factors are examined for their impact on citizen involvement in local government BPM initiatives. The results show that citizen involvement in reform processes is not primarily motivated by the aim of cost reduction, but rather related to legitimacy reasons and the intent to increase employee motivation. Based on these findings, implications for (design) theory and practice are discussed: Instead of detailed collaborative business processes modeling, the key of citizen involvement in public sector BPM lies in communication and mutual understanding.

Analysis of moving surface structures at a laser-induced boiling front

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Matti, R. S.; Kaplan, A. F. H.

2014-10-01

Recently ultra-high speed imaging enabled to observe moving wave patterns on metal melts that experience laser-induced boiling. In laser materials processing a vertical laser-induced boiling front governs processes like keyhole laser welding, laser remote fusion cutting, laser drilling or laser ablation. The observed waves originate from temperature variations that are closely related to the melt topology. For improved understanding of the essential front mechanisms and of the front topology, for the first time a deeper systematic analysis of the wave patterns was carried out. Seven geometrical shapes of bright or dark domains were distinguished and categorized, in particular bright peaks of three kinds and dark valleys, often inclined. Two categories describe special flow patterns at the top and bottom of the front. Dynamic and statistical analysis has revealed that the shapes often combine or separate from one category to another when streaming down the front. The brightness of wave peaks typically fluctuates during 20-50 μs. This variety of thermal wave observations is interpreted with respect to the accompanying surface topology of the melt and in turn for governing local mechanisms like absorption, shadowing, boiling, ablation pressure and melt acceleration. The findings can be of importance for understanding the key process mechanisms and for optimizing laser materials processing.

A thorough experimental study of CH/π interactions in water: quantitative structure-stability relationships for carbohydrate/aromatic complexes.

PubMed

Jiménez-Moreno, Ester; Jiménez-Osés, Gonzalo; Gómez, Ana M; Santana, Andrés G; Corzana, Francisco; Bastida, Agatha; Jiménez-Barbero, Jesus; Asensio, Juan Luis

2015-11-13

CH/π interactions play a key role in a large variety of molecular recognition processes of biological relevance. However, their origins and structural determinants in water remain poorly understood. In order to improve our comprehension of these important interaction modes, we have performed a quantitative experimental analysis of a large data set comprising 117 chemically diverse carbohydrate/aromatic stacking complexes, prepared through a dynamic combinatorial approach recently developed by our group. The obtained free energies provide a detailed picture of the structure-stability relationships that govern the association process, opening the door to the rational design of improved carbohydrate-based ligands or carbohydrate receptors. Moreover, this experimental data set, supported by quantum mechanical calculations, has contributed to the understanding of the main driving forces that promote complex formation, underlining the key role played by coulombic and solvophobic forces on the stabilization of these complexes. This represents the most quantitative and extensive experimental study reported so far for CH/π complexes in water.

Depot Maintenance: Improvements to DODs Biennial Core Report Could Better Inform Oversight and Funding Decisions

DTIC Science & Technology

2016-11-01

information, contact Zina Merritt at (202) 512-5257 or merrittz@gao.gov Why GAO Did This Study DOD uses both military depots and contractors to maintain...many complex weapon systems and equipment. Recognizing the key role of the depots and the risk of overreliance on contractors , Section 2464 of...military depots2—public-sector facilities that are government-owned and government-operated—and private-sector contractors . Depots have a key role

Health reform in Mexico: the promotion of inequality.

PubMed

Laurell, A C

2001-01-01

The Mexican health reform can be understood only in the context of neoliberal structural adjustment, and it reveals some of the basic characteristics of similar reforms in the Latin American region. The strategy to transform the predominantly public health care system into a market-driven system has been a complex process with a hidden agenda to avoid political resistance. The compulsory social security system is the key sector in opening health care to private insurance companies, health maintenance organizations, and hospital enterprises mainly from abroad. Despite the government's commitment to universal coverage, equity, efficiency, and quality, the empirical data analyzed in this article do not confirm compliance with these objectives. Although an alternative health policy that gradually grants the constitutional right to health would be feasible, the new democratically elected government will continue the previous regressive health reform.

[How to evaluate the application of Clinical Governance tools in the management of hospitalized hyperglycemic patients: results of a multicentric study].

PubMed

De Belvis, Antonio Giulio; Specchia, Maria Lucia; Ferriero, Anna Maria; Capizzi, Silvio

2017-01-01

Risk management is a key tool in Clinical Governance. Our project aimed to define, share, apply and measure the impact of tools and methodologies for the continuous improvement of quality of care, especially in relation to the multi-disciplinary and integrated management of the hyperglycemic patient in hospital settings. A training project, coordinated by a scientific board of experts in diabetes and health management and an Expert Meeting with representatives of all the participating centers was launched in 2014. The project involved eight hospitals through the organization of meetings with five managers and 25 speakers, including diabetologists, internists, pharmacists and nurses. The analysis showed a wide variability in the adoption of tools and processes towards a comprehensive and coordinated management of hyperglycemic patients.

Scaling up the health workforce in the public sector: the role of government fiscal policy.

PubMed

Vujicic, Marko

2010-01-01

Health workers play a key role in increasing access to health care services. Global and country-level estimates show that staffing in many developing countries - particularly in Sub-Saharan Africa - is far leaner than needed to deliver essential health services to the population. One factor that can limit scaling up the health workforce in developing countries is the government's overall wage policy which sometimes creates restrictions on hiring in the health sector. But while there is considerable debate, the information base in this important area has been quite limited. This paper summarizes the process that determines the budget for health wages in the public sector, how it is linked to overall wage policies, and how this affects staffing in the health sector. The author draws mainly from a recent World Bank report.

Implementing a successful tuberculosis programme within primary care services in a conflict area using the stop TB strategy: Afghanistan case study

PubMed Central

2014-01-01

Introduction Afghanistan has faced health consequences of war including those due to displacement of populations, breakdown of health and social services, and increased risks of disease transmission for over three decades. Yet it was able to restructure its National Tuberculosis Control Programme (NTP), integrate tuberculosis treatment into primary health care and achieve most of its targets by the year 2011. What were the processes that enabled the programme to achieve its targets? More importantly, what were the underpinning factors that made this success possible? We addressed these important questions through a case study. Case description We adopted a processes and outcomes framework for this study, which began with examining the change in key programme indicators, followed by backwards tracing of the processes and underlying factors, responsible for this change. Methods included review of the published and grey literature along with in-depth interviews of 15 key informants involved with the care of tuberculosis patients in Afghanistan. Discussion and evaluation TB incidence and mortality per 100,000 decreased from 325 and 92 to 189 and 39 respectively, while case notification and treatment success improved during the decade under study. Efficient programme structures were enabled through high political commitment from the Government, strong leadership from the programme, effective partnership and coordination among stakeholders, and adequate technical and financial support from the development partners. Conclusions The NTP Afghanistan is an example that public health programmes can be effectively implemented in fragile states. High political commitment and strong local leadership are essential factors for such programmes. To ensure long-term effectiveness of the NTP, the international support should be withdrawn in a phased manner, coupled with a sequential increase in resources allocated to the NTP by the Government of Afghanistan. PMID:24507446

Benchmarking government action for obesity prevention--an innovative advocacy strategy.

PubMed

Martin, J; Peeters, A; Honisett, S; Mavoa, H; Swinburn, B; de Silva-Sanigorski, A

2014-01-01

Successful obesity prevention will require a leading role for governments, but internationally they have been slow to act. League tables of benchmark indicators of action can be a valuable advocacy and evaluation tool. To develop a benchmarking tool for government action on obesity prevention, implement it across Australian jurisdictions and to publicly award the best and worst performers. A framework was developed which encompassed nine domains, reflecting best practice government action on obesity prevention: whole-of-government approaches; marketing restrictions; access to affordable, healthy food; school food and physical activity; food in public facilities; urban design and transport; leisure and local environments; health services, and; social marketing. A scoring system was used by non-government key informants to rate the performance of their government. National rankings were generated and the results were communicated to all Premiers/Chief Ministers, the media and the national obesity research and practice community. Evaluation of the initial tool in 2010 showed it to be feasible to implement and able to discriminate the better and worse performing governments. Evaluation of the rubric in 2011 confirmed this to be a robust and useful method. In relation to government action, the best performing governments were those with whole-of-government approaches, had extended common initiatives and demonstrated innovation and strong political will. This new benchmarking tool, the Obesity Action Award, has enabled identification of leading government action on obesity prevention and the key characteristics associated with their success. We recommend this tool for other multi-state/country comparisons. Copyright © 2013 Asian Oceanian Association for the Study of Obesity. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Governance for clinical decision support: case studies and recommended practices from leading institutions

PubMed Central

Sittig, Dean F; Ash, Joan S; Bates, David W; Feblowitz, Joshua; Fraser, Greg; Maviglia, Saverio M; McMullen, Carmit; Nichol, W Paul; Pang, Justine E; Starmer, Jack; Middleton, Blackford

2011-01-01

Objective Clinical decision support (CDS) is a powerful tool for improving healthcare quality and ensuring patient safety; however, effective implementation of CDS requires effective clinical and technical governance structures. The authors sought to determine the range and variety of these governance structures and identify a set of recommended practices through observational study. Design Three site visits were conducted at institutions across the USA to learn about CDS capabilities and processes from clinical, technical, and organizational perspectives. Based on the results of these visits, written questionnaires were sent to the three institutions visited and two additional sites. Together, these five organizations encompass a variety of academic and community hospitals as well as small and large ambulatory practices. These organizations use both commercially available and internally developed clinical information systems. Measurements Characteristics of clinical information systems and CDS systems used at each site as well as governance structures and content management approaches were identified through extensive field interviews and follow-up surveys. Results Six recommended practices were identified in the area of governance, and four were identified in the area of content management. Key similarities and differences between the organizations studied were also highlighted. Conclusion Each of the five sites studied contributed to the recommended practices presented in this paper for CDS governance. Since these strategies appear to be useful at a diverse range of institutions, they should be considered by any future implementers of decision support. PMID:21252052

The development of Tobacco Harm Prevention Law in Vietnam: stakeholder tensions over tobacco control legislation in a state owned industry

PubMed Central

2011-01-01

Background Building on its National Tobacco Control Policy initiated in 2000, Vietnam is currently considering introducing a comprehensive law to strengthen the implementation of tobacco control policy. This study analyses the positions of key stakeholders in the development of tobacco control legislation in the context of a largely state-owned industry, and discusses their implications for the policy process. Methods Several qualitative methods were employed for the study including: literature review and documentary analysis; key informant interview; focus groups discussion; and key stakeholders survey. Findings The Ministry of Health, Ministry of Trade and Industry, and Ministry of Finance are key players in the tobacco control policy and legislation, representing competing bureaucratic interests over health, macro-economy and revenue. High-ranking officials, including the Communist Party and National Assembly members, take a rather relaxed position reflecting the low political stakes placed on tobacco issues. The state-owned tobacco industry is regarded as an important contributor to the government revenue and gross domestic product, and the relative weight on health and socioeconomic issues placed by stakeholders determine their positions on tobacco control. Overall, short-term economic interests have more immediate influence in setting policy directions, with the consequences of health gains perceived as relegated to a distant future. This was reflected in the position of tobacco control advocates, including MOH, that presented with reluctance in insisting on some tobacco control strategies revealing a mixture attitude of concessions to the socioeconomic uncertainties and a sense of bargaining to win the strategies that are more likely to be accepted. Conclusion The state-ownership of tobacco industry poses a major paradox within the government that benefits from manufacturing of tobacco products and is also responsible for controlling tobacco consumption. The perceptions of negative implications on government revenue and the macro-economy, coupled with the reluctance to challenge these issues from health perspective too directly, means that tobacco control has yet to secure itself a place on the priority policy agenda. The overall policy environment will shift in favour of tobacco control only if the economic framing can be challenged. PMID:21923945

The development of Tobacco Harm Prevention Law in Vietnam: stakeholder tensions over tobacco control legislation in a state owned industry.

PubMed

Higashi, Hideki; Khuong, Tuan A; Ngo, Anh D; Hill, Peter S

2011-09-18

Building on its National Tobacco Control Policy initiated in 2000, Vietnam is currently considering introducing a comprehensive law to strengthen the implementation of tobacco control policy. This study analyses the positions of key stakeholders in the development of tobacco control legislation in the context of a largely state-owned industry, and discusses their implications for the policy process. Several qualitative methods were employed for the study including: literature review and documentary analysis; key informant interview; focus groups discussion; and key stakeholders survey. The Ministry of Health, Ministry of Trade and Industry, and Ministry of Finance are key players in the tobacco control policy and legislation, representing competing bureaucratic interests over health, macro-economy and revenue. High-ranking officials, including the Communist Party and National Assembly members, take a rather relaxed position reflecting the low political stakes placed on tobacco issues. The state-owned tobacco industry is regarded as an important contributor to the government revenue and gross domestic product, and the relative weight on health and socioeconomic issues placed by stakeholders determine their positions on tobacco control. Overall, short-term economic interests have more immediate influence in setting policy directions, with the consequences of health gains perceived as relegated to a distant future. This was reflected in the position of tobacco control advocates, including MOH, that presented with reluctance in insisting on some tobacco control strategies revealing a mixture attitude of concessions to the socioeconomic uncertainties and a sense of bargaining to win the strategies that are more likely to be accepted. The state-ownership of tobacco industry poses a major paradox within the government that benefits from manufacturing of tobacco products and is also responsible for controlling tobacco consumption. The perceptions of negative implications on government revenue and the macro-economy, coupled with the reluctance to challenge these issues from health perspective too directly, means that tobacco control has yet to secure itself a place on the priority policy agenda. The overall policy environment will shift in favour of tobacco control only if the economic framing can be challenged.

Urban governance and spatial inequality in service delivery: a case study of solid waste management in Abuja, Nigeria.

PubMed

Adama, Onyanta

2012-09-01

Spatial inequality in service delivery is a common feature in African cities. Several factors account for the phenomenon but there is growing attention towards urban governance and the role of the state. Urban governance policies such as privatization serve as key strategies through which the state regulates and (re)produces spatial inequality in service delivery. This study examined how governance practices related to privatization and the regulatory role of the state reinforce spatial inequalities in the delivery of solid waste services in Abuja, Nigeria. It focused primarily on the issue of cost recovery. Privatization became a major focus in Abuja in 2003 when the government launched a pilot scheme. Although it has brought improvements in service delivery, privatization has also increased the gap in the quality of services delivered in different parts of the city. Drawing on empirical data, the study revealed that little sensitivity to income and affordability, and to income differentials between neighbourhoods in the fixing of user charges and in the choice of the billing method is contributing to spatial inequalities in service delivery. Furthermore, the study suggests that these practices are linked to a broader issue, a failure of the government to see the people as partners. It therefore calls for more inclusive governance especially in decision-making processes. The study also emphasizes the need for a policy document on solid waste management, as this would encourage a critical assessment of vital issues including how privatization is to be funded, especially in low-income areas.

Qualitative analysis of governance trends after health system reforms in Latin America: lessons from Mexico.

PubMed

Arredondo, A; Orozco, E; Recaman, A L

2018-03-01

Health policies in Latin America are centered on the democratization of health. Since 2003, during the last generation of reforms, health systems in this region have promoted governance strategies for better agreements between governments, institutions, and civil society. In this context, we develop an evaluative research to identify trends and evidence of governance after health care reforms in six regions of Mexico. Evaluative research was developed with a retrospective design based on qualitative analysis. Primary data were obtained from 189 semi-structured interviews with purposively selected health care professionals and key informants. Secondary data were extracted from a selection of 95 official documents on results of the reform project at the national level, national health policies, and lines of action for good governance. Data processing and analysis were performed using ATLAS.ti and PolicyMaker. A list of main strengths and weaknesses is presented as evidence of health system governance. Accountability at the federal level remains prescriptive; in the regions, a system of accountability and transparency in the allocation of resources and in terms of health democratization strategies is still absent. Social protection and decentralization schemes are strategies that have allowed for improvements with a proactive role of users and civil society. Regarding challenges, there are still low levels of governance and difficulties in the effective conduct of programs and reform strategies together with a lack of precision in the rules and roles of the different actors of the health system. Copyright © 2017 The Royal Society for Public Health. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Facilitating the improved management of waste in South Africa through a national waste information system

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Godfrey, Linda

2008-07-01

Developing a waste information system (WIS) for a country is more than just about collecting routine data on waste; it is about facilitating the improved management of waste by providing timely, reliable information to the relevant role-players. It is a means of supporting the waste governance challenges facing South Africa - challenges ranging from strategic waste management issues at national government to basic operational challenges at local government. The paper addresses two hypotheses. The first is that the identified needs of government can provide a platform from which to design a national WIS framework for a developing country such asmore » South Africa, and the second is that the needs for waste information reflect greater, currently unfulfilled challenges in the sustainable management of waste. Through a participatory needs analysis process, it is shown that waste information is needed by the three spheres of government, to support amongst others, informed planning and decision-making, compliance monitoring and enforcement, community participation through public access to information, human, infrastructure and financial resource management and policy development. These needs for waste information correspond closely with key waste management challenges currently facing the country. A shift in governments approach to waste, in line with national and international policy, is evident from identified current and future waste information needs. However, the need for information on landfilling remains entrenched within government, possibly due to the poor compliance of landfill sites in South Africa and the problems around the illegal disposal of both general and hazardous waste.« less

Adoption and Design of Emerging Dietary Policies to Improve Cardiometabolic Health in the US.

PubMed

Huang, Yue; Pomeranz, Jennifer; Wilde, Parke; Capewell, Simon; Gaziano, Tom; O'Flaherty, Martin; Kersh, Rogan; Whitsel, Laurie; Mozaffarian, Dariush; Micha, Renata

2018-04-14

Suboptimal diet is a leading cause of cardiometabolic disease and economic burdens. Evidence-based dietary policies within 5 domains-food prices, reformulation, marketing, labeling, and government food assistance programs-appear promising at improving cardiometabolic health. Yet, the extent of new dietary policy adoption in the US and key elements crucial to define in designing such policies are not well established. We created an inventory of recent US dietary policy cases aiming to improve cardiometabolic health and assessed the extent of their proposal and adoption at federal, state, local, and tribal levels; and categorized and characterized the key elements in their policy design. Recent federal dietary policies adopted to improve cardiometabolic health include reformulation (trans-fat elimination), marketing (mass-media campaigns to increase fruits and vegetables), labeling (Nutrition Facts Panel updates, menu calorie labeling), and food assistance programs (financial incentives for fruits and vegetables in the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) and Women, Infant and Children (WIC) program). Federal voluntary guidelines have been proposed for sodium reformulation and food marketing to children. Recent state proposals included sugar-sweetened beverage (SSB) taxes, marketing restrictions, and SNAP restrictions, but few were enacted. Local efforts varied significantly, with certain localities consistently leading in the proposal or adoption of relevant policies. Across all jurisdictions, most commonly selected dietary targets included fruits and vegetables, SSBs, trans-fat, added sugar, sodium, and calories; other healthy (e.g., nuts) or unhealthy (e.g., processed meats) factors were largely not addressed. Key policy elements to define in designing these policies included those common across domains (e.g., level of government, target population, dietary target, dietary definition, implementation mechanism), and domain-specific (e.g., media channels for food marketing domain) or policy-specific (e.g., earmarking for taxes) elements. Characteristics of certain elements were similarly defined (e.g., fruit and vegetable definition, warning language used in SSB warning labels), while others varied across cases within a policy (e.g., tax base for SSB taxes). Several key elements were not always sufficiently characterized in government documents, and dietary target selections and definitions did not consistently align with the evidence-base. These findings highlight recent action on dietary policies to improve cardiometabolic health in the US; and key elements necessary to design such policies.

Decentralization and health system performance - a focused review of dimensions, difficulties, and derivatives in India.

PubMed

Panda, Bhuputra; Thakur, Harshad P

2016-10-31

One of the principal goals of any health care system is to improve health through the provision of clinical and public health services. Decentralization as a reform measure aims to improve inputs, management processes and health outcomes, and has political, administrative and financial connotations. It is argued that the robustness of a health system in achieving desirable outcomes is contingent upon the width and depth of 'decision space' at the local level. Studies have used different approaches to examine one or more facets of decentralization and its effect on health system functioning; however, lack of consensus on an acceptable framework is a critical gap in determining its quantum and quality. Theorists have resorted to concepts of 'trust', 'convenience' and 'mutual benefits' to explain, define and measure components of governance in health. In the emerging 'continuum of health services' model, the challenge lies in identifying variables of performance (fiscal allocation, autonomy at local level, perception of key stakeholders, service delivery outputs, etc.) through the prism of decentralization in the first place, and in establishing directed relationships among them. This focused review paper conducted extensive web-based literature search, using PubMed and Google Scholar search engines. After screening of key words and study objectives, we retrieved 180 articles for next round of screening. One hundred and four full articles (three working papers and 101 published papers) were reviewed in totality. We attempted to summarize existing literature on decentralization and health systems performance, explain key concepts and essential variables, and develop a framework for further scientific scrutiny. Themes are presented in three separate segments of dimensions, difficulties and derivatives. Evaluation of local decision making and its effect on health system performance has been studied in a compartmentalized manner. There is sparse evidence about innovations attributable to decentralization. We observed that in India, there is very scant evaluative study on the subject. We didn't come across a single study examining the perception and experiences of local decision makers about the opportunities and challenges they faced. The existing body of evidences may be inadequate to feed into sound policy making. The principles of management hinge on measurement of inputs, processes and outputs. In the conceptual framework we propose three levels of functions (health systems functions, management functions and measurement functions) being intricately related to inputs, processes and outputs. Each level of function encompasses essential elements derived from the synthesis of information gathered through literature review and non-participant observation. We observed that it is difficult to quantify characteristics of governance at institutional, system and individual levels except through proxy means. There is an urgent need to sensitize governments and academia about how best more objective evaluation of 'shared governance' can be undertaken to benefit policy making. The future direction of enquiry should focus on context-specific evidence of its effect on the entire spectrum of health system, with special emphasis on efficiency, community participation, human resource management and quality of services.

Where Public Health Meets Human Rights: Integrating Human Rights into the Validation of the Elimination of Mother-to-Child Transmission of HIV and Syphilis.

PubMed

Kismödi, Eszter; Kiragu, Karusa; Sawicki, Olga; Smith, Sally; Brion, Sophie; Sharma, Aditi; Mworeko, Lilian; Iovita, Alexandrina

2017-12-01

In 2014, the World Health Organization (WHO) initiated a process for validation of the elimination of mother-to-child transmission (EMTCT) of HIV and syphilis by countries. For the first time in such a process for the validation of disease elimination, WHO introduced norms and approaches that are grounded in human rights, gender equality, and community engagement. This human rights-based validation process can serve as a key opportunity to enhance accountability for human rights protection by evaluating EMTCT programs against human rights norms and standards, including in relation to gender equality and by ensuring the provision of discrimination-free quality services. The rights-based validation process also involves the assessment of participation of affected communities in EMTCT program development, implementation, and monitoring and evaluation. It brings awareness to the types of human rights abuses and inequalities faced by women living with, at risk of, or affected by HIV and syphilis, and commits governments to eliminate those barriers. This process demonstrates the importance and feasibility of integrating human rights, gender, and community into key public health interventions in a manner that improves health outcomes, legitimizes the participation of affected communities, and advances the human rights of women living with HIV.

Player or referee? Aid effectiveness and the governance of health policy development: Lessons from Viet Nam.

PubMed

Dodd, Rebecca; Olivé, Jean-Marc

2011-01-01

Viet Nam is one of the brightest stars in the constellation of developing countries. Its remarkable achievements in reducing poverty and improving health and education outcomes are well known, and as a result it has enjoyed generous aid programmes. Viet Nam also has a reputation for taking a strong lead in disciplining its donors and pushing for more efficient and effective forms of aid delivery, both at home and internationally. This article discusses how efforts to improve the effectiveness of aid intersect with policy-making processes in the health sector. It presents a quantitative review of health aid flows in Viet Nam and a qualitative analysis of the aid environment using event analysis, participant observation and key informant interviews. The analysis reveals a complex and dynamic web of incentives influencing the implementation of the aid effectiveness agenda in the health sector. There are contradictory forces within the Ministry of Health, within government as a whole, within the donor community and between donors and government. Analytical frameworks drawn from the study of policy networks and governance can help explain these tensions. They suggest that governance of health aid in Viet Nam is characterised by multiple, overlapping 'policy networks' which cut across the traditional donor-government divide. The principles of aid effectiveness make sense for some of these communities, but for others they are irrational and may lead to a loss of influence and resources. However, sustained engagement combined with the building of strategic coalitions can overcome individual and institutional incentives. This article suggests that aid reform efforts should be understood not as a technocratic agenda but as a political process with all the associated tensions, perverse incentives and challenges. Partners thus need to recognise - and find new ways of making sense of - the complexity of forces affecting aid delivery.

Risk communication and trust in decision-maker action: a case study of the Giant Mine Remediation Plan.

PubMed

Jardine, Cynthia G; Banfield, Laura; Driedger, S Michelle; Furgal, Christopher M

2013-01-01

The development and implementation of a remediation plan for the residual arsenic trioxide stored at the former Giant Mine site in the Canadian Northwest Territories has raised important issues related to trust. Social and individual trust of those responsible for making decisions on risks is critically important in community judgements on risk and the acceptability of risk management decisions. Trust is known to be affected by value similarity and confidence in past performance, which serve as interacting sources of cooperation in acting toward a common goal. To explore the elements of trust associated with the development and implementation of the Giant Mine Remediation Plan. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with eight purposively selected key informants representing both various interested and affected parties and the two government proponents. Five primary issues related to trust were identified by the participants: (1) a historical legacy of mistrust between the community (particularly Aboriginal peoples) and government; (2) barriers to building trust with the federal government; (3) limited community input and control over the decision-making process; (4) the conflicted and confounded role of the government agencies being both proponent and regulator, and the resulting need for independent oversight; and (5) distrust of the government to commit to the perpetual care required for the remediation option selected. The dual-mode model of trust and confidence was shown to be a useful framework for understanding the pivotal role of trust in the development of the Giant Mine Remediation Plan. Failure to recognize issues of trust based on value dissimilarity and lack of confidence based on past performance have resulted in a lack of cooperation characterized by delayed remediation and a prolonged and expensive consultation process. Government recognition of the importance of trust to these issues will hopefully improve future communication and public engagement endeavours.

Organizational factors, planning capacity, and integration challenges constrain provincial planning processes for nutrition in decentralizing Vietnam.

PubMed

Lapping, Karin; Frongillo, Edward A; Nguyen, Phuong H; Coates, Jennifer; Webb, Patrick; Menon, Purnima

2014-09-01

Translating national policies and guidelines into effective action at the subnational level (e.g., province or region) is a prerequisite for ensuring an impact on nutrition. In several countries, including Vietnam, the focus of this paper, this process is affected by the quality of the decentralized process of planning and action. This study examined how provincial planning processes for nutrition occurred in Vietnam during 2009 and 2010. Key goals were to understand variability in processes across provinces, identify factors that influenced the process, and assess the usefulness of the process for individuals involved in planning and action. A qualitative case-study methodology was used. Data were drawn from interviews with 51 government officials in eight provinces. The study found little variability in the planning process among these eight provinces, probably due to a planning process that was predominantly a fiscal exercise within the confines of a largely centralized structure. Respondents were almost unanimous about the main barriers: a top-down approach to planning, limited human capacity for effective planning at subnational levels, and difficulty in integrating actions from multiple sectors. Provincial-level actors were deeply dissatisfied with the nature of their role in the process. Despite the rhetoric to the contrary, too much power is probably still retained at the central level. A strategic multiyear approach is needed to strengthen the provincial planning process and address many of the key barriers identified in this study.

Iran Sanctions

DTIC Science & Technology

2010-05-04

North Korea Non- Proliferation Act) authorizes sanctions on foreign persons (individuals or corporations , not countries or governments ) that are...intended to reduce the revenue available to Iran’s government and to generate domestic pressure within Iran to adopt policies more acceptable to the...a key Iranian economic vulnerability because Iran’s government revenues are approximately 80% dependent on oil revenues and in need of substantial

Reinventing Your Board: A Step-by-Step Guide to Implementing Policy Governance. The Jossey-Bass Nonprofit and Public Management Series.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Carver, John; Carver, Miriam Mayhew

This guide provides practical advice regarding implementation of the Policy Governance model for school boards. Chapter 1, "Setting the Stage," explores questions commonly raised by boards prior to implementation of the Policy Governance model. Chapter 2, "The Theoretical Foundation," reviews the key theoretical principles of…

Guns, Farms, and Foreign Languages: The Introduction of Western Learning and the First Government Schools in Late Nineteenth-Century Korea

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Yuh, Leighanne

2016-01-01

Despite the turbulent political circumstances of the 1880s, and notwithstanding opposition from key government officials, this decade witnessed the Korean government's initial attempts to establish educational institutions modelled after western schools--the Royal College (Yugyeong Gongweon), a military academy (Yeonmu Gongweon), and an…

Underpinning Excellence in Higher Education--An Investigation into the Leadership, Governance and Management Behaviours of High-Performing Academic Departments

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Kok, Seng Kiat; McDonald, Claire

2017-01-01

The changes in government funding alongside external pressures of increased international and national competition have meant that higher education institutions need to excel in a turbulent environment. The leadership, governance and management (LGM) of academic departments are key concerns. This study investigates the correlation between…

Platelet biomechanics, platelet bioenergetics, and applications to clinical practice and translational research.

PubMed

George, Mitchell J; Bynum, James; Nair, Prajeeda; Cap, Andrew P; Wade, Charles E; Cox, Charles S; Gill, Brijesh S

2018-07-01

The purpose of this review is to explore the relationship between platelet bioenergetics and biomechanics and how this relationship affects the clinical interpretation of platelet function devices. Recent experimental and technological advances highlight platelet bioenergetics and biomechanics as alternative avenues for collecting clinically relevant data. Platelet bioenergetics drive energy production for key biomechanical processes like adhesion, spreading, aggregation, and contraction. Platelet function devices like thromboelastography, thromboelastometry, and aggregometry measure these biomechanical processes. Platelet storage, stroke, sepsis, trauma, or the activity of antiplatelet drugs alters measures of platelet function. However, the specific mechanisms governing these alterations in platelet function and how they relate to platelet bioenergetics are still under investigation.

Production and energetic use of biogas from energy crops and wastes in Germany.

PubMed

Weiland, Peter

2003-01-01

The production of biogas for reducing fossil CO2 emissions is one of the key strategic issues of the German government and has resulted in the development of new process techniques and new technologies for the energetic use of biogas. Progress has been made in cultivating energy crops for biogas production, in using new reactor systems for anaerobic digestion, and in applying more efficient technologies for combined heat and power production. Recently, integration of fuel cells within the anaerobic digestion process was started, and new technologies for biogas upgrading and conversion to hydrogen were tested. This article describes the trends in Germany for achieving more efficient energy production.

Dynamics of Ranking Processes in Complex Systems

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Blumm, Nicholas; Ghoshal, Gourab; Forró, Zalán; Schich, Maximilian; Bianconi, Ginestra; Bouchaud, Jean-Philippe; Barabási, Albert-László

2012-09-01

The world is addicted to ranking: everything, from the reputation of scientists, journals, and universities to purchasing decisions is driven by measured or perceived differences between them. Here, we analyze empirical data capturing real time ranking in a number of systems, helping to identify the universal characteristics of ranking dynamics. We develop a continuum theory that not only predicts the stability of the ranking process, but shows that a noise-induced phase transition is at the heart of the observed differences in ranking regimes. The key parameters of the continuum theory can be explicitly measured from data, allowing us to predict and experimentally document the existence of three phases that govern ranking stability.

Viruses Associated with Human Cancer

PubMed Central

McLaughlin-Drubin, Margaret E.; Munger, Karl

2008-01-01

It is estimated that viral infections contribute to 15–20% of all human cancers. As obligatory intracellular parasites, viruses encode proteins that reprogram host cellular signaling pathways that control proliferation, differentiation, cell death, genomic integrity, and recognition by the immune system. These cellular processes are governed by complex and redundant regulatory networks and are surveyed by sentinel mechanisms that ensure that aberrant cells are removed from the proliferative pool. Given that the genome size of a virus is highly restricted to ensure packaging within an infectious structure, viruses must target cellular regulatory nodes with limited redundancy and need to inactivate surveillance mechanisms that would normally recognize and extinguish such abnormal cells. In many cases, key proteins in these same regulatory networks are subject to mutation in non-virally associated diseases and cancers. Oncogenic viruses have thus served as important experimental models to identify and molecularly investigate such cellular networks. These include the discovery of oncogenes and tumor suppressors, identification of regulatory networks that are critical for maintenance of genomic integrity, and processes that govern immune surveillance. PMID:18201576

Delivering proportionate governance in the era of eHealth

PubMed Central

Sethi, Nayha; Laurie, Graeme T.

2013-01-01

This article advances a principled proportionate governance model (PPGM) that overcomes key impediments to using health records for research. Despite increasing initiatives for maximising benefits of data linkage, significant challenges remain, including a culture of caution around data sharing and linkage, failure to make use of flexibilities within the law and failure to incorporate intelligent iterative design. The article identifies key issues for consideration and posits a flexible and accessible governance model that provides a robust and efficient means of paying due regard to both privacy and the public interests in research. We argue that proportionate governance based on clear guiding principles accurately gauges risks associated with data uses and assigns safeguards accordingly. This requires a clear articulation of roles and responsibilities at all levels of decision-making and effective training for researchers and data custodians. Accordingly, the PPGM encourages and supports defensible judgements about data linkage in the public interest. PMID:24634569

Topology-dependent density optima for efficient simultaneous network exploration

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wilson, Daniel B.; Baker, Ruth E.; Woodhouse, Francis G.

2018-06-01

A random search process in a networked environment is governed by the time it takes to visit every node, termed the cover time. Often, a networked process does not proceed in isolation but competes with many instances of itself within the same environment. A key unanswered question is how to optimize this process: How many concurrent searchers can a topology support before the benefits of parallelism are outweighed by competition for space? Here, we introduce the searcher-averaged parallel cover time (APCT) to quantify these economies of scale. We show that the APCT of the networked symmetric exclusion process is optimized at a searcher density that is well predicted by the spectral gap. Furthermore, we find that nonequilibrium processes, realized through the addition of bias, can support significantly increased density optima. Our results suggest alternative hybrid strategies of serial and parallel search for efficient information gathering in social interaction and biological transport networks.

Mobile prehospital emergency care: an analysis of implementation in the State of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

PubMed

O'Dwyer, Gisele; Machado, Cristiani Vieira; Alves, Renan Paes; Salvador, Fernanda Gonçalves

2016-06-01

Mobile prehospital care is a key component of emergency care. The aim of this study was to analyze the implementation of the State of Rio de Janeiro's Mobile Emergency Medical Service (SAMU, acronym in Portuguese). The methodology employed included document analysis, visits to six SAMU emergency call centers, and semistructured interviews conducted with 12 local and state emergency care coordinators. The study's conceptual framework was based on Giddens' theory of structuration. Intergovernmental conflicts were observed between the state and municipal governments, and between municipal governments. Despite the shortage of hospital beds, the SAMUs in periphery regions were better integrated with the emergency care network than the metropolitan SAMUs. The steering committees were not very active and weaknesses were observed relating to the limited role played by the state government in funding, management, and monitoring. It was concluded that the SAMU implementation process in the state was marked by political tensions and management and coordination weaknesses. As a result, serious drawbacks remain in the coordination of the SAMU with the other health services and the regionalization of emergency care in the state.

Holistic risk-based environmental decision making: a Native perspective.

PubMed Central

Arquette, Mary; Cole, Maxine; Cook, Katsi; LaFrance, Brenda; Peters, Margaret; Ransom, James; Sargent, Elvera; Smoke, Vivian; Stairs, Arlene

2002-01-01

Native American Nations have become increasingly concerned about the impacts of toxic substances. Although risk assessment and risk management processes have been used by government agencies to help estimate and manage risks associated with exposure to toxicants, these tools have many inadequacies and as a result have not served Native people well. In addition, resources have not always been adequate to address the concerns of Native Nations, and involvement of Native decision makers on a government-to-government basis in discussions regarding risk has only recently become common. Finally, because the definitions of health used by Native people are strikingly different from that of risk assessors, there is also a need to expand current definitions and incorporate traditional knowledge into decision making. Examples are discussed from the First Environment Restoration Initiative, a project that is working to address toxicant issues facing the Mohawk territory of Akwesasne. This project is developing a community-defined model in which health is protected at the same time that traditional cultural practices, which have long been the key to individual and community health, are maintained and restored. PMID:11929736

Advances in food crystallization.

PubMed

Hartel, Richard W

2013-01-01

Crystals often play an important role in food product quality and shelf life. Controlling crystallization to obtain the desired crystal content, size distribution, shape, and polymorph is key to manufacturing products with desired functionality and shelf life. Technical developments in the field have improved the tools with which we study and characterize crystals in foods. These developments also help our understanding of the physico-chemical phenomena that govern crystallization and improve our ability to control it during processing and storage. In this review, some of the more important recent developments in measuring and controlling crystallization are discussed.

Phosphorylation Reaction in cAPK Protein Kinase - Free Energy Quantum Mechanic/Molecular Mechanics Simulations.

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Valiev, Marat; Yang, Jie; Adams, Joseph

2007-11-29

Protein kinases catalyze the transfer of the γ-phosphoryl group from ATP, a key regulatory process governing signalling pathways in eukaryotic cells. The structure of the active site in these enzymes is highly conserved implying common catalytic mechanism. In this work we investigate the reaction process in cAPK protein kinase (PKA) using a combined quantum mechanics and molecular mechanics approach. The novel computational features of our work include reaction pathway determination with nudged elastic band methodology and calculation of free energy profiles of the reaction process taking into account finite temperature fluctuations of the protein environment. We find that the transfermore » of the γ-phosphoryl group in the protein environment is an exothermic reaction with the reaction barrier of 15 kcal/mol.« less

Advertising of ultra-processed foods and beverages: children as a vulnerable population.

PubMed

Mallarino, Christina; Gómez, Luis F; González-Zapata, Laura; Cadena, Yazmín; Parra, Diana C

2013-10-01

The rapid nutrition transition occurring in Latin America has resulted in a sharp increase of childhood overweight and obesity. Recent evidence has shown that food and beverage advertising has a great influence on children's eating behavior. This population has become a key target market for the ultra-processed foods and beverages industry, which is marketing products in an aggressive way. Evidence shows that Latin American countries have poor regulation of ultra-processed foods and beverages advertising, where the discourse of self-regulation still prevails over statutory regulations. The following commentary explores how advertising might play an important role in developing unhealthy dietary patterns and obesity in Latin American children, as well as the urgent need for government action and the involvement of civil society to tackle this public health issue.

The Governance of Indigenous Natural Products in Namibia: A Policy Network Analysis.

PubMed

Ndeinoma, Albertina; Wiersum, K Freerk; Arts, Bas

2018-01-09

At the end of the 20th century, optimism existed that non-timber forest products (NTFPs) can form an integral part in conservation and development strategies. However, there is limited knowledge on how the different stakeholders could relate to the state or to each other in promoting commercialization of NTFPs. Applying the policy network as an analytical framework, we investigated the structural patterns of actor relations in the governance structure of indigenous natural products (INPs) in Namibia, to understand the implications of such relations on INP policy process. The findings indicate that the INP policy network in Namibia is multi-dimensional, consisting of the Indigenous Plant Task Team (IPTT)-the key governance structure for resource mobilization and information sharing; and functional relations which serve specific roles in the INP value chain. The existing relations have facilitated policy development particularly for heavily regulated species, such as devil's claw; but for other species, only incremental changes are observed in terms of small-scale processing facilities for value addition and exclusive purchase agreements for sustainable sourcing of INPs. Participation of primary producers, private actors and quality standardization bodies is limited in INPs governance structures, which narrow the scope of information sharing. Consequently, despite that the IPTT has fostered publicly funded explorative pilot projects, ranging from production to marketing of INPs, there are no clear guidelines how these projects results can be transferred to private entities for possible commercialization. Further collaboration and information sharing is needed to guide public sector relations with the private entities and cooperatives.

49 CFR 1.13 - OST Key Responsibilities.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

2013-10-01

... 49 Transportation 1 2013-10-01 2013-10-01 false OST Key Responsibilities. 1.13 Section 1.13... of the Secretary § 1.13 OST Key Responsibilities. (a) The OST is responsible for: (1) Providing... Government; (5) Encouraging maximum private development of transportation services; (6) Providing responsive...

49 CFR 1.13 - OST Key Responsibilities.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

2012-10-01

... 49 Transportation 1 2012-10-01 2012-10-01 false OST Key Responsibilities. 1.13 Section 1.13... of the Secretary § 1.13 OST Key Responsibilities. (a) The OST is responsible for: (1) Providing... Government; (5) Encouraging maximum private development of transportation services; (6) Providing responsive...

49 CFR 1.13 - OST Key Responsibilities.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

2014-10-01

... 49 Transportation 1 2014-10-01 2014-10-01 false OST Key Responsibilities. 1.13 Section 1.13... of the Secretary § 1.13 OST Key Responsibilities. (a) The OST is responsible for: (1) Providing... Government; (5) Encouraging maximum private development of transportation services; (6) Providing responsive...

Social capacity building towards flood risk resilience in England: The impact of shifts in risk governance

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Begg, C.; Walker, G.

2012-04-01

CapHaz-Net - capacity building for natural hazards in Europe: towards more resilient societies - sees efforts to reduce vulnerability to natural hazards as a social endeavor. One of the findings from this project is the importance of as well as the advantages and pitfalls of participation within the natural hazard management process. Although participation is seen to be important it is still only a small part of the overall management process. However, as European societies see shifts in risk governance from the state to the local level, how are these participation processes likely to change? This paper takes these findings and looks at England as a case study. This case study focuses on the Big Society which promises to be the change that will remedy what Prime Minister David Cameron sees as a broken society. The idea has been put into practice through the Localism Act. The Act seeks not to totally repeal state control but to make decision-making processes more democratic. This includes less bureaucracy for local government to deal with and more space for innovation when dealing with local issues and support for volunteers, mutuals, co-ops, charities and social enterprises to get involved in decision-making and provision of services. But how is this shift going to be everything that it promises to be? And, what does this shift mean for flood risk management? Moreover, how are local people engaged to become involved in shaping the decisions that affect them? By conducting interviews with key stakeholders, this research aims at gaining an understanding of forms of participation that exist in the British context and the public reaction to such opportunities. In turn, this research aims to understand the boundaries of localism in regards to the delivery of flood risk management.

Continuity of operations/continuity of government for state-level transportation organizations.

DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

2011-09-01

The Homeland Security Presidential Directive 20 (HSPD-20) requires all local, state, tribal and territorial government agencies, : and private sector owners of critical infrastructure and key resources (CI/KR) to create a Continuity of Operations/Con...

Frequency standards from government laboratories over the next 25 years

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Maleki, L.

1994-01-01

Based on a number of considerations including projected needs, current status, future trends, and status of key technologies, an attempt is made to project the future of government supported frequency standards development in the next 25 years.

Reengineering the picture archiving and communication system (PACS) process for digital imaging networks PACS.

PubMed

Horton, M C; Lewis, T E; Kinsey, T V

1999-05-01

Prior to June 1997, military picture archiving and communications systems (PACS) were planned, procured, and installed with key decisions on the system, equipment, and even funding sources made through a research and development office called Medical Diagnostic Imaging Systems (MDIS). Beginning in June 1997, the Joint Imaging Technology Project Office (JITPO) initiated a collaborative and consultative process for planning and implementing PACS into military treatment facilities through a new Department of Defense (DoD) contract vehicle called digital imaging networks (DIN)-PACS. The JITPO reengineered this process incorporating multiple organizations and politics. The reengineered PACS process administered through the JITPO transformed the decision process and accountability from a single office to a consultative method that increased end-user knowledge, responsibility, and ownership in PACS. The JITPO continues to provide information and services that assist multiple groups and users in rendering PACS planning and implementation decisions. Local site project managers are involved from the outset and this end-user collaboration has made the sometimes difficult transition to PACS an easier and more acceptable process for all involved. Corporately, this process saved DoD sites millions by having PACS plans developed within the government and proposed to vendors second, and then having vendors respond specifically to those plans. The integrity and efficiency of the process have reduced the opportunity for implementing nonstandard systems while sharing resources and reducing wasted government dollars. This presentation will describe the chronology of changes, encountered obstacles, and lessons learned within the reengineering of the PACS process for DIN-PACS.

Role of Australian primary healthcare organisations (PHCOs) in primary healthcare (PHC) workforce planning: lessons from abroad.

PubMed

Naccarella, Lucio; Buchan, James; Newton, Bill; Brooks, Peter

2011-08-01

To review international experience in order to inform Australian PHC workforce policy on the role of primary healthcare organisations (PHCOs/Medicare Locals) in PHC workforce planning. A NZ and UK study tour was conducted by the lead author, involving 29 key informant interviews with regard to PHCOs roles and the effect on PHC workforce planning. Interviews were audio-taped with consent, transcribed and analysed thematically. Emerging themes included: workforce planning is a complex, dynamic, iterative process and key criteria exist for doing workforce planning well; PHCOs lacked a PHC workforce policy framework to do workforce planning; PHCOs lacked authority, power and appropriate funding to do workforce planning; there is a need to align workforce planning with service planning; and a PHC Workforce Planning and Development Benchmarking Database is essential for local planning and evaluating workforce reforms. With the Australian government promoting the role of PHCOs in health system reform, reflections from abroad highlight the key action within PHC and PHCOs required to optimise PHC workforce planning.

Insights into the government's role in food system policy making: improving access to healthy, local food alongside other priorities.

PubMed

Wegener, Jessica; Raine, Kim D; Hanning, Rhona M

2012-11-12

Government actors have an important role to play in creating healthy public policies and supportive environments to facilitate access to safe, affordable, nutritious food. The purpose of this research was to examine Waterloo Region (Ontario, Canada) as a case study for "what works" with respect to facilitating access to healthy, local food through regional food system policy making. Policy and planning approaches were explored through multi-sectoral perspectives of: (a) the development and adoption of food policies as part of the comprehensive planning process; (b) barriers to food system planning; and (c) the role and motivation of the Region's public health and planning departments in food system policy making. Forty-seven in-depth interviews with decision makers, experts in public health and planning, and local food system stakeholders provided rich insight into strategic government actions, as well as the local and historical context within which food system policies were developed. Grounded theory methods were used to identify key overarching themes including: "strategic positioning", "partnerships" and "knowledge transfer" and related sub-themes ("aligned agendas", "issue framing", "visioning" and "legitimacy"). A conceptual framework to illustrate the process and features of food system policy making is presented and can be used as a starting point to  engage multi-sectoral stakeholders in plans and actions to facilitate access to healthy food.

Enhancing the capabilities of emigration countries to protect men and women destined for low-skilled employment: the case of the Philippines.

PubMed

Santo Tomas, P

1999-01-01

This study examined policies in receiving countries, evaluated their effectiveness in protecting low skilled Filipino migrant workers, and discusses the potential for quantifying and objectifying labor migrant gains or losses. Data were obtained from focus groups among 10 technical managers of the Philippine Overseas Employment Administration and interviews with 10 policy-makers in order to establish a hierarchy of aims in labor migration and policy indicators. The aims are identified as good jobs abroad, an orderly process, efficient and fair recruitment, and easy transfers of remittances. Findings are that Philippine policies facilitate remittance transfers. Government was least effective in ensuring orderliness. Government was fairly effective in ensuring fairness and efficiency and ensuring good jobs overseas. It succeeded the most in ensuring that nationals can easily transfer their earnings. Allocation data reveal that more resources were expended on searching for good jobs and least on fairness and efficiency. Remittances increased after mandatory remittances were ended as imposed by the Marcos regime. De-skilling often resulted from overseas employment, but rehired workers received better pay on their second and third assignments. This research was exploratory and more research is needed for developing sensitive indicators and refining the process of evaluating key government policies. The Philippine Development Policy that encourages labor migration and protection of overseas workers is a necessity during the ongoing Asian economic crisis.

Racial Desegregation and the Institutionalisation of "Race" in University Governance: The Case of the University of Cape Town

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Luescher, Thierry M.

2009-01-01

The racial desegregation of the student bodies of historically white universities in South Africa has had significant political implications for student politics and university governance. I discuss two key moments in the governance history of the University of Cape Town (UCT) critically. The first involves the experience of racial parallelism in…

60 Years on: The Changing Role of Government

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Pring, Richard

2012-01-01

In this article, the author reflects on key events and issues with which he has been involved for 50 years. First, he gives a brief account of the Schools Council--what it meant in terms of the limited role of government in governing education, and in terms of the role of teachers as curriculum thinkers, not deliverers. Its demise in the 1980s…

Educating for a High Skills Society? The Landscape of Federal Employment, Training and Lifelong Learning Policy in Canada

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Gibb, Tara; Walker, Judith

2011-01-01

Government reports and documents claim that building a knowledge economy and innovative society are key goals in Canada. In this paper, we draw on critical policy analysis to examine 10 Canadian federal government training and employment policies in relation to the government's espoused priorities of innovation and developing a high skills society…

Coalition Building for Adult Literacy: Historical and Organizational Perspectives.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Newman, Anabel P.; Lehman, Bernadette

Selected successful literacy coalitions were examined to identify key issues and trends in coalition building. The six key issues identified (focus and functions, funding, governance, membership, key figures, and evaluation) were used as a framework to review the early efforts, current activities, and future visions of literacy coalitions…

Managing IT service management implementation complexity: from the perspective of the Warfield Version of systems science

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wan, Jiangping; Jones, James D.

2013-11-01

The Warfield version of systems science supports a wide variety of application areas, and is useful to practitioners who use the work program of complexity (WPOC) tool. In this article, WPOC is applied to information technology service management (ITSM) for managing the complexity of projects. In discussing the application of WPOC to ITSM, we discuss several steps of WPOC. The discovery step of WPOC consists of a description process and a diagnosis process. During the description process, 52 risk factors are identified, which are then narrowed to 20 key risk factors. All of this is done by interviews and surveys. Root risk factors (the most basic risk factors) consist of 11 kinds of common 'mindbugs' which are selected from an interpretive structural model. This is achieved by empirical analysis of 25 kinds of mindbugs. (A lesser aim of this research is to affirm that these mindbugs developed from a Western mindset have corresponding relevance in a completely different culture: the Peoples Republic of China.) During the diagnosis process, the relationships among the root risk factors in the implementation of the ITSM project are identified. The resolution step of WPOC consists of a design process and an implementation process. During the design process, issues related to the ITSM application are compared to both e-Government operation and maintenance, and software process improvement. The ITSM knowledge support structure is also designed at this time. During the implementation process, 10 keys to the successful implementation of ITSM projects are identified.

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Stein, Steven L.; Lesperance, Ann M.; Upton, Jaki F.

On October 9, 2008, federal, state and local policy makers, emergency managers, and medical and public health officials convened in Seattle, Washington, for a workshop on Addressing the Federal-State-Local Interface Issues During a Catastrophic Event Such as an Anthrax Attack. The day-long symposium was aimed at generating a dialogue about recovery and restoration through a discussion of the associated challenges that impact entire communities, including people, infrastructure, and critical systems. The Principal Federal Official (PFO) provided an overview of the role of the PFO in a catastrophic event. A high-level summary of an anthrax scenario was presented. The remainder ofmore » the day was focused on interactive discussions among federal, state and local emergency management experts in the areas of: • Decision-making, prioritization, and command and control • Public health/medical services • Community resiliency and continuity of government. Key topics and issues that resulted from discussions included: • Local representation in the Joint Field Office (JFO) • JFO transition to the Long-Term Recovery Office • Process for prioritization of needs • Process for regional coordination • Prioritization - process and federal/military intervention • Allocation of limited resources • Re-entry decision and consistency • Importance of maintaining a healthy hospital system • Need for a process to establish a consensus on when it is safe to re-enter. This needs to be across all jurisdictions including the military. • Insurance coverage for both private businesses and individuals • Interaction between the government and industry. The symposium was sponsored by the Interagency Biological Restoration Demonstration, a collaborative regional program jointly funded by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security and the U.S. Department of Defense. To aid the program’s efforts and inform the development of blueprint for recovery from a biological incident, this report presents the key issues identified at the symposium.« less

Using community-based evidence for decentralized health planning: insights from Maharashtra, India.

PubMed

Shukla, Abhay; Khanna, Renu; Jadhav, Nitin

2018-01-01

Health planning is generally considered a technical subject, primarily the domain of health officials with minimal involvement of community representatives. The National Rural Health Mission launched in India in 2005 recognized this gap and mandated mechanisms for decentralized health planning. However, since planning develops in the context of highly unequal power relations, formal spaces for participation are necessary but not sufficient. Hence a project on capacity building for decentralized health planning was implemented in selected districts of Maharashtra, India during 2010-13. This process developed on the platform of officially supported community-based monitoring and planning, a process for community feedback and participation towards health system change. A specific project on capacity building for decentralized planning included a structured learning course and workshops for major stakeholders. An evaluation of the project, including in-depth interviews of various participants and analysis of change in local health planning processes, revealed positive changes in intervention areas, including increased capacity of key stakeholders leading to preparation of evidence-based, innovative planning proposals, significant community oriented changes in utilization of health facility funds, and inclusion of community-based proposals in village, health facility-based block and district plans. Transparency related to planning increased along with responsiveness of health providers to community suggestions. A key lesson is that active facilitation of decentralized health planning and influencing the health system to expand participation, are essential to ensure changes in planning. Effective strategies included: identifying people's health service related priorities through community-based monitoring, capacity building of diverse stakeholders regarding local health planning, and advocacy to enable participation of community-based actors in the planning process. This combination of strategies draws upon the framework of 'empowered participatory governance' which necessitates combining a degree of 'countervailing power' and acceptance of participation by the system, for new forms of governance to emerge. Published by Oxford University Press in association with The London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine © The Author 2014; all rights reserved.

Compensation programs after withdrawal of the recommendation for HPV vaccine in Japan.

PubMed

Yuji, Koichiro; Nakada, Haruka

2016-05-03

HPV vaccinations were recommended with the backing of a Japanese government subsidy program in 2010, and were included in the National Immunization Program in April 2013. However, the Ministry of Health, Labour, and Welfare withdrew the recommendation for the HPV vaccination in June 2013. We investigated HPV vaccine injury compensation programs for both the national and local governments. Approximately 3.38 million girls were vaccinated, and 2,584 complained of health problems. The majority of these received the vaccine shot as a non-routine vaccination. In total, 98 people developed health problems and applied for assistance from 2011 to 2014, but no cases have been processed since October 2014. Several local governments are providing their own compensation program for cases of vaccine adverse reactions, but the number is extremely low (16 of 1,741 municipalities and 1 of 47 prefectures). The local governments that are providing compensation are largely those where HPV vaccine victim support groups are prominent. The confusion regarding the national program for HPV vaccine injury was caused by the discrepancy between the compensation programs for those vaccinated under the immunization law and for those who received voluntary vaccinations. The establishment of a new compensation program might be key to finding a lasting resolution.

Discourse and policy making on consumer protection in the areas of mobile telecommunication and tanning.

PubMed

Schweikardt, Christoph; Rosentreter, Michael; Gross, Dominik

2012-01-01

Perceived health risks from electromagnetic fields in mobile telecommunication and from UV radiation in tanning have become regulation issues in Germany during the last decade. Health risk messages from government expert bodies and the main stakeholders in these areas as well as subsequent consumer protection policy making are investigated. Publications and websites of government expert bodies and the main stakeholders as well as debates in Federal Parliament were analysed to compare argumentation patterns and parliamentary decision-making processes. In both areas, the public received competing health risk messages from the industries and their critics. As a government expert body, the Federal Office for Radiation Protection (BfS) held the view that alleged health risks from electromagnetic telecommunication were not proven, and propagated the precautionary principle. This opinion did not endanger the agreement of 2001 between the government and mobile telecommunication operators. After the failure to obtain voluntary commitment from the tanning industry, by contrast, the BfS recommended stricter consumer protection legislation, which was subsequently implemented. The BfS was in a key position to demand the prerogative of interpretation concerning mutually excluding health risk messages and to provide the argumentation which led the way to non-ionic radiation health protection measures.

[Implementing strategies to improve the institutional governance of the Spanish National Health System].

PubMed

Repullo, José Ramón; Freire, José Manuel

2016-11-01

The 2008 economic crisis made the issue of good governance more present and visible, but the debate risks stalling in an academic and political discourse that barely exceeds the declarative. We acknowledge the existence of noteworthy documents from scientific medical societies and some institutional proposals that point towards promising changes. Viewing good governance as accountability, participation, transparency, intelligence and integrity, our objective is to identify the determinants of inaction and remove the barriers that prevent the adoption of rational and widely agreed-upon proposals. This led us: 1) to allocate the proposals to their appropriate governance level (macro, meso, micro and system environment) so as to more directly engage the agents of change; and 2) to highlight some decision nodes that can act as levers to catalyse selective transformations and to initiate the change processes. Taking into account the diversity of actors and scenarios, a top-down rational, integrated and reformist strategy for the whole Spanish National Health System does not seem likely or viable. Therefore, the purpose of this paper is to promote changes, setting a targeted and reasoned agenda to visualise key issues and to enable multilevel and multidimensional thinking and advocacy of health-sector and society stakeholders. Copyright © 2016 SESPAS. Publicado por Elsevier España, S.L.U. All rights reserved.

Policy, Research and Residents' Perspectives on Built Environments Implicated in Heart Disease: A Concept Mapping Approach.

PubMed

Stankov, Ivana; Howard, Natasha J; Daniel, Mark; Cargo, Margaret

2017-02-09

An underrepresentation of stakeholder perspectives within urban health research arguably limits our understanding of what is a multi-dimensional and complex relationship between the built environment and health. By engaging a wide range of stakeholders using a participatory concept mapping approach, this study aimed to achieve a more holistic and nuanced understanding of the built environments shaping disease risk, specifically cardiometabolic risk (CMR). Moreover, this study aimed to ascertain the importance and changeability of identified environments through government action. Through the concept mapping process, community members, researchers, government and non-government stakeholders collectively identified eleven clusters encompassing 102 built environmental domains related to CMR, a number of which are underrepresented within the literature. Among the identified built environments, open space, public transportation and pedestrian environments were highlighted as key targets for policy intervention. Whilst there was substantive convergence in stakeholder groups' perspectives concerning the built environment and CMR, there were disparities in the level of importance government stakeholders and community members respectively assigned to pedestrian environments and street connectivity. These findings support the role of participatory methods in strengthening how urban health issues are understood and in affording novel insights into points of action for public health and policy intervention.

Compensation programs after withdrawal of the recommendation for HPV vaccine in Japan

PubMed Central

Yuji, Koichiro; Nakada, Haruka

2016-01-01

abstract HPV vaccinations were recommended with the backing of a Japanese government subsidy program in 2010, and were included in the National Immunization Program in April 2013. However, the Ministry of Health, Labour, and Welfare withdrew the recommendation for the HPV vaccination in June 2013. We investigated HPV vaccine injury compensation programs for both the national and local governments. Approximately 3.38 million girls were vaccinated, and 2,584 complained of health problems. The majority of these received the vaccine shot as a non-routine vaccination. In total, 98 people developed health problems and applied for assistance from 2011 to 2014, but no cases have been processed since October 2014. Several local governments are providing their own compensation program for cases of vaccine adverse reactions, but the number is extremely low (16 of 1,741 municipalities and 1 of 47 prefectures). The local governments that are providing compensation are largely those where HPV vaccine victim support groups are prominent. The confusion regarding the national program for HPV vaccine injury was caused by the discrepancy between the compensation programs for those vaccinated under the immunization law and for those who received voluntary vaccinations. The establishment of a new compensation program might be key to finding a lasting resolution. PMID:26513303

Better governance, better access: practising responsible data sharing in the METADAC governance infrastructure.

PubMed

Murtagh, Madeleine J; Blell, Mwenza T; Butters, Olly W; Cowley, Lorraine; Dove, Edward S; Goodman, Alissa; Griggs, Rebecca L; Hall, Alison; Hallowell, Nina; Kumari, Meena; Mangino, Massimo; Maughan, Barbara; Mills, Melinda C; Minion, Joel T; Murphy, Tom; Prior, Gillian; Suderman, Matthew; Ring, Susan M; Rogers, Nina T; Roberts, Stephanie J; Van der Straeten, Catherine; Viney, Will; Wiltshire, Deborah; Wong, Andrew; Walker, Neil; Burton, Paul R

2018-04-26

Genomic and biosocial research data about individuals is rapidly proliferating, bringing the potential for novel opportunities for data integration and use. The scale, pace and novelty of these applications raise a number of urgent sociotechnical, ethical and legal questions, including optimal methods of data storage, management and access. Although the open science movement advocates unfettered access to research data, many of the UK's longitudinal cohort studies operate systems of managed data access, in which access is governed by legal and ethical agreements between stewards of research datasets and researchers wishing to make use of them. Amongst other things, these agreements aim to respect the reasonable expectations of the research participants who provided data and samples, as expressed in the consent process. Arguably, responsible data management and governance of data and sample use are foundational to the consent process in longitudinal studies and are an important source of trustworthiness in the eyes of those who contribute data to genomic and biosocial research. This paper presents an ethnographic case study exploring the foundational principles of a governance infrastructure for Managing Ethico-social, Technical and Administrative issues in Data ACcess (METADAC), which are operationalised through a committee known as the METADAC Access Committee. METADAC governs access to phenotype, genotype and 'omic' data and samples from five UK longitudinal studies. Using the example of METADAC, we argue that three key structural features are foundational for practising responsible data sharing: independence and transparency; interdisciplinarity; and participant-centric decision-making. We observe that the international research community is proactively working towards optimising the use of research data, integrating/linking these data with routine data generated by health and social care services and other administrative data services to improve the analysis, interpretation and utility of these data. The governance of these new complex data assemblages will require a range of expertise from across a number of domains and disciplines, including that of study participants. Human-mediated decision-making bodies will be central to ensuring achievable, reasoned and responsible decisions about the use of these data; the METADAC model described in this paper provides an example of how this could be realised.

Healthcare priority setting in Kenya: a gap analysis applying the accountability for reasonableness framework.

PubMed

Bukachi, Salome A; Onyango-Ouma, Washington; Siso, Jared Maaka; Nyamongo, Isaac K; Mutai, Joseph K; Hurtig, Anna Karin; Olsen, Oystein Evjen; Byskov, Jens

2014-01-01

In resource-poor settings, the accountability for reasonableness (A4R) has been identified as an important advance in priority setting that helps to operationalize fair priority setting in specific contexts. The four conditions of A4R are backed by theory, not evidence, that conformance with them improves the priority setting decisions. This paper describes the healthcare priority setting processes in Malindi district, Kenya, prior to the implementation of A4R in 2008 and evaluates the process for its conformance with the conditions for A4R. In-depth interviews and focus group discussions with key players in the Malindi district health system and a review of key policy documents and national guidelines show that the priority setting process in the district relies heavily on guidelines from the national level, making it more of a vertical, top-down orientation. Multilateral and donor agencies, national government, budgetary requirements, traditions and local culture influence the process. The four conditions of A4R are present within the priority setting process, albeit to varying degrees and referred to by different terms. There exists an opportunity for A4R to provide a guiding approach within which its four conditions can be strengthened and assessed to establish whether conformance helps improve on the priority setting process. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Generic continuity of operations/continuity of government plan for state-level transportation agencies.

DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

2011-08-01

The Homeland Security Presidential Directive 20 (HSPD-20) requires all local, state, tribal and territorial government agencies, and private sector owners of critical infrastructure and key resources (CI/KR) to create a Continuity of Operationsl:onti...

Supporting local planning and budgeting for maternal, neonatal and child health in the Philippines

PubMed Central

2013-01-01

Background Responsibility for planning and delivery of health services in the Philippines is devolved to the local government level. Given the recognised need to strengthen capacity for local planning and budgeting, we implemented Investment Cases (IC) for Maternal, Neonatal and Child Health (MNCH) in three selected sub-national units: two poor, rural provinces and one highly-urbanised city. The IC combines structured problem-solving by local policymakers and planners to identify key health system constraints and strategies to scale-up critical MNCH interventions with a decision-support model to estimate the cost and impact of different scaling-up scenarios. Methods We outline how the initiative was implemented, the aspects that worked well, and the key limitations identified in the sub-national application of this approach. Results Local officials found the structured analysis of health system constraints helpful to identify problems and select locally appropriate strategies. In particular the process was an improvement on standard approaches that focused only on supply-side issues. However, the lack of data available at the local level is a major impediment to planning. While the majority of the strategies recommended by the IC were incorporated into the 2011 plans and budgets in the three study sites, one key strategy in the participating city was subsequently reversed in 2012. Higher level systemic issues are likely to have influenced use of evidence in plans and budgets and implementation of strategies. Conclusions Efforts should be made to improve locally-representative data through routine information systems for planning and monitoring purposes. Even with sound plans and budgets, evidence is only one factor influencing investments in health. Political considerations at a local level and issues related to decentralisation, influence prioritisation and implementation of plans. In addition to the strengthening of capacity at local level, a parallel process at a higher level of government to relieve fund channelling and coordination issues is critical for any evidence-based planning approach to have a significant impact on health service delivery. PMID:23343218

A Reporting System to Protect the Human Rights of People Living with HIV and Key Populations.

PubMed

Williamson, R Taylor; Fiscian, Vivian; Olson, Ryan Ubuntu; Poku, Fred Nana; Whittal, Joseph

2017-12-01

People living with HIV and key populations face human rights violations that affect their access to health services, relationships in their communities, housing options, and employment. To address these violations, government and civil society organizations in Ghana developed a discrimination reporting system managed by the Commission on Human Rights and Administrative Justice that links people living with HIV and key populations to legal services. This article presents findings on how Ghanaian stakeholders built this reporting system and discusses preliminary data on its impact. To organize our analysis, we used a conceptual framework that outlines the legal frameworks that protect human rights, the institutions that promote access to justice, and the mechanisms that link people living with HIV and key populations to legal services. Using in-depth interviews, we show that targeted technical assistance increased stakeholders' knowledge of issues that affect people living with HIV and key populations, strengthened these stakeholders' commitment to address discrimination, streamlined case management systems, and improved relationships between civil society and the government. Through case review, we find that most discrimination happens when accessing government services, inside communities and families, and in the workplace. Finally, we describe implications for other human rights commissions that are considering using a reporting system to protect human rights, including using legal frameworks, developing case management systems, and working with civil society.

77 FR 42699 - Gulf of Mexico Fishery Management Council; Public Hearings

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2012-07-20

... INFORMATION. ADDRESSES: The public hearings will be held in the following locations: Tampa, Key West and..., telephone: (251) 344-5200. Wednesday, August 8, 2012 Harvey Government Center, 1200 Truman Avenue, Key West...

Applying TOGAF for e-government implementation based on service oriented architecture methodology towards good government governance

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hodijah, A.; Sundari, S.; Nugraha, A. C.

2018-05-01

As a Local Government Agencies who perform public services, General Government Office already has utilized Reporting Information System of Local Government Implementation (E-LPPD). However, E-LPPD has upgrade limitation for the integration processes that cannot accommodate General Government Offices’ needs in order to achieve Good Government Governance (GGG), while success stories of the ultimate goal of e-government implementation requires good governance practices. Currently, citizen demand public services as private sector do, which needs service innovation by utilizing the legacy system as a service based e-government implementation, while Service Oriented Architecture (SOA) to redefine a business processes as a set of IT enabled services and Enterprise Architecture from the Open Group Architecture Framework (TOGAF) as a comprehensive approach in redefining business processes as service innovation towards GGG. This paper takes a case study on Performance Evaluation of Local Government Implementation (EKPPD) system on General Government Office. The results show that TOGAF will guide the development of integrated business processes of EKPPD system that fits good governance practices to attain GGG with SOA methodology as technical approach.

Embracing value co-creation in primary care services research: a framework for success.

PubMed

Janamian, Tina; Crossland, Lisa; Jackson, Claire L

2016-04-18

Value co-creation redresses a key criticism of researcher-driven approaches to research - that researchers may lack insight into the end users' needs and values across the research journey. Value co-creation creates, in a step-wise way, value with, and for, multiple stakeholders through regular, ongoing interactions leading to innovation, increased productivity and co-created outcomes of value to all parties - thus creating a "win more-win more" environment. The Centre of Research Excellence (CRE) in Building Primary Care Quality, Performance and Sustainability has co-created outcomes of value that have included robust and enduring partnerships, research findings that have value to end users (such as the Primary Care Practice Improvement Tool and the best-practice governance framework), an International Implementation Research Network in Primary Care and the International Primary Health Reform Conference. Key lessons learned in applying the strategies of value co-creation have included the recognition that partnership development requires an investment of time and effort to ensure meaningful interactions and enriched end user experiences, that research management systems including governance, leadership and communication also need to be "co-creative", and that openness and understanding is needed to work across different sectors and cultures with flexibility, fairness and transparency being essential to the value co-creation process.

Designing systematic conservation assessments that promote effective implementation: best practice from South Africa.

PubMed

Knight, Andrew T; Driver, Amanda; Cowling, Richard M; Maze, Kristal; Desmet, Philip G; Lombard, Amanda T; Rouget, Mathieu; Botha, Mark A; Boshoff, Andre F; Castley, J Guy; Goodman, Peter S; Mackinnon, Kathy; Pierce, Shirley M; Sims-Castley, Rebecca; Stewart, Warrick I; von Hase, Amrei

2006-06-01

Systematic conservation assessment and conservation planning are two distinct fields of conservation science often confused as one and the same. Systematic conservation assessment is the technical, often computer-based, identification of priority areas for conservation. Conservation planning is composed of a systematic conservation assessment coupled with processes for development of an implementation strategy and stakeholder collaboration. The peer-reviewed conservation biology literature abounds with studies analyzing the performance of assessments (e.g., area-selection techniques). This information alone, however can never deliver effective conservation action; it informs conservation planning. Examples of how to translate systematic assessment outputs into knowledge and then use them for "doing" conservation are rare. South Africa has received generous international and domestic funding for regional conservation planning since the mid-1990s. We reviewed eight South African conservation planning processes and identified key ingredients of best practice for undertaking systematic conservation assessments in a way that facilitates implementing conservation action. These key ingredients include the design of conservation planning processes, skills for conservation assessment teams, collaboration with stakeholders, and interpretation and mainstreaming of products (e.g., maps) for stakeholders. Social learning institutions are critical to the successful operationalization of assessments within broader conservation planning processes and should include not only conservation planners but also diverse interest groups, including rural landowners, politicians, and government employees.

The Pendulum Strikes Back? An Analysis of the Evolution of Hungarian Higher Education Governance and Organisational Structures since the 1980s

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Kováts, Gergely; Heidrich, Balázs; Chandler, Nick

2017-01-01

Higher education in Central Europe has been scrutinised from many different perspectives during the last 30 years. In our analysis, we focus solely on Hungary and specifically on two key areas: governance and organisational structure. Using an analytical model proposed by Leisyte (2014), we analyse how the governance and organisational structure…

E3: Organizing for Environment, Energy, and the Economy in the Executive Branch of the U.S. Government.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Carnegie Commission on Science, Technology, and Government, New York, NY.

A Task Force created in 1989 was asked to provide the Carnegie Commission on Science, Technology, and Government with a brief statement outlining both functional needs in environment and energy and institutional forms to enhance the government's capability to address the emergent issues. One key need the Task Force has identified is for a greater…

Case Studies Working Group Report Volume 2

DTIC Science & Technology

2012-03-01

necessarily reflect the official policy or position of the De- partment of the Army, the Department of Defense, or the U.S. Government . Authors of...able to handle complex 21st century issues by working col- laboratively across government or agency boundaries. In diagnosing key systemic...nonprofit, public interest organiza- tion working to revitalize the American government by transforming the national security system. Since the

Intentions and knowledge shaping local safety policy: A comparison of two Swedish cities.

PubMed

Hanberger, Anders; Lundström, Ulf; Mårald, Gunilla

2015-12-01

This article explores how intentions and knowledge shape two Swedish cities' local safety policy (LSP). The applied framework is derived from the integration of governance and implementation research and the theory of knowledge and its use. The study shows that LSPs are shaped by a mix of intentions and different kinds of knowledge, and intentions and knowledge interplay and intertwine in many ways. Key-persons construct LSPs when they work out solutions to urgent safety problems and take departure in the local context, its pre-conditions, and their experience-based and professional knowledge. The state governs LSP softly through management by objectives in the background, but more often key-actor intentions and commitments, local safety problems, and events initiated and influenced LSPs. The article contributes to a better understanding of conditions for LSPs in multi-level governance. The article can be used to improve governance, identify implementation problems and knowledge needs that will improve LSPs and the overall safety situation in the community. The study has implications for how LSPs should be evaluated; many different evaluation criteria can be appropriate, such as relevance, legitimacy, achievement of key actors' objectives, sustainability of policy solutions, and creation of a local safety culture. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd and National Safety Council. All rights reserved.

["Scholar officials": thoughts on the involvement of professional nurses in the political process].

PubMed

Wang, Hsiu-Hung

2014-08-01

A growing number of nurses are concerned with / participate in public affairs, politics, and policymaking processes. In particular, nursing leaders are actively leveraging their collective power to create interdisciplinary alliances aimed at encouraging the media and government to confront key nursing issues and implement healthcare reform. This article highlights the political participation and policy-making process to address the meaning and essence of politics, politics and nursing, training and strategies of public affairs and political participation, the shift from academia to health policy, and facilitation of important health policies. It is hoped that nurses may appropriately use their status and influence to actively participate in political campaigns and the policymaking process. By using their professional knowledge and skills, nurses may not only protect patient safety and public health but also facilitate nursing professional development and promote the professional image of nursing.

7 CFR 1455.20 - Criteria for grant selection.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

2014-01-01

....50. (6) Additional private, Federal, State, or tribal government resources. The application will be... Federal, State, or tribal government, and private resources. (12) Qualifications of those performing the tasks. The application will be reviewed to determine if key personnel have appropriate knowledge, skills...

7 CFR 1455.20 - Criteria for grant selection.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

2012-01-01

....50. (6) Additional private, Federal, State, or tribal government resources. The application will be... Federal, State, or tribal government, and private resources. (12) Qualifications of those performing the tasks. The application will be reviewed to determine if key personnel have appropriate knowledge, skills...

Bologna 2010. The Moment of Truth?

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Veiga, Amelia

2012-01-01

Government policies are central factors shaping the environment of higher education institutions. European governments have included in their higher education political strategies the principal goal of implementing the European Higher Education Area (EHEA). The perceptions that key actors of higher education institutions (HEIs) have about…

Adaptive governance to promote ecosystem services in urban green spaces

EPA Science Inventory

Managing urban green space as part of an ongoing social-ecological transformationposes novel governance issues, particularly in post-industrial settings. Urban green spaces operate as small-scale nodes in larger networks of ecological reserves that provide and maintain key ecosys...

42 CFR 137.295 - May Self-Governance Tribes elect to develop their own environmental review process?

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-10-01

... 42 Public Health 1 2010-10-01 2010-10-01 false May Self-Governance Tribes elect to develop their... SELF-GOVERNANCE Construction Nepa Process § 137.295 May Self-Governance Tribes elect to develop their own environmental review process? Yes, Self-Governance Tribes may develop their own environmental...

Legitimacy, trustee incentives, and board processes: the case of public and private non-profit nursing homes.

PubMed

Dewaelheyns, Nico; Eeckloo, Kristof; Van Hulle, Cynthia

2011-01-01

Using a unique data set, this study explores how type of ownership (government/private) is related to processes of governance. The findings suggest that the neo-institutional perspective and the self-interest rationale of the agency perspective are helpful in explaining processes of governance in both government- and privately owned non-profit organizations. Due to adverse incentives and the quest for legitimacy, supervising governance bodies within local government-owned non-profit institutions pay relatively less attention to the development of high quality supervising bodies and delegate little to management. Our findings also indicate that governance processes in private institutions are more aligned with the business model and that this alignment is likely driven by a concern to improve decision making. By contrast, our data also suggest that in local government-owned institutions re-election concerns of politicians-trustees are an important force in the governance processes of these institutions. In view of these adverse incentives - in contrast to the case of private organizations - a governance code is unlikely to entail much improvement in government-owned organizations. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Barriers and facilitators to development of standard treatment guidelines in India.

PubMed

Sharma, Sangeeta; Sethi, Gulshan R; Gupta, Usha; Chaudhury, Ranjit Roy

2015-01-01

This paper describes 15 years' experience of the development process of the first set of comprehensive standard treatment guidelines (STGs) for India and their adoption or adaptation by various state governments. The aim is to shorten the learning curve for those embarking on a similar exercise, given the key role of high-quality STGs that are accepted by the clinical community in furthering universal health coverage. The main overall obstacles to STG development are: (i) weak understanding of the concept; (ii) lack of time, enthusiasm and availability of local expertise; and (iii) managing consensus between specialists and generalists. Major concerns to prescribers are: encroachment on professional autonomy, loss of treating the patient as an individual and applying the same standards at all levels of health care. Processes to address these challenges are described. At the policy level, major threats to successful completion and focused implementation are: frequent changes in governance, shifts in priorities and discontinuity. In the authors' experience, compared with each state developing their own STGs afresh, adaptation of pre-existing valid guidelines after an active adaptation process involving local clinical leaders is not only simpler and quicker but also establishes local ownership and facilitates acceptance of a quality document. Executive orders and in-service sensitization programmes to introduce STGs further enhance their adoption in clinical practice.

Process and impact evaluation of the Greater Christchurch Urban Development Strategy Health Impact Assessment

PubMed Central

Mathias, Kaaren R; Harris-Roxas, Ben

2009-01-01

Background despite health impact assessment (HIA) being increasingly widely used internationally, fundamental questions about its impact on decision-making, implementation and practices remain. In 2005 a collaboration between public health and local government authorities performed an HIA on the Christchurch Urban Development Strategy Options paper in New Zealand. The findings of this were incorporated into the Greater Christchurch Urban Development Strategy; Methods using multiple qualitative methodologies including key informant interviews, focus groups and questionnaires, this study performs process and impact evaluations of the Christchurch HIA including evaluation of costs and resource use; Results the evaluation found that the HIA had demonstrable direct impacts on planning and implementation of the final Urban Development Strategy as well as indirect impacts on understandings and ways of working within and between organisations. It also points out future directions and ways of working in this successful collaboration between public health and local government authorities. It summarises the modest resource use and discusses the important role HIA can play in urban planning with intersectoral collaboration and enhanced relationships as both catalysts and outcomes of the HIA process; Conclusion as one of the few evaluations of HIA that have been published to date, this paper makes a substantial contribution to the literature on the impact, utility and effectiveness of HIA. PMID:19344529

From wastewater to fertilisers--Technical overview and critical review of European legislation governing phosphorus recycling.

PubMed

Hukari, Sirja; Hermann, Ludwig; Nättorp, Anders

2016-01-15

The present paper is based on an analysis of the EU legislation regulating phosphorus recovery and recycling from wastewater stream, in particular as fertiliser. To recover phosphorus, operators need to deal with market regulations, health and environment protection laws. Often, several permits and lengthy authorisation processes for both installation (e.g. environmental impact assessment) and the recovered phosphorus (e.g. End-of-Waste, REACH) are required. Exemptions to certain registration processes for recoverers are in place but rarely applied. National solutions are often needed. Emerging recovery and recycling sectors are affected by legislation in different ways: Wastewater treatment plants are obliged to remove phosphorus but may also recover it in low quantities for operational reasons. Permit processes allowing recovery and recycling operations next to water purification should thus be rationalised. In contrast, the fertiliser industry relies on legal quality requirements, ensuring their market reputation. For start-ups, raw-material sourcing and related legislation will be the key. Phosphorus recycling is governed by fragmented decision-making in regional administrations. Active regulatory support, such as recycling obligation or subsidies, is lacking. Legislation harmonisation, inclusion of recycled phosphorus in existing fertiliser regulations and support of new operators would speed up market penetration of novel technologies, reduce phosphorus losses and safeguard European quality standards.

Optimizing health information technology's role in enabling comparative effectiveness research.

PubMed

Navathe, Amol S; Conway, Patrick H

2010-12-01

Health information technology (IT) is a key enabler of comparative effectiveness research (CER). Health IT standards for data sharing are essential to advancing the research data infrastructure, and health IT is critical to the next step of incorporating clinical data into data sources. Four key principles for advancement of CER are (1) utilization of data as a strategic asset, (2) leveraging public-private partnerships, (3) building robust, scalable technology platforms, and (4) coordination of activities across government agencies. To maximize the value of the resources, payers and providers must contribute data to initiatives, engage with government agencies on lessons learned, continue to develop new technologies that address key challenges, and utilize the data to improve patient outcomes and conduct research.

An inquiry into good hospital governance: A New Zealand-Czech comparison

PubMed Central

Ditzel, Elizabeth; Štrach, Pavel; Pirozek, Petr

2006-01-01

Background This paper contributes to research in health systems literature by examining the role of health boards in hospital governance. Health care ranks among the largest public sectors in OECD countries. Efficient governance of hospitals requires the responsible and effective use of funds, professional management and competent governing structures. In this study hospital governance practice in two health care systems – Czech Republic and New Zealand – is compared and contrasted. These countries were chosen as both, even though they are geographically distant, have a universal right to 'free' health care provided by the state and each has experienced periods of political change and ensuing economic restructuring. Ongoing change has provided the impetus for policy reform in their public hospital governance systems. Methods Two comparative case studies are presented. They define key similarities and differences between the two countries' health care systems. Each public hospital governance system is critically analysed and discussed in light of D W Taylor's nine principles of 'good governance'. Results While some similarities were found to exist, the key difference between the two countries is that while many forms of 'ad hoc' hospital governance exist in Czech hospitals, public hospitals in New Zealand are governed in a 'collegiate' way by elected District Health Boards. These findings are discussed in relation to each of the suggested nine principles utilized by Taylor. Conclusion This comparative case analysis demonstrates that although the New Zealand and Czech Republic health systems appear to show a large degree of convergence, their approaches to public hospital governance differ on several counts. Some of the principles of 'good governance' existed in the Czech hospitals and many were practiced in New Zealand. It would appear that the governance styles have evolved from particular historical circumstances to meet each country's specific requirements. Whether or not current practice could be improved by paying closer attention to theoretical models of 'good governance' is debatable. PMID:16460571

Economic considerations and health in all policies initiatives: evidence from interviews with key informants in Sweden, Quebec and South Australia.

PubMed

Pinto, Andrew D; Molnar, Agnes; Shankardass, Ketan; O'Campo, Patricia J; Bayoumi, Ahmed M

2015-02-18

Health in All Policies (HiAP) is a form of intersectoral action that aims to include the promotion of health in government initiatives across sectors. To date, there has been little study of economic considerations within the implementation of HiAP. As part of an ongoing program of research on the implementation of HiAP around the world, we examined how economic considerations influence the implementation of HiAP. By economic considerations we mean the cost and financial gain (or loss) of implementing a HiAP process or structure within government, or the cost and financial gain (or loss) of the policies that emerge from such a HiAP process or structure. We examined three jurisdictions: Sweden, Quebec and South Australia. Semi-structured telephone interviews were conducted with 12 to 14 key informants in each jurisdiction. Two investigators separately coded transcripts to identify relevant statements. Initial readings of transcripts led to the development of a coding framework for statements related to economic considerations. First, economic evaluations of HiAP are viewed as important for prompting HiAP and many forms of economic evaluation were considered. However, economic evaluations were often absent, informal, or incomplete. Second, funding for HiAP initiatives is important, but is less important than a high-level commitment to intersectoral collaboration. Furthermore, having multiple sources of funding of HiAP can be beneficial, if it increases participation across government, but can also be disadvantageous, if it exposes underlying tensions. Third, HiAP can also highlight the challenge of achieving both economic and social objectives. Our results are useful for elaborating propositions for use in realist multiple explanatory case studies. First, we propose that economic considerations are currently used primarily as a method by health sectors to promote and legitimize HiAP to non-health sectors with the goal of securing resources for HiAP. Second, allocating resources and making funding decisions regarding HiAP are inherently political acts that reflect tensions within government sectors. This study contributes important insights into how intersectoral action works, how economic evaluations of HiAP might be structured, and how economic considerations can be used to both promote HiAP and to present barriers to implementation.

Reconciling Scale Mismatch in Water Governance, Hydro-climatic Processes and Infrastructure Systems of Water Supply in Las Vegas

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Garcia, M. E.; Alarcon, T.; Portney, K.; Islam, S.

2013-12-01

Water resource systems are a classic example of a common pool resource due to the high cost of exclusion and the subtractability of the resource; for common pool resources, the performance of governance systems primarily depends on how well matched the institutional arrangements and rules are to the biophysical conditions and social norms. Changes in water governance, hydro-climatic processes and infrastructure systems occur on disparate temporal and spatial scales. A key challenge is the gap between current climate change model resolution, and the spatial and temporal scale of urban water supply decisions. This gap will lead to inappropriate management policies if not mediated through a carefully crafted decision making process. Traditional decision support and planning methods (DSPM) such as classical decision analysis are not equipped to deal with a non-static climate. While emerging methods such as decision scaling, robust decision making and real options are designed to deal with a changing climate, governance systems have evolved under the assumption of a static climate and it is not clear if these methods are well suited to the existing governance regime. In our study, these questions are contextualized by examining an urban water utility that has made significant changes in policy to adapt to changing conditions: the Southern Nevada Water Authority (SNWA) which serves metropolitan Las Vegas. Like most desert cities, Las Vegas exists because of water; the artesian springs of the Las Vegas Valley once provided an ample water supply for Native Americans, ranchers and later a small railroad city. However, population growth has increased demands far beyond local supplies. The area now depends on the Colorado River for the majority of its water supply. Natural climate variability with periodic droughts has further challenged water providers; projected climate changes and further population growth will exacerbate these challenges. Las Vegas is selected as a case study due to the combined challenges of population growth and climate change, common in the arid west, and due its cooperative institutional response to these challenges, unprecedented in the arid west. To begin to disentangle this question we have analyzed the institutional arrangements and rules which govern water decision making in the Las Vegas Valley and evaluated the existing DSPM used by the SNWA and partner utilities. Presented here are the preliminary results from an ongoing project.

Science Partnerships Enabling Rapid Response: Designing a Strategy for Improving Scientific Collaboration during Crisis Response

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Mease, L.; Gibbs, T.; Adiseshan, T.

2014-12-01

The 2010 Deepwater Horizon disaster required unprecedented engagement and collaboration with scientists from multiple disciplines across government, academia, and industry. Although this spurred the rapid advancement of valuable new scientific knowledge and tools, it also exposed weaknesses in the system of information dissemination and exchange among the scientists from those three sectors. Limited government communication with the broader scientific community complicated the rapid mobilization of the scientific community to assist with spill response, evaluation of impact, and public perceptions of the crisis. The lessons and new laws produced from prior spills such as Exxon Valdez were helpful, but ultimately did not lead to the actions necessary to prepare a suitable infrastructure that would support collaboration with non-governmental scientists. As oil demand pushes drilling into increasingly extreme environments, addressing the challenge of effective, science-based disaster response is an imperative. Our study employs a user-centered design process to 1) understand the obstacles to and opportunity spaces for effective scientific collaboration during environmental crises such as large oil spills, 2) identify possible tools and strategies to enable rapid information exchange between government responders and non-governmental scientists from multiple relevant disciplines, and 3) build a network of key influencers to secure sufficient buy-in for scaled implementation of appropriate tools and strategies. Our methods include user ethnography, complex system mapping, individual and system behavioral analysis, and large-scale system design to identify and prototype a solution to this crisis collaboration challenge. In this talk, we will present out insights gleaned from existing analogs of successful scientific collaboration during crises and our initial findings from the 60 targeted interviews we conducted that highlight key collaboration challenges that government agencies, academic research institutions, and industry scientists face during oil spill crises. We will also present a synthesis of leverage points in the system that may amplify the impact of an improved collaboration strategy among scientific stakeholders.

Microbial ecology of hot desert edaphic systems.

PubMed

Makhalanyane, Thulani P; Valverde, Angel; Gunnigle, Eoin; Frossard, Aline; Ramond, Jean-Baptiste; Cowan, Don A

2015-03-01

A significant proportion of the Earth's surface is desert or in the process of desertification. The extreme environmental conditions that characterize these areas result in a surface that is essentially barren, with a limited range of higher plants and animals. Microbial communities are probably the dominant drivers of these systems, mediating key ecosystem processes. In this review, we examine the microbial communities of hot desert terrestrial biotopes (including soils, cryptic and refuge niches and plant-root-associated microbes) and the processes that govern their assembly. We also assess the possible effects of global climate change on hot desert microbial communities and the resulting feedback mechanisms. We conclude by discussing current gaps in our understanding of the microbiology of hot deserts and suggest fruitful avenues for future research. © FEMS 2015. All rights reserved. For permissions, please e-mail: journals.permissions@oup.com.

Weighted Components of i-Government Enterprise Architecture

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Budiardjo, E. K.; Firmansyah, G.; Hasibuan, Z. A.

2017-01-01

Lack of government performance, among others due to the lack of coordination and communication among government agencies. Whilst, Enterprise Architecture (EA) in the government can be use as a strategic planning tool to improve productivity, efficiency, and effectivity. However, the existence components of Government Enterprise Architecture (GEA) do not show level of importance, that cause difficulty in implementing good e-government for good governance. This study is to explore the weight of GEA components using Principal Component Analysis (PCA) in order to discovered an inherent structure of e-government. The results show that IT governance component of GEA play a major role in the GEA. The rest of components that consist of e-government system, e-government regulation, e-government management, and application key operational, contributed more or less the same. Beside that GEA from other countries analyzes using comparative base on comon enterprise architecture component. These weighted components use to construct i-Government enterprise architecture. and show the relative importance of component in order to established priorities in developing e-government.

International involvement and national health governance: the basic benefit package in Tajikistan.

PubMed

Rechel, Bernd; Khodjamurodov, Ghafur

2010-06-01

Tajikistan, a Central Asian state of 7.4 million inhabitants, is facing particular health policy challenges: not only is the country the poorest of the former Soviet republics, but its capacity to deal with post-communist transition and economic crisis has been further undermined through civil war and large-scale migration. This paper, examining the introduction of the basic benefit package and formal co-payments, elucidates how international involvement in Tajikistan's health sector has impacted on national health governance. Based on documentary sources and information provided by key informants, we find that external agencies have both strengthened and weakened national health governance. Although they have played a major part in supporting Tajikistan's health sector, these efforts have often been fragmented, as donor coordination was at times less than optimal. A key challenge for national health governance is the limited technical and institutional capacity of the Ministry of Health and further efforts are needed to build national capacity. Copyright 2010 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Research and its governance in health research institutions in sub-Saharan African countries: results of a questionnaire-based survey.

PubMed

Kebede, Derege; Zielinski, Chris; Mbondji, Peter Ebongue; Sanou, Issa; Kouvividila, Wenceslas; Lusamba-Dikassa, Paul-Samson

2014-05-01

Objective: To describe governance and stewardship of research in health research institutions in the World Health Organization (WHO) African Region. Design: A structured questionnaire was used to solicit information on governance and stewardship from health research institutions. Setting: Forty-two Member States of the WHO African Region. Participants: Key informants from the respondent health research institutions in the respondent sub-Saharan African countries. Main outcome measures: Institutions' participation in setting the national health research agenda. Institutional research priorities, scientific reviews and governance structure. Results: During the previous 12 months, the heads of 49% of respondent health research institutions participated in the setting or coordination of national research priorities. The most frequently cited priorities for contributing to or performing research were improving health programmes, producing new knowledge, influencing health policies and conducting operational research. For 78% of respondent institutions, scientific review was required for research funded directly by the institution, and for 73% of respondent institutions, scientific review was required for research not funded by the institution. However, most respondent institutions did not have written policies or guidelines, either for the scientific review of proposals (70%) or regarding conflict of interest on scientific review committees (80%). Conclusions: Some health research institutions demonstrate good practice in terms of the establishment of structures and processes for governance and stewardship, many others do not. There is a need for the strengthening of the stewardship capacity of research institutions in the Region. © The Royal Society of Medicine.

Research and its governance in health research institutions in sub-Saharan African countries: results of a questionnaire-based survey

PubMed Central

Zielinski, Chris; Mbondji, Peter Ebongue; Sanou, Issa; Kouvividila, Wenceslas; Lusamba-Dikassa, Paul-Samson

2014-01-01

Summary Objective: To describe governance and stewardship of research in health research institutions in the World Health Organization (WHO) African Region. Design: A structured questionnaire was used to solicit information on governance and stewardship from health research institutions. Setting: Forty-two Member States of the WHO African Region. Participants: Key informants from the respondent health research institutions in the respondent sub-Saharan African countries. Main outcome measures: Institutions’ participation in setting the national health research agenda. Institutional research priorities, scientific reviews and governance structure. Results: During the previous 12 months, the heads of 49% of respondent health research institutions participated in the setting or coordination of national research priorities. The most frequently cited priorities for contributing to or performing research were improving health programmes, producing new knowledge, influencing health policies and conducting operational research. For 78% of respondent institutions, scientific review was required for research funded directly by the institution, and for 73% of respondent institutions, scientific review was required for research not funded by the institution. However, most respondent institutions did not have written policies or guidelines, either for the scientific review of proposals (70%) or regarding conflict of interest on scientific review committees (80%). Conclusions: Some health research institutions demonstrate good practice in terms of the establishment of structures and processes for governance and stewardship, many others do not. There is a need for the strengthening of the stewardship capacity of research institutions in the Region. PMID:24914129

Implementation failures in the use of two New Zealand laws to control the tobacco industry: 1989–2005

PubMed Central

Thomson, George; Wilson, Nick

2005-01-01

Background We reviewed the implementation of New Zealand laws in relation to the activities of the tobacco industry and their allies. Material for two brief case studies was obtained from correspondence with official agencies, official information requests, internet searches (tobacco industry documents and official government sites), and interviews with 12 key informants. Results The first case study identified four occasions over a period of 14 years where New Zealand Government agencies appeared to fail to enforce consumer protection law, although apparent breaches by the tobacco industry and their allies had occurred in relation to statements on the relative safety of secondhand smoke. The second case study examined responses to a legal requirement for the tobacco industry to provide information on tobacco additives. There was failure to enforce the law, and a failure of the political process for at least 13 years to clarify and strengthen the law. Relevant factors in both these cases of 'policy slippage' appear to have been financial and opportunity costs of taking legal action, political difficulties and the fragmented nature of government structures. Conclusion Considered together, these case studies suggest the need for governments to: (i) make better use of national consumer laws (with proper monitoring and enforcement) in relation to tobacco; and (ii) to strengthen international law and resources around tobacco-related consumer protection. A number of options for achieving these aims are available to governments. PMID:16354296

Does fiscal decentralization improve health outcomes? Evidence from infant mortality in Italy.

PubMed

Cavalieri, Marina; Ferrante, Livio

2016-09-01

Despite financial and decision-making responsibilities having been increasingly devolved to lower levels of government worldwide, the potential impact of these reforms remains largely controversial. This paper investigates the hypothesis that a shift towards a higher degree of fiscal autonomy of sub-national governments could improve health outcomes, as measured by infant mortality rates. Italy is used as a case study since responsibilities for healthcare have been decentralized to regions, though the central government still retains a key role in ensuring all citizens uniform access to health services throughout the country. A linear fixed-effects regression model with robust standard errors is employed for a panel of 20 regions over the period 1996-2012 (340 observations in the full sample). Decentralization is proxied by two different indicators, capturing the degree of decision-making autonomy in the allocation of tax revenues and the extent to which regions rely on fiscal transfers from the central government. The results show that a higher proportion of tax revenues raised and/or controlled locally as well as a lower transfer dependency from the central government are consistently associated with lower infant mortality rates, ceteris paribus. The marginal benefit from fiscal decentralization, however, is not constant but depends on the level of regional wealth, favouring poorest regions. In terms of policy implications, this study outlines how the effectiveness of decentralization in improving health outcomes is contingent on the characteristics of the context in which the process takes place. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Partnerships for Policy Development: A Case Study From Uganda’s Costed Implementation Plan for Family Planning

PubMed Central

Lipsky, Alyson B; Gribble, James N; Cahaelen, Linda; Sharma, Suneeta

2016-01-01

ABSTRACT In global health, partnerships between practitioners and policy makers facilitate stakeholders in jointly addressing those issues that require multiple perspectives for developing, implementing, and evaluating plans, strategies, and programs. For family planning, costed implementation plans (CIPs) are developed through a strategic government-led consultative process that results in a detailed plan for program activities and an estimate of the funding required to achieve an established set of goals. Since 2009, many countries have developed CIPs. Conventionally, the CIP approach has not been defined with partnerships as a focal point; nevertheless, cooperation between key stakeholders is vital to CIP development and execution. Uganda launched a CIP in November 2014, thus providing an opportunity to examine the process through a partnership lens. This article describes Uganda’s CIP development process in detail, grounded in a framework for assessing partnerships, and provides the findings from 22 key informant interviews. Findings reveal strengths in Uganda’s CIP development process, such as willingness to adapt and strong senior management support. However, the evaluation also highlighted challenges, including district health officers (DHOs), who are a key group of implementers, feeling excluded from the development process. There was also a lack of planning around long-term partnership practices that could help address anticipated execution challenges. The authors recommend that future CIP development efforts use a long-term partnership strategy that fosters accountability by encompassing both the short-term goal of developing the CIP and the longer-term goal of achieving the CIP objectives. Although this study focused on Uganda’s CIP for family planning, its lessons have implications for any policy or strategy development efforts that require multiple stakeholders to ensure successful execution. PMID:27353621

Health technology assessment in an argentinean province: adapting existing tools.

PubMed

Brisson, Maria Eugenia; Schapochnik, Norberto

2014-01-01

This study reports on the development of a critical process for health technologies incorporation concerning an Argentinean Provincial Ministry of Health (MOH) in collaboration with the University of Lanús from 2008 to 2010. We describe the approach developed to adapt selected international experiences to provincial scenario. Bibliographic review, regulations examination, key informants interviews and iterative adjustments after various stages of consultation and consensus building with main local players, contribution from foreign experts, and piloting of process and instruments for ultimate fine-tuning are described. We examine final proposal in the light of new updated studies. Analysis of regulations revealed that rules governing the provincial system were historically linked to administrative resolutions in relation to procurement with poor consideration to clinical, epidemiological, organizational, and health policy aspects. Key informants from hospitals, MOH, and other governmental agencies agreed on the lack of a process capable of guaranteeing a decision about health technology incorporation based on a transparent use of the best available information, ready to deal with competitive pressures. This adaptation provided a structured and explicit process (introduction, implementation, and development) as well as essential and supporting tools. MOH adopted the proposal for its progressive implementation while institutional evaluation capacity develops. Further studies are needed on the value placed on health technology assessment-based processes and recommendations by clinicians, managers, policy makers, and patients.

Fair relationships and policies to support family day care educators' mental health: a qualitative study.

PubMed

Corr, Lara; Davis, Elise; Cook, Kay; Waters, Elizabeth; LaMontagne, Anthony D

2014-11-25

High quality child care is a population health investment that relies on the capacity of providers. The mental health and wellbeing of child care educators is fundamental to care quality and turnover, yet sector views on the relationship between working conditions and mental health and wellbeing are scarce. This paper examines child care educators' and sector key informants' perspectives on how working in family day care influences educator's mental health and wellbeing. Semi-structured telephone interviews were conducted with Australian family day care educators (n = 16) and key informants (n = 18) comprised of representatives from family day care schemes, government and other relevant organisations regarding the relationship between working conditions and educator mental health. Thematic analysis referenced the assumptions and concepts of critical inquiry and used social exchange theory. Educators and key informants reported that educators' mental health was affected by the quality of their relationships with government, family day care schemes, and the parents and children using their services. These social relationships created and contributed to working conditions that were believed to promote or diminish educators' mental health. High quality relationships featured fair exchanges of educator work for key resources of social support and respect; adequate income; professional services; and information. Crucially, how exchanges influenced educator wellbeing was largely contingent on government policies that reflect the values and inequities present in society. Making policies and relationships between educators, government and family day care schemes fairer would contribute strongly to the protection and promotion of educator mental health and wellbeing, and in turn contribute to workforce stability and care quality.

A tale of CIN--the Cannabis infringement notice scheme in Western Australia.

PubMed

Lenton, Simon; Allsop, Steve

2010-05-01

To describe the development and enactment of the Western Australian (WA) Cannabis Infringement Notice scheme and reflect on the lessons for researchers and policy-makers interested in the translation of policy research to policy practice. An insiders' description of the background research, knowledge transfer strategies and political and legislative processes leading to the enactment and implementation of the WA Cannabis Control Act 2003. Lenton and Allsop were involved centrally in the process as policy-researcher and policy-bureaucrat. In March 2004, Western Australia became the fourth Australian jurisdiction to adopt a 'prohibition with civil penalties' scheme for possession and cultivation of small amounts of cannabis. We reflect upon: the role of research evidence in the policy process; windows for policy change; disseminating findings when apparently no one is listening; the risks and benefits of the researcher as advocate; the differences between working on the inside and outside of government; and the importance of relationships, trust and track record. There was a window of opportunity and change was influenced by research that was communicated by a reliable and trusted source. Those who want to conduct research that informs policy need to understand the policy process more clearly, look for and help create emerging windows that occur in the problem and political spheres, and make partnerships with key stakeholders in the policy arena. The flipside of the process is that, when governments change, policy born in windows of opportunity can be a casualty.

Civilian Workforce Planning in the Department of Defense. Different Levels, Different Roles

DTIC Science & Technology

2006-01-01

other government agencies. This research was sponsored by the Office of the Under Secretary of Defense for Program Integration and was conducted...the Office of Management and Budget circular that specifies the procedures that the federal government must follow when it competitively sources a...state governments have a statewide workforce-planning office or human resources office that plays three key roles: developing and maintaining a data

48 CFR 18.204 - Resources.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

2013-10-01

... response. This key document establishes a comprehensive, national, all-hazards approach to domestic incident response. The Framework identifies the key response principles, roles and structures that organize national response. It describes how communities, States, the Federal Government, the private-sector, and...

48 CFR 18.204 - Resources.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-10-01

... response. This key document establishes a comprehensive, national, all-hazards approach to domestic incident response. The Framework identifies the key response principles, roles and structures that organize national response. It describes how communities, States, the Federal Government, the private-sector, and...

48 CFR 18.204 - Resources.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

2014-10-01

... response. This key document establishes a comprehensive, national, all-hazards approach to domestic incident response. The Framework identifies the key response principles, roles and structures that organize national response. It describes how communities, States, the Federal Government, the private-sector, and...

48 CFR 18.204 - Resources.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-10-01

... response. This key document establishes a comprehensive, national, all-hazards approach to domestic incident response. The Framework identifies the key response principles, roles and structures that organize national response. It describes how communities, States, the Federal Government, the private-sector, and...

48 CFR 18.204 - Resources.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

2012-10-01

... response. This key document establishes a comprehensive, national, all-hazards approach to domestic incident response. The Framework identifies the key response principles, roles and structures that organize national response. It describes how communities, States, the Federal Government, the private-sector, and...

Experimental Evidence that Social Relationships Determine Individual Foraging Behavior.

PubMed

Firth, Josh A; Voelkl, Bernhard; Farine, Damien R; Sheldon, Ben C

2015-12-07

Social relationships are fundamental to animals living in complex societies. The extent to which individuals base their decisions around their key social relationships, and the consequences this has on their behavior and broader population level processes, remains unknown. Using a novel experiment that controlled where individual wild birds (great tits, Parus major) could access food, we restricted mated pairs from being allowed to forage at the same locations. This introduced a conflict for pair members between maintaining social relationships and accessing resources. We show that individuals reduce their own access to food in order to sustain their relationships and that individual foraging activity was strongly influenced by their key social counterparts. By affecting where individuals go, social relationships determined which conspecifics they encountered and consequently shaped their other social associations. Hence, while resource distribution can determine individuals' spatial and social environment, we illustrate how key social relationships themselves can govern broader social structure. Finally, social relationships also influenced the development of social foraging strategies. In response to forgoing access to resources, maintaining pair bonds led individuals to develop a flexible "scrounging" strategy, particularly by scrounging from their pair mate. This suggests that behavioral plasticity can develop to ameliorate conflicts between social relationships and other demands. Together, these results illustrate the importance of considering social relationships for explaining behavioral variation due to their significant impact on individual behavior and demonstrate the consequences of key relationships for wider processes. Copyright © 2015 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd.. All rights reserved.

Alignment and political will: upscaling an Australian respectful relationships program.

PubMed

Joyce, Andrew; Green, Celia; Kearney, Sarah; Leung, Loksee; Ollis, Debbie

2018-05-29

Many small scale efficacious programs and interventions need to be 'scaled-up' in order to reach a larger population. Although it has been argued that interventions deemed suitable for upscaling need to have demonstrated effectiveness, be able to be implemented cost-effectively and be accepted by intended recipients, these factors alone are insufficient in explaining which programs are adopted more broadly. Upscaling research often identifies political will as a key factor in explaining whether programs are supported and up-scaled, but this research lacks any depth into how political will is formed and has not applied policy theories to understanding the upscaling process. This article uses a political science lens to examine the key factors in the upscaling process of a Respectful Relationships in Schools Program. Focus groups and interviews were conducted with project staff, managers and community organizations involved in the program. The results reveal how a key focusing event related to a highly profiled personal tragedy propelled family violence into the national spotlight. At the same time, the organization leading the respectful relationships program leveraged their networks to position the program within the education department which enabled the government to quickly respond to the issue. The study highlights that political will is not a stand-alone factor as depicted by up-scaling models, but rather is the end point of a complex process that involves many elements including the establishment of networks and aligned programs that can capitalize when opportunities arise.

Hedgehog signal transduction: key players, oncogenic drivers, and cancer therapy

PubMed Central

Pak, Ekaterina; Segal, Rosalind A.

2016-01-01

Summary The Hedgehog (Hh) signaling pathway governs complex developmental processes, including proliferation and patterning within diverse tissues. These activities rely on a tightly-regulated transduction system that converts graded Hh input signals into specific levels of pathway activity. Uncontrolled activation of Hh signaling drives tumor initiation and maintenance. However, recent entry of pathway-specific inhibitors into the clinic reveals mixed patient responses and thus prompts further exploration of pathway activation and inhibition. In this review, we share emerging insights on regulated and oncogenic Hh signaling, supplemented with updates on the development and use of Hh pathway-targeted therapies. PMID:27554855

Land Use and Land Cover Change

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Brown, Daniel; Polsky, Colin; Bolstad, Paul V.

2014-05-01

A contribution to the 3rd National Climate Assessment report, discussing the following key messages: 1. Choices about land-use and land-cover patterns have affected and will continue to affect how vulnerable or resilient human communities and ecosystems are to the effects of climate change. 2. Land-use and land-cover changes affect local, regional, and global climate processes. 3. Individuals, organizations, and governments have the capacity to make land-use decisions to adapt to the effects of climate change. 4. Choices about land use and land management provide a means of reducing atmospheric greenhouse gas levels.

Standard terminology in the laboratory and classroom

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Strehlow, Richard A.

1992-01-01

Each of the materials produced by modern technologists is associated with a family of immaterials--all the concepts of substance, process, and purpose. It is concepts that are essential to transfer knowledge. It is concepts that are the stuff of terminology. Terminology is standardized today by companies, standards organizations, governments, and other groups. Simply described, it is the pre-negotiation of the meanings of terms. Terminology has become a key issue in businesses, and terminology knowledge is essential in understanding the modern world. The following is a introductory workshop discussing the concepts of terminology and methods of its standardization.

Transcriptional targets in adipocyte biology

PubMed Central

Rosen, Evan; Eguchi, Jun; Xu, Zhao

2010-01-01

The global burden of metabolic disease demands that we develop new therapeutic strategies. Many of these approaches may center on manipulating the behavior of adipocytes, which contribute directly and indirectly to a host of disease processes including obesity and type 2 diabetes. One way to achieve this goal will be to alter key transcriptional pathways in fat cells, such as those regulating glucose uptake, lipid handling, or adipokine secretion. In this review we look at what is known about how adipocytes govern their physiology at the gene expression level, and we discuss novel ways that we can accelerate our understanding of this area. PMID:19534570

Collaboration in natural resource governance: reconciling stakeholder expectations in deer management in Scotland.

PubMed

Davies, Althea L; White, Rehema M

2012-12-15

The challenges of integrated, adaptive and ecosystem management are leading government agencies to adopt participatory modes of engagement. Collaborative governance is a form of participation in which stakeholders co-produce goals and strategies and share responsibilities and resources. We assess the potential and challenges of collaborative governance as a mechanism to provide an integrated, ecosystem approach to natural resource management, using red deer in Scotland as a case study. Collaborative Deer Management Groups offer a well-established example of a 'bridging organisation', intended to reduce costs and facilitate decision making and learning across institutions and scales. We examine who initiates collaborative processes and why, what roles different actors adopt and how these factors influence the outcomes, particularly at a time of changing values, management and legislative priorities. Our findings demonstrate the need for careful consideration of where and how shared responsibility might be best implemented and sustained as state agencies often remain key to the process, despite the partnership intention. Differing interpretations between agencies and landowners of the degree of autonomy and division of responsibilities involved in 'collaboration' can create tension, while the diversity of landowner priorities brings additional challenges for defining shared goals in red deer management and in other cases. Effective maintenance depends on appropriate role allocation and adoption of responsibilities, definition of convergent values and goals, and establishing communication and trust in institutional networks. Options that may help private stakeholders offset the costs of accepting responsibility for delivering public benefits need to be explicitly addressed to build capacity and support adaptation. This study indicates that collaborative governance has the potential to help reconcile statutory obligations with stakeholder empowerment. The potential of collaboration to reduce the costs of sustainable management remains contentious and, in times of increasing resource constraints, the potential mismatch between resource investment and anticipated goals is likely to become a critical issue, which may challenge the goals and capacity of the state and existing managers. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Module 3: Text Versions | State, Local, and Tribal Governments | NREL

Science.gov Websites

walk through the key considerations and activities that should be performed when evaluating a site for speak about larger systems. So generally when you start thinking about site evaluation and kinda moving some of the key considerations, key things that should be considered when you're doing a site

The Keys to the White House

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Lichtman, Allan J.

2012-01-01

The Keys to the White House is a historically-based system for predicting the result of the popular vote in American presidential elections. The Keys system tracks the big picture of how well the party holding the White House has governed and does not shift with events of the campaign. This model gives specificity to the idea that it is…

Landscape processes, effects and the consequences of migration in their management at the Jatún Mayu watershed (Bolivia)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Penna, Ivanna; Jaquet, Stephanie; Sudmeier-Rieux, Karen; Kaenzig, Raoul; Schwilch, Gudrun; Jaboyedoff, Michel; Liniger, Hanspeter; Machaca, Angelica; Cuba, Edgar; Boillat, Sebastien

2014-05-01

Bolivia has a large rural population, mostly composed of subsistence farmers that face natural and anthropogenic driven processes affecting their livelihoods. In order to establish sustainable management strategies, it is important to understand the factors governing landscape changes. This work explores the geomorphic imprint and effects of natural and anthropogenic driven processes on three mountain communities undergoing de-population in the Jatún Mayu watershed (Cochabamba, Bolivia). Based on satellite image interpretation, field work and household surveys, we have identified gullies and landslides as main active processes, causing land losses, affecting inter-communal roads, etc. While landslides are mostly occurring in the middle and lower section of the basin, gullies are especially affecting the upper part (especially the southern slope). Our analysis indicated that in the middle and lower part of the basin, landslides are developing in response to the Jatún Mayu incision (slopes reach a critical angle and slope failures increase). However in the upper part, where no river down-cutting is taking place, preliminary analysis indicates that past and present human interventions (over-grazing, agriculture, road construction, etc.) play a key role on driving land degradation toward the formation of gullies. Based on the comparison of high resolution images from 2004 and 2009, we determined an agricultural land loss rate of 8452 m2/year, mostly in the form of landslides. One single event swept away 0.03 km2 of agricultural lands (~13 parcels), approximately 87% of an average household property. People's main concerns are hail, frost and droughts because they cause an "immediate" loss on family incomes, but the impacts caused by landslides and gullies are not disregarded by the communities and the government. Communities are organized to set up and maintain key infrastructure such as irrigation canals and roads. They also intend to develop protective measures against erosion like check dams based on tyres filled with rocks. In addition, organizations supported by government and institutions from abroad have built dams, reforested some slopes, and raised local capacities to improve soil conservation measures e.g. through slow-forming terraces. However, rural-to-urban migration could be affecting the management of processes leading to land degradation. Around 77% of the 22 households surveyed have at least one migrant family member (permanent, seasonal or double residence migrant). Labour force is reduced and because of de-population, two of the three schools in the area have closed. In spite of the support that communities receive, our findings indicate that high population mobility is affecting land management practices and the capacity of communities to cope with land degradation processes.

Manpower and Planning.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Industrial Relations Counselors, Inc., New York, NY.

In recent years emphasis has shifted from physical to human capital as a key factor in economic growth. Both government and business have intensified efforts at manpower planning to improve the utilization of human resources. These papers by representatives of government and business cover various aspects of labor market efficiency. The nine…

Initial perceptions of key stakeholders in Ontario regarding independent prescriptive authority for pharmacists.

PubMed

Pojskic, Nedzad; MacKeigan, Linda; Boon, Heather; Austin, Zubin

2014-01-01

A number of jurisdictions, both in Canada and internationally, have recently expanded pharmacists' scope of practice to allow prescriptive authority. To ascertain the initial perceptions of the Ontario government and health professional stakeholder groups regarding the prospect of prescriptive authority for pharmacists. Qualitative research methods were used; data sources were policy documents and semi-structured interviews with key informants from the Ontario government and pharmacy and medical professional organizations. Purposive and snowball sampling strategies were used to identify 17 key informants. Fifty-one relevant policy documents were retrieved through searches of organizational websites and interviewee suggestions. Interview transcripts and documents were content analyzed independently by 2 researchers; and once consensus was achieved on key themes, the primary investigator analyzed the remainder. Pharmacy organizations and Ontario government representatives both expressed support for pharmacist prescriptive authority, suggesting that it would enhance patient access to primary care. Medical organizations were opposed to this expanded pharmacist role, arguing that pharmacists' lack of training and experience in diagnosis and prescribing would endanger patient safety. Other concerns were fragmentation of care and pharmacists' lack of access to patient clinical information. Some government and pharmacy informants felt that pharmacist prescribing would decrease health system costs through substitution of cheaper health professionals for physicians, while others felt that costs would increase due to increased utilization of services. Medical organizations preferred delegated medical authority as the policy alternative to pharmacist prescribing. Widely different views were expressed by the Ontario government and pharmacy organizations on the one hand and medical professional organizations on the other hand, regarding the potential impact of pharmacist prescribing on patient safety and access to primary care. This is likely due, at least in part, to the lack of evidence on the expected impact of this expanded pharmacist role. More research is needed to help inform discussions regarding this issue. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Expanded Guidance for NASA Systems Engineering. Volume 2: Crosscutting Topics, Special Topics, and Appendices

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Hirshorn, Steven R.

2017-01-01

Historically, most successful NASA projects have depended on effectively blending project management, systems engineering, and technical expertise among NASA, contractors, and third parties. Underlying these successes are a variety of agreements (e.g., contract, memorandum of understanding, grant, cooperative agreement) between NASA organizations or between NASA and other Government agencies, Government organizations, companies, universities, research laboratories, and so on. To simplify the discussions, the term "contract" is used to encompass these agreements. This section focuses on the NASA systems engineering activities pertinent to awarding a contract, managing contract performance, and completing a contract. In particular, NASA systems engineering interfaces to the procurement process are covered, since the NASA engineering technical team plays a key role in the development and evaluation of contract documentation. Contractors and third parties perform activities that supplement (or substitute for) the NASA project technical team accomplishment of the NASA common systems engineering technical process activities and requirements outlined in this guide. Since contractors might be involved in any part of the systems engineering life cycle, the NASA project technical team needs to know how to prepare for, allocate or perform, and implement surveillance of technical activities that are allocated to contractors.

Assessing state efforts to meet baby boomers' long-term care needs: a case study in compensatory federalism.

PubMed

Pandey, Sanjay K

2002-01-01

The role of the state government and the character of federal-state relations in social policy have evolved considerably. Frank Thompson uses the phrase compensatory federalism to describe increased activity by state governments to make up for a diminished federal role. For compensatory federalism to work, it is essential for states to take leadership roles in key policy areas. Few studies examine whether states have risen to the challenge of compensatory federalism in social policy. This paper examines an emerging issue of great significance in social policy-challenges involved in meeting future long-term care needs for the baby boomer generation. The paper provides an in-depth case study of attempts by Maryland to meet the challenges of financing long-term care needs for the baby boomer generation. The detailed description of the agenda-setting and problem-structuring process in Maryland is followed by an analysis that uses three different frameworks to assess the policy development processes. These models are rooted in a bureaucratic politics perspective, an agenda-setting perspective and an interest group politics perspective. The paper concludes with a discussion of the limitations and possibilities of state leadership in the social policy sphere.

A case study of the changing nature of a non-government organisation: a focus on disability and development.

PubMed

Yoshida, Karen K; Parnes, Penny; Brooks, Dina; Cameron, Deb

2009-01-01

The purpose of this article is to describe the changing nature, process and structure of an international non-governmental organisation (NGO) in response to internal and external factors. This article is based on the interview data collected for the study which focussed on the experiences and perception of key informants on trends related to official development assistance, local governments' perspective of the NGO as a development partner and the NGO's perception of corporate and foundation support. Qualitative descriptive data analysis was used. Three main themes were developed with the interview data. Our analysis indicated shifts in the: (1) vision/nature (single to cross disability focus), (2) structure (building internal and external relationships) and (3) process (from ad hoc to systemic evaluations). These broader issues of vision, structure (relationships) and evaluation within and outside of the organisation, needs to be addressed to provide a foundation upon which funding initiatives can be developed. A closer relationship between funders and projects/programmes would do much to enhance the partnership and would ensure that the projects are able to measure and report results in a manner that is conducive to increasing support.

Opportunities for Web-Based Indicators in Environmental Sciences

PubMed Central

Malcevschi, Sergio; Marchini, Agnese; Savini, Dario; Facchinetti, Tullio

2012-01-01

This paper proposes a set of web-based indicators for quantifying and ranking the relevance of terms related to key-issues in Ecology and Sustainability Science. Search engines that operate in different contexts (e.g. global, social, scientific) are considered as web information carriers (WICs) and are able to analyse; (i) relevance on different levels: global web, individual/personal sphere, on-line news, and culture/science; (ii) time trends of relevance; (iii) relevance of keywords for environmental governance. For the purposes of this study, several indicators and specific indices (relational indices and dynamic indices) were applied to a test-set of 24 keywords. Outputs consistently show that traditional study topics in environmental sciences such as water and air have remained the most quantitatively relevant keywords, while interest in systemic issues (i.e. ecosystem and landscape) has grown over the last 20 years. Nowadays, the relevance of new concepts such as resilience and ecosystem services is increasing, but the actual ability of these concepts to influence environmental governance needs to be further studied and understood. The proposed approach, which is based on intuitive and easily replicable procedures, can support the decision-making processes related to environmental governance. PMID:22905118

Rethinking vulnerability analysis and governance with emphasis on a participatory approach.

PubMed

Rossignol, Nicolas; Delvenne, Pierre; Turcanu, Catrinel

2015-01-01

This article draws on vulnerability analysis as it emerged as a complement to classical risk analysis, and it aims at exploring its ability for nurturing risk and vulnerability governance actions. An analysis of the literature on vulnerability analysis allows us to formulate a three-fold critique: first, vulnerability analysis has been treated separately in the natural and the technological hazards fields. This separation prevents vulnerability from unleashing the full range of its potential, as it constrains appraisals into artificial categories and thus already closes down the outcomes of the analysis. Second, vulnerability analysis focused on assessment tools that are mainly quantitative, whereas qualitative appraisal is a key to assessing vulnerability in a comprehensive way and to informing policy making. Third, a systematic literature review of case studies reporting on participatory approaches to vulnerability analysis allows us to argue that participation has been important to address the above, but it remains too closed down in its approach and would benefit from embracing a more open, encompassing perspective. Therefore, we suggest rethinking vulnerability analysis as one part of a dynamic process between opening-up and closing-down strategies, in order to support a vulnerability governance framework. © 2014 Society for Risk Analysis.

Opportunities for web-based indicators in environmental sciences.

PubMed

Malcevschi, Sergio; Marchini, Agnese; Savini, Dario; Facchinetti, Tullio

2012-01-01

This paper proposes a set of web-based indicators for quantifying and ranking the relevance of terms related to key-issues in Ecology and Sustainability Science. Search engines that operate in different contexts (e.g. global, social, scientific) are considered as web information carriers (WICs) and are able to analyse; (i) relevance on different levels: global web, individual/personal sphere, on-line news, and culture/science; (ii) time trends of relevance; (iii) relevance of keywords for environmental governance. For the purposes of this study, several indicators and specific indices (relational indices and dynamic indices) were applied to a test-set of 24 keywords. Outputs consistently show that traditional study topics in environmental sciences such as water and air have remained the most quantitatively relevant keywords, while interest in systemic issues (i.e. ecosystem and landscape) has grown over the last 20 years. Nowadays, the relevance of new concepts such as resilience and ecosystem services is increasing, but the actual ability of these concepts to influence environmental governance needs to be further studied and understood. The proposed approach, which is based on intuitive and easily replicable procedures, can support the decision-making processes related to environmental governance.

Strengthening government management capacity to scale up HIV prevention programs through the use of Technical Support Units: lessons from Karnataka state, India

PubMed Central

Sgaier, Sema K; Anthony, John; Bhattacharjee, Parinita; Baer, James; Malve, Vidyacharan; Bhalla, Aparajita; Hugar, Vijaykumar S

2014-01-01

ABSTRACT Scaling up HIV prevention programming among key populations (female sex workers and men who have sex with men) has been a central strategy of the Government of India. However, state governments have lacked the technical and managerial capacity to oversee and scale up interventions or to absorb donor-funded programs. In response, the national government contracted Technical Support Units (TSUs), teams with expertise from the private and nongovernmental sectors, to collaborate with and assist state governments. In 2008, a TSU was established in Karnataka, one of 6 Indian states with the highest HIV prevalence in the country and where monitoring showed that its prevention programs were reaching only 5% of key populations. The TSU provided support to the state in 5 key areas: assisting in strategic planning, rolling out a comprehensive monitoring and evaluation system, providing supportive supervision to intervention units, facilitating training, and assisting with information, education, and communication activities. This collaborative management model helped to increase capacity of the state, enabling it to take over funding and oversight of HIV prevention programs previously funded through donors. With the combined efforts of the TSU and the state government, the number of intervention units statewide increased from 40 to 126 between 2009 and 2013. Monthly contacts with female sex workers increased from 5% in 2008 to 88% in 2012, and with men who have sex with men, from 36% in 2009 to 81% in 2012. There were also increases in the proportion of both populations who visited HIV testing and counseling centers (from 3% to 47% among female sex workers and from 6% to 33% among men who have sex with men) and sexually transmitted infection clinics (from 4% to 75% among female sex workers and from 7% to 67% among men who have sex with men). Changes in sexual behaviors among key populations were also documented. For example, between 2008 and 2010, the proportion of surveyed female sex workers in 9 districts reporting that they used a condom at last intercourse rose from 60% to 68%; in 6 districts, the proportion of surveyed men who have sex with men reporting that they used a condom at last anal sex increased from 89% to 97%. The Karnataka experience suggests that TSUs can help governments enhance managerial and technical resources and leverage funds more effectively. With careful management of the working and reporting relationships between the TSU and the state government, this additional capacity can pave the way for the government to improve and scale up programs and to absorb previously donor-funded programs. PMID:25611478

On the factors governing water vapor turbulence mixing in the convective boundary layer over land: Concept and data analysis technique using ground-based lidar measurements.

PubMed

Pal, Sandip

2016-06-01

The convective boundary layer (CBL) turbulence is the key process for exchanging heat, momentum, moisture and trace gases between the earth's surface and the lower part of the troposphere. The turbulence parameterization of the CBL is a challenging but important component in numerical models. In particular, correct estimation of CBL turbulence features, parameterization, and the determination of the contribution of eddy diffusivity are important for simulating convection initiation, and the dispersion of health hazardous air pollutants and Greenhouse gases. In general, measurements of higher-order moments of water vapor mixing ratio (q) variability yield unique estimates of turbulence in the CBL. Using the high-resolution lidar-derived profiles of q variance, third-order moment, and skewness and analyzing concurrent profiles of vertical velocity, potential temperature, horizontal wind and time series of near-surface measurements of surface flux and meteorological parameters, a conceptual framework based on bottom up approach is proposed here for the first time for a robust characterization of the turbulent structure of CBL over land so that our understanding on the processes governing CBL q turbulence could be improved. Finally, principal component analyses will be applied on the lidar-derived long-term data sets of q turbulence statistics to identify the meteorological factors and the dominant physical mechanisms governing the CBL turbulence features. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Hospital autonomy: the experience of Kenyatta National Hospital.

PubMed

Collins, D; Njeru, G; Meme, J; Newbrander, W

1999-01-01

An increasing number of countries are exploring the introduction or expansion of autonomous hospitals as one of the numerous health reforms they are introducing to their health system. Hospital autonomy is one of the forms of decentralization that is focused on a specific institution rather than on a political unit. It has gained much interest because it is an attempt to amalgamate the best elements of the public and private sectors in how a hospital is governed, managed and financed. This paper reviews the key elements of the concept of hospital autonomy, the reasons for its expanded use in many countries and a specific example of making a major teaching hospital autonomous in Kenya. A review of the successful experience of Kenyatta National Hospital and its process of introducing autonomy, with regard to governance, operations and management, and finances, lead to several conclusions on replicability. The legal framework is a critical element for successfully structuring the autonomous hospital. Additionally, success is highly dependent on the extent to which there is adequate funding during the process of attaining autonomy due to the length of the transition period needed. Autonomy must be granted within the context of the national health system and national health objectives and be consistent with those aims and their underlying societal values. Finally, as with decentralization, success is dependent upon the preparation done with the systems and management necessary for the proper governance and operation of autonomous hospitals.

The Executive Committee. AGB Effective Committee Series

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Legon, Richard D.

2012-01-01

This publication is part of an Association of Governing Boards of Universities and Colleges (AGB) series devoted to strengthening the role of key standing committees of governing boards. While there is no optimum committee system for institutions of higher education, certain principles, practices, and procedures prevail. The best practices…

The Facilities Committee. AGB Effective Committee Series

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Kaiser, Harvey H.

2012-01-01

This publication is part of an Association of Governing Boards of Universities and Colleges (AGB) series devoted to strengthening the role of key standing committees of governing boards. While there is no optimum committee system for institutions of higher education, certain principles, practices, and procedures prevail. The best practices…

The U.S. Constitution in Today's World.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Patrick, John J.

A comparative study of constitutions and governments in world history is a key to deeper understanding of the U.S. Constitution. While many countries have constitutions, the United States is among a minority of nations in today's world that has a constitutional government. Many nations' constitutions truly guarantee few protections of individual…

Developing Skills through Partnerships: Symposium Report

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Colleges Ontario, 2011

2011-01-01

In November 2005, the province of Ontario and the federal government signed two historic agreements--the Canada-Ontario Labour Market Development Agreement and the Canada-Ontario Labour Market Partnership Agreement. One year later, on Nov. 24, 2006, key labour market stakeholders, including users, delivery agents and government came together to…

The Press and Government Restriction: A Cross-National Study Over Time.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Weaver, David H.

Studies on mass communication and national development and studies of press freedom were reviewed to construct a macro-level theoretical model of press freedom development including seven key concepts: availability of resources, urbanism, educational level, mass media development, accountability of governors, stress on government, and government…

The Audit Committee. AGB Effective Committee Series

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Staisloff, Richard L.

2011-01-01

This publication is part of an Association of Governing Boards of Universities and Colleges (AGB) series devoted to strengthening the role of key standing committees of governing boards. While there is no optimum committee system for institutions of higher education, certain principles, practices, and procedures prevail. The best practices…

Prescribing Roles in the Employability of Malaysian Graduates

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Yoong, David; Don, Zuraidah Mohd; Foroutan, Maryam

2017-01-01

In order to address the problems of graduate employability in Malaysia, the Malaysian Government produced in 2012, the "National Graduate Employability Blueprint" 2012-2017. In addition to setting out in detail the government's philosophy and vision, the blueprint identifies key players who are expected to play crucial roles in making…

North Central Texas Council of Governments peer exchange on bicycle and pedestrian count programs : a TPCB peer exchange

DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

2013-05-29

This report highlights key recommendations and best practices identified at the peer exchange on bicycle and pedestrian count programs, held on May 29 and May 30, 2013 in Arlington, Texas. The North Central Texas Council of Governments (NCTCOG) reque...

The Governance Committee: Independent Institutions. AGB Effective Committee Series

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Wilson, E. B.; Lanier, James L.

2013-01-01

This publication is part of an AGB series devoted to strengthening the role of key standing committees of governing boards. While there is no optimal committee system for institutions of higher education, certain principles, practices, and procedures prevail. The best practices outlined in this publication support the objectives of board…

Sustainability and Teacher Education

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Martin, Ken; Summers, Denise; Sjerps-Jones, Harriet

2007-01-01

Sustainability is now a key concept in both government policy and wider global concerns. Issues of climate change and global warming can no longer be ignored in teacher education programs in the post-compulsory education and training sector. Government policy-makers, notably the Department for Education and Skills (DfES), Learning Skills Council…

The Compensation Committee. AGB Effective Committee Series

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Hyatt, Thomas K.

2013-01-01

This publication is part of an Association of Governing Boards of Universities and Colleges (AGB) series devoted to strengthening the role of key standing committees of governing boards. While there is no optimum committee system for institutions of higher education, certain principles, practices, and procedures prevail. The best practices…

Patriotism, Multiculturalism and Belonging: Political Discourse and the Teaching of History

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Osler, Audrey

2009-01-01

This paper examines the British Labour government's developing political discourse on patriotism, citizenship and multiculturalism since 1997, particularly following the 2001 terrorist attacks in the United States and the 2005 London bombings. It focuses on the speeches of key government figures, notably Prime Ministers Tony Blair and Gordon…

DCAA Audits: Widespread Problems with Audit Quality Require Significant Reform

DTIC Science & Technology

2009-09-01

is included in appendix III. DOD contract management continues to be a high- risk area for the government.17 With hundreds of billions of taxpayer...Defense Contract Management : DOD’s Lack of Adherence to Key Contracting Principles on Iraq Oil Contract Put Government Interests at Risk , GAO-07-839...in the Federal Government68 require federal agency managers to identify and assess relevant risks the agency faces from external and internal

Sudan: The Crisis in Darfur and Status of the North-South Peace Agreement

DTIC Science & Technology

2010-12-16

south, is considered a major factor triggering the civil war. The National Islamic Front ( NIF ) government, which ousted the democratically elected...Front ( NIF ), agreed on a cabinet. At the core of the dispute was the distribution of key economic ministerial portfolios. The NCP insisted on...governments in Khartoum, albeit unsuccessfully. In the early 1990s, the National Islamic Front ( NIF ) government, which came to power in 1989, began to arm

Chip-based quantum key distribution

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sibson, P.; Erven, C.; Godfrey, M.; Miki, S.; Yamashita, T.; Fujiwara, M.; Sasaki, M.; Terai, H.; Tanner, M. G.; Natarajan, C. M.; Hadfield, R. H.; O'Brien, J. L.; Thompson, M. G.

2017-02-01

Improvement in secure transmission of information is an urgent need for governments, corporations and individuals. Quantum key distribution (QKD) promises security based on the laws of physics and has rapidly grown from proof-of-concept to robust demonstrations and deployment of commercial systems. Despite these advances, QKD has not been widely adopted, and large-scale deployment will likely require chip-based devices for improved performance, miniaturization and enhanced functionality. Here we report low error rate, GHz clocked QKD operation of an indium phosphide transmitter chip and a silicon oxynitride receiver chip--monolithically integrated devices using components and manufacturing processes from the telecommunications industry. We use the reconfigurability of these devices to demonstrate three prominent QKD protocols--BB84, Coherent One Way and Differential Phase Shift--with performance comparable to state-of-the-art. These devices, when combined with integrated single photon detectors, pave the way for successfully integrating QKD into future telecommunications networks.

Rotatin is a novel gene required for axial rotation and left-right specification in mouse embryos.

PubMed

Faisst, Anja M; Alvarez-Bolado, Gonzalo; Treichel, Dieter; Gruss, Peter

2002-04-01

The genetic cascade that governs left-right (L-R) specification is starting to be elucidated. In the mouse, the lateral asymmetry of the body axis is revealed first by the asymmetric expression of nodal, lefty2 and pitx2 in the left lateral plate mesoderm of the neurulating embryo. Here we describe a novel gene, rotatin, essential for the correct expression of the key L-R specification genes nodal, lefty and Pitx2. Embryos deficient in rotatin show also randomized heart looping and delayed neural tube closure, and fail to undergo the critical morphogenetic step of axial rotation. The amino acid sequence deduced from the cDNA is predicted to contain at least three transmembrane domains. Our results show a novel key player in the genetic cascade that determines L-R specification, and suggest a causal link between this process and axial rotation.

Chip-based quantum key distribution

PubMed Central

Sibson, P.; Erven, C.; Godfrey, M.; Miki, S.; Yamashita, T.; Fujiwara, M.; Sasaki, M.; Terai, H.; Tanner, M. G.; Natarajan, C. M.; Hadfield, R. H.; O'Brien, J. L.; Thompson, M. G.

2017-01-01

Improvement in secure transmission of information is an urgent need for governments, corporations and individuals. Quantum key distribution (QKD) promises security based on the laws of physics and has rapidly grown from proof-of-concept to robust demonstrations and deployment of commercial systems. Despite these advances, QKD has not been widely adopted, and large-scale deployment will likely require chip-based devices for improved performance, miniaturization and enhanced functionality. Here we report low error rate, GHz clocked QKD operation of an indium phosphide transmitter chip and a silicon oxynitride receiver chip—monolithically integrated devices using components and manufacturing processes from the telecommunications industry. We use the reconfigurability of these devices to demonstrate three prominent QKD protocols—BB84, Coherent One Way and Differential Phase Shift—with performance comparable to state-of-the-art. These devices, when combined with integrated single photon detectors, pave the way for successfully integrating QKD into future telecommunications networks. PMID:28181489

Linking evidence to action on social determinants of health using Urban HEART in the Americas.

PubMed

Prasad, Amit; Groot, Ana Maria Mahecha; Monteiro, Teofilo; Murphy, Kelly; O'Campo, Patricia; Broide, Emilia Estivalet; Kano, Megumi

2013-12-01

To evaluate the experience of select cities in the Americas using the Urban Health Equity Assessment and Response Tool (Urban HEART) launched by the World Health Organization in 2010 and to determine its utility in supporting government efforts to improve health equity using the social determinants of health (SDH) approach. The Urban HEART experience was evaluated in four cities from 2010-2013: Guarulhos (Brazil), Toronto (Canada), and Bogotá and Medellín (Colombia). Reports were submitted by Urban HEART teams in each city and supplemented by first-hand accounts of key informants. The analysis considered each city's networks and the resources it used to implement Urban HEART; the process by which each city identified equity gaps and prioritized interventions; and finally, the facilitators and barriers encountered, along with next steps. In three cities, local governments spearheaded the process, while in the fourth (Toronto), academia initiated and led the process. All cities used Urban HEART as a platform to engage multiple stakeholders. Urban HEART's Matrix and Monitor were used to identify equity gaps within cities. While Bogotá and Medellín prioritized among existing interventions, Guarulhos adopted new interventions focused on deprived districts. Actions were taken on intermediate determinants, e.g., health systems access, and structural SDH, e.g., unemployment and human rights. Urban HEART provides local governments with a simple and systematic method for assessing and responding to health inequity. Through the SDH approach, the tool has provided a platform for intersectoral action and community involvement. While some areas of guidance could be strengthened, Urban HEART is a useful tool for directing local action on health inequities, and should be scaled up within the Region of the Americas, building upon current experience.

Investment incentives and the implementation of the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control: evidence from Zambia.

PubMed

Lencucha, Raphael; Drope, Jeffrey; Labonte, Ronald; Zulu, Richard; Goma, Fastone

2016-07-01

Policy misalignment across different sectors of government serves as one of the pivotal barriers to WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC) implementation. This paper examines the logic used by government officials to justify investment incentives to increase tobacco processing and manufacturing in the context of FCTC implementation in Zambia. We conducted qualitative semistructured interviews with key informants from government, civil society and intergovernmental economic organisations (n=23). We supplemented the interview data with an analysis of public documents pertaining to the policy of economic development in Zambia. We found gross misalignments between the policies of the economic sector and efforts to implement the provisions of the FCTC. Our interviews uncovered the rationale used by officials in the economic sector to justify providing economic incentives to bolster tobacco processing and manufacturing in Zambia: (1) tobacco is not consumed by Zambians/tobacco is an export commodity, (2) economic benefits outweigh health costs and (3) tobacco consumption is a personal choice. Much of the struggle Zambia has experienced in implementing the FCTC can be attributed to misalignments between the economic and health sectors. Zambia's development agenda seeks to bolster agricultural processing and manufacturing. Tobacco control proponents must recognise and work within this context in order to foster productive strategies with those working on tobacco supply issues. These findings are broadly applicable to the global context. It is important that the Ministry of Health monitors the tobacco policy of and engages with these sectors to find ways of harmonising FCTC implementation. Published by the BMJ Publishing Group Limited. For permission to use (where not already granted under a licence) please go to http://www.bmj.com/company/products-services/rights-and-licensing/

Investment Incentives and the Implementation of the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control: Evidence from Zambia

PubMed Central

Drope, Jeffrey; Labonte, Ronald; Zulu, Richard; Goma, Fastone

2016-01-01

Purpose Policy misalignment across different sectors of government serves as one of the pivotal barriers to WHO Framework convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC) implementation. This paper examines the logic used by government officials to justify providing investment incentives to increase tobacco processing and manufacturing in the context of FCTC implementation in Zambia. Methods We conducted qualitative semi-structured interviews with key informants from government, civil society and intergovernmental economic organizations (n=23). We supplemented the interview data with an analysis of public documents pertaining to economic development policy in Zambia. Results We found gross misalignments between the policies of the economic sector and efforts to implement the provisions of the FCTC. Our interviews uncovered the rationale used by officials in the economic sector to justify providing economic incentives to bolster tobacco processing and manufacturing in Zambia: 1) tobacco is not consumed by Zambians/tobacco is an export commodity, 2) economic benefits outweigh health costs, and 3) tobacco consumption is a personal choice. Conclusions Much of the struggle Zambia has experienced implementing the FCTC can be attributed to misalignments between the economic and health sectors. Zambia’s development agenda seeks to bolster agricultural processing and manufacturing. Tobacco control proponents must understand and work within this context of economic development in order to foster productive strategies with those working on tobacco supply issues. These findings are broadly applicable to the global analysis on the barriers and facilitators of FCTC implementation. It is important that the Ministry of Health monitors the tobacco policy of other sectors and engages with these sectors to find ways of harmonizing FCTC implementation across sectors. PMID:26135987

Advancing the application of systems thinking in health: managing rural China health system development in complex and dynamic contexts.

PubMed

Zhang, Xiulan; Bloom, Gerald; Xu, Xiaoxin; Chen, Lin; Liang, Xiaoyun; Wolcott, Sara J

2014-08-26

This paper explores the evolution of schemes for rural finance in China as a case study of the long and complex process of health system development. It argues that the evolution of these schemes has been the outcome of the response of a large number of agents to a rapidly changing context and of efforts by the government to influence this adaptation process and achieve public health goals. The study draws on several sources of data including a review of official policy documents and academic papers and in-depth interviews with key policy actors at national level and at a sample of localities. The study identifies three major transition points associated with changes in broad development strategy and demonstrates how the adaptation of large numbers of actors to these contextual changes had a major impact on the performance of the health system. Further, it documents how the Ministry of Health viewed its role as both an advocate for the interests of health facilities and health workers and as the agency responsible for ensuring that government health system objectives were met. It is argued that a major reason for the resilience of the health system and its ability to adapt to rapid economic and institutional change was the ability of the Ministry to provide overall strategy leadership. Additionally, it postulates that a number of interest groups have emerged, which now also seek to influence the pathway of health system development. This history illustrates the complex and political nature of the management of health system development and reform. The paper concludes that governments will need to increase their capacity to analyze the health sector as a complex system and to manage change processes.

ATP synthase promotes germ cell differentiation independent of oxidative phosphorylation

PubMed Central

Teixeira, Felipe K.; Sanchez, Carlos G.; Hurd, Thomas R.; Seifert, Jessica R. K.; Czech, Benjamin; Preall, Jonathan B.; Hannon, Gregory J.; Lehmann, Ruth

2015-01-01

The differentiation of stem cells is a tightly regulated process essential for animal development and tissue homeostasis. Through this process, attainment of new identity and function is achieved by marked changes in cellular properties. Intrinsic cellular mechanisms governing stem cell differentiation remain largely unknown, in part because systematic forward genetic approaches to the problem have not been widely used1,2. Analysing genes required for germline stem cell differentiation in the Drosophila ovary, we find that the mitochondrial ATP synthase plays a critical role in this process. Unexpectedly, the ATP synthesizing function of this complex was not necessary for differentiation, as knockdown of other members of the oxidative phosphorylation system did not disrupt the process. Instead, the ATP synthase acted to promote the maturation of mitochondrial cristae during differentiation through dimerization and specific upregulation of the ATP synthase complex. Taken together, our results suggest that ATP synthase-dependent crista maturation is a key developmental process required for differentiation independent of oxidative phosphorylation. PMID:25915123

A survey of the governance capacity of national public health associations to enhance population health.

PubMed

Chauvin, James; Shukla, Mahesh; Rice, James; Rispel, Laetitia

2016-03-11

National public health associations (PHAs) are key partners with governments and communities to improve, protect and promote the public's health. Governance and organizational capacity are among the key determinants of a PHA's effectiveness as an advocate for appropriate public health policies and practice. During 2014, the World Federation of Public Health Associations (WFPHA) conducted an on-line survey of its 82 PHA members, to identify the state of organizational governance of national public health associations, as well as the factors that influence optimal organizational governance. The survey consisted of 13 questions and focused on the main elements of organizational governance: cultivating accountability; engaging stakeholders; setting shared direction; stewarding resources; and, continuous governance enhancement. Four questions included a qualitative open-ended response for additional comments. The survey data were analyzed using Microsoft Excel. The qualitative data was analyzed using thematic content analysis Responses were received from 62 PHAs, constituting a 75.6 % response rate. The two most important factors that support governance effectiveness were a high degree of integrity and ethical behavior of the PHA's leaders (77 %) and the competence of people serving on the PHA's governing body (76 %). The lack of financial resources was considered as the most important factor that negatively affected organizational governance effectiveness (73 %). The lack of mentoring for future PHA leaders; ineffective or incompetent leadership; lack of understanding about good governance practices; and lack of accurate information for strategic planning were identified as factors influencing PHA governance effectiveness. Critical elements for PHA sustainability included diversity, gender-responsiveness and inclusive governance practices, and strategies to build the future generation of public health leaders. National PHA have a responsibility to put into place the practices and infrastructure that enhance organizational governance. This will enhance their ability to be effective advocates for policies and practices that enhance, protect and promote the public's health. The WFPHA has an important role to play in providing the technical assistance and financial resources to assist PHAs in attaining and sustaining a higher level of governance capacity.

Challenges to the implementation of health sector decentralization in Tanzania: experiences from Kongwa district council

PubMed Central

Frumence, Gasto; Nyamhanga, Tumaini; Mwangu, Mughwira; Hurtig, Anna-Karin

2013-01-01

Background During the 1990s, the government of Tanzania introduced the decentralization by devolution (D by D) approach involving the transfer of functions, power and authority from the centre to the local government authorities (LGAs) to improve the delivery of public goods and services, including health services. Objective This article examines and documents the experiences facing the implementation of decentralization of health services from the perspective of national and district officials. Design The study adopted a qualitative approach, and data were collected using semi-structured interviews and were analysed for themes and patterns. Results The results showed several benefits of decentralization, including increased autonomy in local resource mobilization and utilization, an enhanced bottom-up planning approach, increased health workers’ accountability and reduction of bureaucratic procedures in decision making. The findings also revealed several challenges which hinder the effective functioning of decentralization. These include inadequate funding, untimely disbursement of funds from the central government, insufficient and unqualified personnel, lack of community participation in planning and political interference. Conclusion The article concludes that the central government needs to adhere to the principles that established the local authorities and grant more autonomy to them, offer special incentives to staff working in the rural areas and create the capacity for local key actors to participate effectively in the planning process. PMID:23993021

Getting evidence into policy: The need for deliberative strategies?

PubMed

Flitcroft, Kathy; Gillespie, James; Salkeld, Glenn; Carter, Stacy; Trevena, Lyndal

2011-04-01

Getting evidence into policy is notoriously difficult. In this empirical case study we used document analysis and key informant interviews to explore the Australian federal government's policy to implement a national bowel cancer screening programme, and the role of evidence in this policy. Our analysis revealed a range of institutional limitations at three levels of national government: within the health department, between government departments, and across the whole of government. These limitations were amplified by the pressures of the 2004 Australian federal election campaign. Traditional knowledge utilisation approaches, which rely principally on voluntarist strategies and focus on the individual, rather than the institutional level, are often insufficient to ensure evidence-based implementation. We propose three alternative models, based on deliberative strategies which have been shown to work in other settings: review of the evidence by a select group of experts whose independence is enshrined in legislation and whose imprimatur is required before policy can proceed; use of an advisory group of experts who consult widely with stakeholders and publish their review findings; or public discussion of the evidence by the media and community groups who act as more direct conduits to the decision-makers than researchers. Such deliberative models could help overcome the limitations on the use of evidence by embedding public review of evidence as the first step in the institutional decision-making processes. Copyright © 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

32 CFR 1806.3 - Procedures governing acceptance of service of process.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-07-01

... COUNTERINTELLIGENCE CENTER PROCEDURES GOVERNING ACCEPTANCE OF SERVICE OF PROCESS § 1806.3 Procedures governing acceptance of service of process. (a) Service of Process Upon the NACIC or a NACIC Employee in an Official..., personal service of process may be accepted only by NACIC Counsel, Director, NACIC, or Deputy Director...

The devil is in the detail: tobacco industry political influence in the Dutch implementation of the 2001 EU Tobacco Products Directive.

PubMed

Lie, Jessamina Lih Yan; Willemsen, Marc C; de Vries, Nanne K; Fooks, Gary

2016-09-01

The Dutch implementation of the black border provision in the 2001 European Union Tobacco Products Directive (TPD) is studied to examine the implications of tobacco industry involvement in the implementation phase of the policy process. A qualitative analysis was conducted of Dutch government documents obtained through Freedom of Information Act requests, triangulated with in-depth interviews with key informants and secondary data sources (publicly available government documents, scientific literature, and news articles). Tobacco manufacturers' associations were given the opportunity to set implementation specifications via a fast-track deal with the government. The offer of early implementation of the labelling section of the TPD was used as political leverage by the industry, and underpinned by threats of litigation and arguments highlighting the risks of additional public costs and the benefits to the government of expediency and speed. Ultimately, the government agreed to the industry's interpretation, against the advice of the European Commission. The findings highlight the policy risks associated with corporate actors' ability to use interactions over technical product specifications to influence the implementation of health policy and illustrate the difficulties in limiting industry interference in accordance with Article 5.3 of the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC). The implementation phase is particularly vulnerable to industry influence, where negotiation with industry actors may be unavoidable and the practical implications of relatively technical considerations are not always apparent to policymakers. During the implementation of the new TPD 2014/40/EU, government officials are advised to take a proactive role in stipulating technical specifications. Published by the BMJ Publishing Group Limited. For permission to use (where not already granted under a licence) please go to http://www.bmj.com/company/products-services/rights-and-licensing/

Smart governance for smart city

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Mutiara, Dewi; Yuniarti, Siti; Pratama, Bambang

2018-03-01

Some of the local government in Indonesia claimed they already created a smart city. Mostly the claim based of IT utilization for their governance. In general, a smart city definition is to describe a developed urban area that creates sustainable economic development and high quality of life by excelling in multiple key; economy, mobility, environment, people, living, and government. For public services, the law guarantees good governance by setting the standard for e-government implicitly including for local government or a city. Based on the arguments, this research tries to test the condition of e-government of the Indonesian city in 34 provinces. The purpose is to map e-government condition by measuring indicators of smart government, which are: transparent governance and open data for the public. This research is departing from public information disclosure law and to correspond with the existence law. By examining government transparency, the output of the research can be used to measure the effectiveness of public information disclosure law and to determine the condition of e-government in local government in which as part of a smart city.

'Geo'chemical research: a key building block for nuclear waste disposal safety cases.

PubMed

Altmann, Scott

2008-12-12

Disposal of high level radioactive waste in deep underground repositories has been chosen as solution by several countries. Because of the special status this type waste has in the public mind, national implementation programs typically mobilize massive R&D efforts, last decades and are subject to extremely detailed and critical social-political scrutiny. The culminating argument of each program is a 'Safety Case' for a specific disposal concept containing, among other elements, the results of performance assessment simulations whose object is to model the release of radionuclides to the biosphere. Public and political confidence in performance assessment results (which generally show that radionuclide release will always be at acceptable levels) is based on their confidence in the quality of the scientific understanding in the processes included in the performance assessment model, in particular those governing radionuclide speciation and mass transport in the geological host formation. Geochemistry constitutes a core area of research in this regard. Clay-mineral rich formations are the subjects of advanced radwaste programs in several countries (France, Belgium, Switzerland...), principally because of their very low permeabilities and demonstrated capacities to retard by sorption most radionuclides. Among the key processes which must be represented in performance assessment models are (i) radioelement speciation (redox state, speciation, reactions determining radionuclide solid-solution partitioning) and (ii) diffusion-driven transport. The safety case must therefore demonstrate a detailed understanding of the physical-chemical phenomena governing the effects of these two aspects, for each radionuclide, within the geological barrier system. A wide range of coordinated (and internationally collaborated) research has been, and is being, carried out in order to gain the detailed scientific understanding needed for constructing those parts of the Safety Case supporting how radionuclide transfer is represented in the performance assessment model. The objective here is to illustrate how geochemical research contributes to this process and, above all, to identify a certain number of subjects which should be treated in priority.

The limits of global health diplomacy: Taiwan's observer status at the world health assembly.

PubMed

Herington, Jonathan; Lee, Kelley

2014-10-01

In 2009, health authorities from Taiwan (under the name "Chinese Taipei")a formally attended the 62nd World Health Assembly (WHA) of the World Health Organization as observers, marking the country's participation for the first time since 1972. The long process of negotiating this breakthrough has been cited as an example of successful global health diplomacy. This paper analyses this negotiation process, drawing on government documents, formal representations from both sides of the Taiwan Strait, and key informant interviews. The actors and their motivations, along with the forums, practices and outcomes of the negotiation process, are detailed. While it is argued that non-traditional diplomatic action was important in establishing the case for Taiwan's inclusion at the WHA, traditional concerns regarding Taiwanese sovereignty and diplomatic representation ultimately played a decisive role. The persistent influence of these traditional diplomatic questions illustrates the limits of global health diplomacy.

Discussion of the enabling environments for decentralised water systems.

PubMed

Moglia, M; Alexander, K S; Sharma, A

2011-01-01

Decentralised water supply systems are becoming increasingly affordable and commonplace in Australia and have the potential to alleviate urban water shortages and reduce pollution into natural receiving marine and freshwater streams. Learning processes are necessary to support the efficient implementation of decentralised systems. These processes reveal the complex socio-technical and institutional factors to be considered when developing an enabling environment supporting decentralised water and wastewater servicing solutions. Critical to the technological transition towards established decentralised systems is the ability to create strategic and adaptive capacity to promote learning and dialogue. Learning processes require institutional mechanisms to ensure the lessons are incorporated into the formulation of policy and regulation, through constructive involvement of key government institutions. Engagement of stakeholders is essential to the enabling environment. Collaborative learning environments using systems analysis with communities (social learning) and adaptive management techniques are useful in refining and applying scientists' and managers' knowledge (knowledge management).

Direct observation of grain rotations during coarsening of a semisolid Al–Cu alloy

PubMed Central

Dake, Jules M.; Oddershede, Jette; Sørensen, Henning O.; Werz, Thomas; Shatto, J. Cole; Uesugi, Kentaro; Schmidt, Søren; Krill, Carl E.

2016-01-01

Sintering is a key technology for processing ceramic and metallic powders into solid objects of complex geometry, particularly in the burgeoning field of energy storage materials. The modeling of sintering processes, however, has not kept pace with applications. Conventional models, which assume ideal arrangements of constituent powders while ignoring their underlying crystallinity, achieve at best a qualitative description of the rearrangement, densification, and coarsening of powder compacts during thermal processing. Treating a semisolid Al–Cu alloy as a model system for late-stage sintering—during which densification plays a subordinate role to coarsening—we have used 3D X-ray diffraction microscopy to track the changes in sample microstructure induced by annealing. The results establish the occurrence of significant particle rotations, driven in part by the dependence of boundary energy on crystallographic misorientation. Evidently, a comprehensive model for sintering must incorporate crystallographic parameters into the thermodynamic driving forces governing microstructural evolution. PMID:27671639

Microbial community assembly and metabolic function during mammalian corpse decomposition

USGS Publications Warehouse

Metcalf, Jessica L; Xu, Zhenjiang Zech; Weiss, Sophie; Lax, Simon; Van Treuren, Will; Hyde, Embriette R.; Song, Se Jin; Amir, Amnon; Larsen, Peter; Sangwan, Naseer; Haarmann, Daniel; Humphrey, Greg C; Ackermann, Gail; Thompson, Luke R; Lauber, Christian; Bibat, Alexander; Nicholas, Catherine; Gebert, Matthew J; Petrosino, Joseph F; Reed, Sasha C.; Gilbert, Jack A; Lynne, Aaron M; Bucheli, Sibyl R; Carter, David O; Knight, Rob

2016-01-01

Vertebrate corpse decomposition provides an important stage in nutrient cycling in most terrestrial habitats, yet microbially mediated processes are poorly understood. Here we combine deep microbial community characterization, community-level metabolic reconstruction, and soil biogeochemical assessment to understand the principles governing microbial community assembly during decomposition of mouse and human corpses on different soil substrates. We find a suite of bacterial and fungal groups that contribute to nitrogen cycling and a reproducible network of decomposers that emerge on predictable time scales. Our results show that this decomposer community is derived primarily from bulk soil, but key decomposers are ubiquitous in low abundance. Soil type was not a dominant factor driving community development, and the process of decomposition is sufficiently reproducible to offer new opportunities for forensic investigations.

A DEMETER-like DNA demethylase governs tomato fruit ripening.

PubMed

Liu, Ruie; How-Kit, Alexandre; Stammitti, Linda; Teyssier, Emeline; Rolin, Dominique; Mortain-Bertrand, Anne; Halle, Stefanie; Liu, Mingchun; Kong, Junhua; Wu, Chaoqun; Degraeve-Guibault, Charlotte; Chapman, Natalie H; Maucourt, Mickael; Hodgman, T Charlie; Tost, Jörg; Bouzayen, Mondher; Hong, Yiguo; Seymour, Graham B; Giovannoni, James J; Gallusci, Philippe

2015-08-25

In plants, genomic DNA methylation which contributes to development and stress responses can be actively removed by DEMETER-like DNA demethylases (DMLs). Indeed, in Arabidopsis DMLs are important for maternal imprinting and endosperm demethylation, but only a few studies demonstrate the developmental roles of active DNA demethylation conclusively in this plant. Here, we show a direct cause and effect relationship between active DNA demethylation mainly mediated by the tomato DML, SlDML2, and fruit ripening- an important developmental process unique to plants. RNAi SlDML2 knockdown results in ripening inhibition via hypermethylation and repression of the expression of genes encoding ripening transcription factors and rate-limiting enzymes of key biochemical processes such as carotenoid synthesis. Our data demonstrate that active DNA demethylation is central to the control of ripening in tomato.

Advancing universal coverage of healthcare in China: translating political will into policy and practice.

PubMed

Tang, Shenglan; Brixi, Hana; Bekedam, Henk

2014-01-01

China launched its new health system reform plan in 2009 to advance its universal coverage of healthcare, after more than 4 years' consultations and discussions with various stakeholders including the public. This paper aims to introduce and discuss the context and process of China's current health system reform and analyse how political will in China has been translated into policy practice over the past decade. The paper also shares the insights of World Health Organization's contribution to China's health system reform, as the authors advised the Chinese government on the reform options and process. Furthermore, the paper describes and discusses key challenges in the implementation of the reform plan over the past 3 years and draws lessons for other countries. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Microbial community assembly and metabolic function during mammalian corpse decomposition

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Metcalf, J. L.; Xu, Z. Z.; Weiss, S.

2015-12-10

Vertebrate corpse decomposition provides an important stage in nutrient cycling in most terrestrial habitats, yet microbially mediated processes are poorly understood. Here we combine deep microbial community characterization, community-level metabolic reconstruction, and soil biogeochemical assessment to understand the principles governing microbial community assembly during decomposition of mouse and human corpses on different soil substrates. We find a suite of bacterial and fungal groups that contribute to nitrogen cycling and a reproducible network of decomposers that emerge on predictable time scales. Our results show that this decomposer community is derived primarily from bulk soil, but key decomposers are ubiquitous in lowmore » abundance. Soil type was not a dominant factor driving community development, and the process of decomposition is sufficiently reproducible to offer new opportunities for forensic investigations.« less

Enhancing the role of science in the decision-making of the European Union.

PubMed

Allio, Lorenzo; Ballantine, Bruce; Meads, Richard

2006-02-01

Used well, science provides effective ways of identifying potential risks, protecting citizens, and using resources wisely. It enables government decisions to be based on evidence and provides a foundation for a rule-based framework that supports global trade. To ensure that the best available science becomes a key input in the decisions made by EU institutions, this abridged version of a working paper produced for the European Policy Centre, a leading, independent think tank, considers how science is currently used in the policy and decision-making processes of the EU, what the limitations of scientific evidence are, and how a risk assessment process based on scientific 'good practices' can be advantageous. Finally, the paper makes recommendations on how to improve the use of science by EU institutions.

Successful partnerships are the key to improving Aboriginal health.

PubMed

Bailey, Sandra; Hunt, Jennifer

2012-06-01

Partnership is a process that must be recognised as a fundamental part of any strategy for improving health outcomes for Aboriginal people. Addressing the inequities in health outcomes between Aboriginal people and other Australians will require a sustained, coordinated and well-informed approach that works to a set of goals and targets developed with input from the Aboriginal community. Partnerships provide the most effective mechanism for obtaining this essential input from Aboriginal communities and their representative organisations, enabling Aboriginal people to have an influence at all stages of the health-care process. Within the health sector, effective partnerships harness the efforts of governments and the expertise of Aboriginal Community Controlled Health Services, which offer the most effective means of delivering comprehensive primary health care to Aboriginal people.

Quantifying Sources and Sinks of Reactive Gases in the Lower Atmosphere Using Airborne Flux Observations

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Wolfe, G. M.; Hanisco, T. F.; Arkinson, H. L.; Bui, T. P.; Crounse, J. D.; Dean-Day, J.; Goldstein, A.; Guenther, A.; Hall, S. R.; Huey, G.;

Why the MDGs need good governance in pharmaceutical systems to promote global health.

PubMed

Kohler, Jillian Clare; Mackey, Tim Ken; Ovtcharenko, Natalia

2014-01-21

Corruption in the health sector can hurt health outcomes. Improving good governance can in turn help prevent health-related corruption. We understand good governance as having the following characteristics: it is consensus-oriented, accountable, transparent, responsive, equitable and inclusive, effective and efficient, follows the rule of law, is participatory and should in theory be less vulnerable to corruption. By focusing on the pharmaceutical system, we explore some of the key lessons learned from existing initiatives in good governance. As the development community begins to identify post-2015 Millennium Development Goals targets, it is essential to evaluate programs in good governance in order to build on these results and establish sustainable strategies. This discussion on the pharmaceutical system illuminates why. Considering pharmaceutical governance initiatives such as those launched by the World Bank, World Health Organization, and the Global Fund, we argue that country ownership of good governance initiatives is essential but also any initiative must include the participation of impartial stakeholders. Understanding the political context of any initiative is also vital so that potential obstacles are identified and the design of any initiative is flexible enough to make adjustments in programming as needed. Finally, the inherent challenge which all initiatives face is adequately measuring outcomes from any effort. However in fairness, determining the precise relationship between good governance and health outcomes is rarely straightforward. Challenges identified in pharmaceutical governance initiatives manifest in different forms depending on the nature and structure of the initiative, but their regular occurrence and impact on population-based health demonstrates growing importance of addressing pharmaceutical governance as a key component of the post-2015 Millennium Development Goals. Specifically, these challenges need to be acknowledged and responded to with global cooperation and innovation to establish localized and evidence-based metrics for good governance to promote global pharmaceutical safety.

Why the MDGs need good governance in pharmaceutical systems to promote global health

PubMed Central

2014-01-01

Background Corruption in the health sector can hurt health outcomes. Improving good governance can in turn help prevent health-related corruption. We understand good governance as having the following characteristics: it is consensus-oriented, accountable, transparent, responsive, equitable and inclusive, effective and efficient, follows the rule of law, is participatory and should in theory be less vulnerable to corruption. By focusing on the pharmaceutical system, we explore some of the key lessons learned from existing initiatives in good governance. As the development community begins to identify post-2015 Millennium Development Goals targets, it is essential to evaluate programs in good governance in order to build on these results and establish sustainable strategies. This discussion on the pharmaceutical system illuminates why. Discussion Considering pharmaceutical governance initiatives such as those launched by the World Bank, World Health Organization, and the Global Fund, we argue that country ownership of good governance initiatives is essential but also any initiative must include the participation of impartial stakeholders. Understanding the political context of any initiative is also vital so that potential obstacles are identified and the design of any initiative is flexible enough to make adjustments in programming as needed. Finally, the inherent challenge which all initiatives face is adequately measuring outcomes from any effort. However in fairness, determining the precise relationship between good governance and health outcomes is rarely straightforward. Summary Challenges identified in pharmaceutical governance initiatives manifest in different forms depending on the nature and structure of the initiative, but their regular occurrence and impact on population-based health demonstrates growing importance of addressing pharmaceutical governance as a key component of the post-2015 Millennium Development Goals. Specifically, these challenges need to be acknowledged and responded to with global cooperation and innovation to establish localized and evidence-based metrics for good governance to promote global pharmaceutical safety. PMID:24447600

Managing the water crisis: A youth perspective

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Simataa, Faith

2017-04-01

The youth are identified as a key group to include in effective engagement and decision-making for water security and sustainable development. An increase in severe droughts in Namibia has highlighted its destructive impacts and led to a growing concern about the societal exposure of communities. Acknowledging the benefit of access to safe drinking water to humanity, in reality a disproportionate burden of protecting environmental benefits such as clean water is borne by the poor and vulnerable sections of the society. As a result, a key consideration highlighted in the Hyogo and Sendai Frameworks is the inclusion of gender & age perspectives, and vulnerable groups in planning for disaster risk reduction. Therefore, the paper argues that empowering the youth with knowledge and skills capability in disaster risk issues becomes essential for a sustainable management approach, and a potential 'rescue' mechanism from the web of poverty. The paper also illustrates that there is indeed weak adherence to good governance and that the government needs to improve structures for youth coordination to ensure water stewardship. Realizing this gap in knowledge, innovation and education to build a culture of resilience at all levels of society, the paper offers a perspective on the role of youth in the development agenda of Namibia and how they can influence decision-making processes in addressing water insecurity in the country. Keywords: Empowerment, Namibia, Water insecurity, Youth

Evaluating the fate of six common pharmaceuticals using a reactive transport model: insights from a stream tracer test.

PubMed

Riml, Joakim; Wörman, Anders; Kunkel, Uwe; Radke, Michael

2013-08-01

Quantitative information regarding the capacity of rivers to self-purify pharmaceutical residues is limited. To bridge this knowledge gap, we present a methodology for quantifying the governing processes affecting the fate of pharmaceuticals in streaming waters and, especially, to evaluate their relative significance for tracer observations. A tracer test in Säva Brook, Sweden was evaluated using a coupled physical-biogeochemical model framework containing surface water transport together with a representation of transient storage in slow/immobile zones of the stream, which are presumably important for the retention and attenuation of pharmaceuticals. To assess the key processes affecting the environmental fate of the compounds, we linked the uncertainty estimates of the reaction rate coefficients to the relative influence of transformation and sorption that occurred in different stream environments. The hydrological and biogeochemical contributions to the fate of the pharmaceuticals were decoupled, and the results indicate a moderate hydrological retention in the hyporheic zone as well as in the densely vegetated parts of the stream. Biogeochemical reactions in these transient storage zones further affected the fate of the pharmaceuticals, and we found that sorption was the key process for bezafibrate, metoprolol, and naproxen, while primary transformation was the most important process for clofibric acid and ibuprofen. Conversely, diclofenac was not affected by sorption or transformation. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Addressing overuse of health services in health systems: a critical interpretive synthesis.

PubMed

Ellen, Moriah E; Wilson, Michael G; Vélez, Marcela; Shach, Ruth; Lavis, John N; Grimshaw, Jeremy M; Moat, Kaelan A

2018-06-15

Health systems are increasingly focusing on the issue of 'overuse' of health services and how to address it. We developed a framework focused on (1) the rationale and context for health systems prioritising addressing overuse, (2) elements of a comprehensive process and approach to reduce overuse and (3) implementation considerations for addressing overuse. We conducted a critical interpretive synthesis informed by a stakeholder-engagement process. The synthesis identified relevant empirical and non-empirical articles about system-level overuse. Two reviewers independently screened records, assessed for inclusion and conceptually mapped included articles. From these, we selected a purposive sample, created structured summaries of key findings and thematically synthesised the results. Our search identified 3545 references, from which we included 251. Most articles (76%; n = 192) were published within 5 years of conducting the review and addressed processes for addressing overuse (63%; n = 158) or political and health system context (60%; n = 151). Besides negative outcomes at the patient, system and global level, there were various contextual factors to addressing service overuse that seem to be key issue drivers. Processes for addressing overuse can be grouped into three elements comprising a comprehensive approach, including (1) approaches to identify overused health services, (2) stakeholder- or patient-led approaches and (3) government-led initiatives. Key implementation considerations include the need to develop 'buy in' from stakeholders and citizens. Health systems want to ensure the use of high-value services to keep citizens healthy and avoid harm. Our synthesis can be used by policy-makers, stakeholders and researchers to understand how the issue has been prioritised, what approaches have been used to address it and implementation considerations. PROSPERO CRD42014013204 .

School Governance Structures that Foster Friendship in the Elementary School.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Kuhmerker, Lisa

1989-01-01

Uses examples from the Schaefer School in Tappan (New York) to illustrate how an elementary school can develop an educational climate that fosters friendship, the key to student socialization. Discusses the following areas: (1) classroom activities; (2) school-wide democratic governance structures; (3) support staff roles; and (4) time scheduling.…

MCCCD 2016 Monitoring Report: Governing Board Outcomes and Metrics. November 2016

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Maricopa Community Colleges, 2016

2016-01-01

This is the fifth annual Governing Board Monitoring Report that utilizes the Board outcome metrics adopted in 2010 to gauge institutional effectiveness. The Executive Summary focuses primarily on the 11 "Key Metrics." Some general highlights of the report include the following: (1) More students are successfully completing college-level…

New York State Forum for Information Resource Management: 1998-1999 Annual Report.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

New York State Forum for Information Resource Management.

This annual report of the New York State Forum for Information Resource Management begins with a section that summarizes key activities for 1998-99, including partnerships with other organizations, sessions on the use of information in government and information security, programs on the challenges of electronic commerce for government,…

Educational Discipline, Ritual Governing, and Chinese Exemplary Society: Why China's Curriculum Reform Remains a Difficult Task

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Wu, Jinting

2016-01-01

This article explores the exam-oriented, ritualistic, and exemplary Chinese education system through a double-layered historical and ethnographic analysis. Firstly, I examine three aspects of the educational governing complex--exemplarity, ritual, and examination. Historically, education has been a key locus to craft exemplary subjects through…

State Library Agency Service Trends: 1999-2008. Research Brief Number 2

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Henderson, Everett; Manjarrez, Carlos

2010-01-01

State library agencies (StLAs) provide key leadership for library services planning and development in each state. Their structure and governance varies widely across states; StLAs are located in various departments in state government and they report to different authorities. This research brief gives an overview of the revenues, expenditures,…

Language and Literacy on the Ground: Disconnects between Government Policy and Employer Perspectives

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Hunter, Judy

2012-01-01

Education to meet labour market demands and employer needs is a key priority in New Zealand's education policy. Government agendas for language and literacy education align with global discourses that link economic productivity to quality control, standardisation and proceduralisation through close regulation and funding. Yet, the interviews…

Higher Education Governance: A Critical Mapping of Key Themes and Issues

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Sultana, Ronald G.

2012-01-01

Using the lenses and theoretical frameworks provided by social science, this article highlights some of the central debates concerning higher education governance, within a perspective that privileges the relation between the state and the citizen as mediated by the institution of the university. The article begins by interrogating the meaning of…

Localism: The Changing Picture for Adult Learning

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Lamb, Penny

2012-01-01

The rapidly changing picture on localism and the government's focus on local economic growth have significant implications for adult learning and skills providers in England. Government now sees a sense of place as key to economic growth and recognises the need for a renewed debate on how business and state interact with localities. There is a…

Emotional Intelligence: A Key to Improving Federal Chief Information Officer Management

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Borkowski, Tammy M.

2012-01-01

The United States Government relies on information technology to provide services to its citizens, spending more than $600 billion on its products and services in the last decade. Given the current fiscal climate, the Executive Branch of the United States Government has a renewed focus on information technology (IT) innovation, requiring federal…

A Circadian Clock in Antarctic Krill: An Endogenous Timing System Governs Metabolic Output Rhythms in the Euphausid Species Euphausia superba

PubMed Central

Teschke, Mathias; Wendt, Sabrina; Kawaguchi, So; Kramer, Achim; Meyer, Bettina

2011-01-01

Antarctic krill, Euphausia superba, shapes the structure of the Southern Ocean ecosystem. Its central position in the food web, the ongoing environmental changes due to climatic warming, and increasing commercial interest on this species emphasize the urgency of understanding the adaptability of krill to its environment. Krill has evolved rhythmic physiological and behavioral functions which are synchronized with the daily and seasonal cycles of the complex Southern Ocean ecosystem. The mechanisms, however, leading to these rhythms are essentially unknown. Here, we show that krill possesses an endogenous circadian clock that governs metabolic and physiological output rhythms. We found that expression of the canonical clock gene cry2 was highly rhythmic both in a light-dark cycle and in constant darkness. We detected a remarkable short circadian period, which we interpret as a special feature of the krill's circadian clock that helps to entrain the circadian system to the extreme range of photoperiods krill is exposed to throughout the year. Furthermore, we found that important key metabolic enzymes of krill showed bimodal circadian oscillations (∼9–12 h period) in transcript abundance and enzymatic activity. Oxygen consumption of krill showed ∼9–12 h oscillations that correlated with the temporal activity profile of key enzymes of aerobic energy metabolism. Our results demonstrate the first report of an endogenous circadian timing system in Antarctic krill and its likely link to metabolic key processes. Krill's circadian clock may not only be critical for synchronization to the solar day but also for the control of seasonal events. This study provides a powerful basis for the investigation into the mechanisms of temporal synchronization in this marine key species and will also lead to the first comprehensive analyses of the circadian clock of a polar marine organism through the entire photoperiodic cycle. PMID:22022521

A circadian clock in Antarctic krill: an endogenous timing system governs metabolic output rhythms in the euphausid species Euphausia superba.

PubMed

Teschke, Mathias; Wendt, Sabrina; Kawaguchi, So; Kramer, Achim; Meyer, Bettina

2011-01-01

Antarctic krill, Euphausia superba, shapes the structure of the Southern Ocean ecosystem. Its central position in the food web, the ongoing environmental changes due to climatic warming, and increasing commercial interest on this species emphasize the urgency of understanding the adaptability of krill to its environment. Krill has evolved rhythmic physiological and behavioral functions which are synchronized with the daily and seasonal cycles of the complex Southern Ocean ecosystem. The mechanisms, however, leading to these rhythms are essentially unknown. Here, we show that krill possesses an endogenous circadian clock that governs metabolic and physiological output rhythms. We found that expression of the canonical clock gene cry2 was highly rhythmic both in a light-dark cycle and in constant darkness. We detected a remarkable short circadian period, which we interpret as a special feature of the krill's circadian clock that helps to entrain the circadian system to the extreme range of photoperiods krill is exposed to throughout the year. Furthermore, we found that important key metabolic enzymes of krill showed bimodal circadian oscillations (∼9-12 h period) in transcript abundance and enzymatic activity. Oxygen consumption of krill showed ∼9-12 h oscillations that correlated with the temporal activity profile of key enzymes of aerobic energy metabolism. Our results demonstrate the first report of an endogenous circadian timing system in Antarctic krill and its likely link to metabolic key processes. Krill's circadian clock may not only be critical for synchronization to the solar day but also for the control of seasonal events. This study provides a powerful basis for the investigation into the mechanisms of temporal synchronization in this marine key species and will also lead to the first comprehensive analyses of the circadian clock of a polar marine organism through the entire photoperiodic cycle.

Foresight Study on the Risk Governance of New Technologies: The Case of Nanotechnology.

PubMed

Read, Sheona A K; Kass, Gary S; Sutcliffe, Hilary R; Hankin, Steven M

2016-05-01

Technology-led innovation represents an important driver of European economic and industrial competitiveness and offers solutions to societal challenges. In order to facilitate responsible innovation and public acceptance, a need exists to identify and implement oversight approaches focused on the effective risk governance of emerging technologies. This article describes a foresight study on the governance of new technologies, using nanotechnology as a case example. Following a mapping of the governance landscape, four plausible foresight scenarios were developed, capturing critical uncertainties for nanotechnology governance. Key governance elements were then stress tested within these scenarios to see how well they might perform in a range of possible futures and to inform identification of the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats for nanotechnology governance in Europe. Based on the study outcomes, recommendations are proposed regarding the development of governance associated with the responsible development of new technologies. © 2015 Society for Risk Analysis.

Business Models of E-Government: Research on Dynamic E-Government Based on Web Services

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Li, Yan; Yang, Jiumin

Government transcends all sectors in a society. It provides not only the legal, political and economic infrastructure to support other sectors, but also exerts significant influence on the social factors that contribute to their development. With its maturity of technologies and management, e-government will eventually enter into the time of 'one-stop' services. Among others, the technology of Web services is the major contributor to this achievement. Web services provides a new way of standard-based software technology, letting programmers combine existing computer system in new ways over the Internet within one business or across many, and would thereby bring about profound and far-reaching impacts on e-government. This paper introduced the business modes of e-government, architecture of dynamic e-government and its key technologies. Finally future prospect of dynamic e-government was also briefly discussed.

Restrictions on biological adaptation in language evolution.

PubMed

Chater, Nick; Reali, Florencia; Christiansen, Morten H

2009-01-27

Language acquisition and processing are governed by genetic constraints. A crucial unresolved question is how far these genetic constraints have coevolved with language, perhaps resulting in a highly specialized and species-specific language "module," and how much language acquisition and processing redeploy preexisting cognitive machinery. In the present work, we explored the circumstances under which genes encoding language-specific properties could have coevolved with language itself. We present a theoretical model, implemented in computer simulations, of key aspects of the interaction of genes and language. Our results show that genes for language could have coevolved only with highly stable aspects of the linguistic environment; a rapidly changing linguistic environment does not provide a stable target for natural selection. Thus, a biological endowment could not coevolve with properties of language that began as learned cultural conventions, because cultural conventions change much more rapidly than genes. We argue that this rules out the possibility that arbitrary properties of language, including abstract syntactic principles governing phrase structure, case marking, and agreement, have been built into a "language module" by natural selection. The genetic basis of human language acquisition and processing did not coevolve with language, but primarily predates the emergence of language. As suggested by Darwin, the fit between language and its underlying mechanisms arose because language has evolved to fit the human brain, rather than the reverse.

The Integration of Climate Science and Collaborative Processes in Building Regional Climate Resiliency in Southeast Florida

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Jurado, J.

2016-12-01

Southeast Florida is widely recognized as one of the most vulnerable regions in the United States to the impacts of climate change, especially sea level rise. Dense urban populations, low land elevations, flat topography, complex shorelines and a porous geology all contribute to the region's challenges. Regional and local governments have been working collaboratively to address shared climate mitigation and adaptation concerns as part of the four-county Southeast Florida Regional Climate Change Compact (Compact). This partnership has emphasized, in part, the use of climate data and the development of advanced technical tools and visualizations to help inform decision-making, improve communications, and guide investments. Prominent work products have included regional vulnerability maps and assessments, a unified sea level rise projection for southeast Florida, the development and application of hydrologic models in scenario planning, interdisciplinary resilient redesign planning workshops, and the development of regional climate indicators. Key to the Compact's efforts has been the engagement and expertise of academic and agency partners, including a formal collaboration between the Florida Climate Institute and the Compact to improve research and project collaborations focused on southeast Florida. This presentation will focus on the collaborative processes and work products that have served to accelerate resiliency planning and investments in southeast Florida, with specific examples of how local governments are using these work products to modernize agency processes, and build support among residents and business leaders.

Senior Managers’ Viewpoints Toward Challenges of Implementing Clinical Governance: A National Study in Iran

PubMed Central

Ravaghi, Hamid; Heidarpour, Peigham; Mohseni, Maryam; Rafiei, Sima

2013-01-01

Background: Quality improvement should be assigned as the main mission for healthcare providers. Clinical Governance (CG) is used not only as a strategy focusing on responding to public and government’s intolerance of poor healthcare standards, but also it is implemented for quality improvement in a number of countries. This study aims to identify the key contributing factors in the implementation process of CG from the viewpoints of senior managers in curative deputies of Medical Universities in Iran. Methods: A quantitative method was applied via a questionnaire distributed to 43 senior managers in curative deputies of Iran Universities of Medical Sciences. Data were analyzed using SPSS. Results: Analysis revealed that a number of items were important in the successful implementation of CG from the senior managers’ viewpoints. These items included: knowledge and attitude toward CG, supportive culture, effective communication, teamwork, organizational commitment, and the support given by top managers. Medical staff engagement in CG implementation process, presence of an official position for CG officers, adequate resources, and legal challenges were also regarded as important factors in the implementation process. Conclusion: Knowledge about CG, organizational culture, managerial support, ability to communicate goals and strategies, and the presence of effective structures to support CG, were all related to senior managers’ attitude toward CG and ultimately affected the success of quality improvement activities. PMID:24596887

FDA-Required Tobacco Product Inserts & Onserts–and the First Amendment.

PubMed

Lindblom, Eric N; Berman, Micah L; Thrasher, James F

In 2012, a federal court of appeals struck down an FDA rule requiring graphic health warnings on cigarettes as violating First Amendment commercial speech protections. Tobacco product inserts and onserts can more readily avoid First Amendment constraints while delivering more extensive information to tobacco users, and can work effectively to support and encourage smoking cessation. This paper examines FDA’s authority to require effective inserts and onserts and shows how FDA could design and support them to avoid First Amendment problems. Through this process, the paper offers helpful insights regarding how key Tobacco Control Act provisions can and should be interpreted and applied to follow and promote the statute’s purposes and objectives. The paper’s rigorous analysis of existing First Amendment case law relating to compelled commercial speech also provides useful guidance for any government efforts either to compel product disclosures or to require government messaging in or on commercial products or their advertising, whether done for remedial, purely informational, or behavior modification purposes.

Integrating sodium reduction strategies in the procurement process and contracting of food venues in the County of Los Angeles government, 2010-2012.

PubMed

Cummings, Patricia L; Kuo, Tony; Gase, Lauren N; Mugavero, Kristy

2014-01-01

Since sodium is ubiquitous in the food supply, recent approaches to sodium reduction have focused on increasing the availability of lower-sodium products through system-level and environmental changes. This article reviews integrated efforts by the Los Angeles County Sodium Reduction Initiative to implement these strategies at food venues in the County of Los Angeles government. The review used mixed methods, including a scan of the literature, key informant interviews, and lessons learned during 2010-2012 to assess program progress. Leveraging technical expertise and shared resources, the initiative strategically incorporated sodium reduction strategies into the overall work plan of a multipartnership food procurement program in Los Angeles County. To date, 3 County departments have incorporated new or updated nutrition requirements that included sodium limits and other strategies. The strategic coupling of sodium reduction to food procurement and general health promotion allowed for simultaneous advancement and acceleration of the County's sodium reduction agenda.

Integrating Sodium Reduction Strategies in the Procurement Process and Contracting of Food Venues in the County of Los Angeles Government, 2010–2012

PubMed Central

Cummings, Patricia L.; Kuo, Tony; Gase, Lauren N.; Mugavero, Kristy

2015-01-01

Since sodium is ubiquitous in the food supply, recent approaches to sodium reduction have focused on increasing the availability of lower-sodium products through system-level and environmental changes. This article reviews integrated efforts by the Los Angeles County Sodium Reduction Initiative to implement these strategies at food venues in the County of Los Angeles government. The review used mixed methods, including a scan of the literature, key informant interviews, and lessons learned during 2010–2012 to assess program progress. Leveraging technical expertise and shared resources, the initiative strategically incorporated sodium reduction strategies into the overall work plan of a multipartnership food procurement program in Los Angeles County. To date, 3 County departments have incorporated new or updated nutrition requirements that included sodium limits and other strategies. The strategic coupling of sodium reduction to food procurement and general health promotion allowed for simultaneous advancement and acceleration of the County’s sodium reduction agenda. PMID:24322811

Achieving continuous manufacturing for final dosage formation: challenges and how to meet them. May 20-21, 2014 Continuous Manufacturing Symposium.

PubMed

Byrn, Stephen; Futran, Maricio; Thomas, Hayden; Jayjock, Eric; Maron, Nicola; Meyer, Robert F; Myerson, Allan S; Thien, Michael P; Trout, Bernhardt L

2015-03-01

We describe the key issues and possibilities for continuous final dosage formation, otherwise known as downstream processing or drug product manufacturing. A distinction is made between heterogeneous processing and homogeneous processing, the latter of which is expected to add more value to continuous manufacturing. We also give the key motivations for moving to continuous manufacturing, some of the exciting new technologies, and the barriers to implementation of continuous manufacturing. Continuous processing of heterogeneous blends is the natural first step in converting existing batch processes to continuous. In heterogeneous processing, there are discrete particles that can segregate, versus in homogeneous processing, components are blended and homogenized such that they do not segregate. Heterogeneous processing can incorporate technologies that are closer to existing technologies, where homogeneous processing necessitates the development and incorporation of new technologies. Homogeneous processing has the greatest potential for reaping the full rewards of continuous manufacturing, but it takes long-term vision and a more significant change in process development than heterogeneous processing. Heterogeneous processing has the detriment that, as the technologies are adopted rather than developed, there is a strong tendency to incorporate correction steps, what we call below "The Rube Goldberg Problem." Thus, although heterogeneous processing will likely play a major role in the near-term transformation of heterogeneous to continuous processing, it is expected that homogeneous processing is the next step that will follow. Specific action items for industry leaders are: Form precompetitive partnerships, including industry (pharmaceutical companies and equipment manufacturers), government, and universities. These precompetitive partnerships would develop case studies of continuous manufacturing and ideally perform joint-technology development, including development of small-scale equipment and processes. Develop ways to invest internally in continuous manufacturing. How best to do this will depend on the specifics of a given organization, in particular the current development projects. Upper managers will need to energize their process developers to incorporate continuous manufacturing in at least part of their processes to gain experience and demonstrate directly the benefits. Training of continuous manufacturing technologies, organizational approaches, and regulatory approaches is a key area that industrial leaders should pursue together. © 2014 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. and the American Pharmacists Association.

Relations between rainfall–runoff-induced erosion and aeolian deposition at archaeological sites in a semi-arid dam-controlled river corridor

USGS Publications Warehouse

Collins, Brian D.; Bedford, David; Corbett, Skye C.; Fairley, Helen C.; Cronkite-Ratcliff, Collin

2016-01-01

Process dynamics in fluvial-based dryland environments are highly complex with fluvial, aeolian, and alluvial processes all contributing to landscape change. When anthropogenic activities such as dam-building affect fluvial processes, the complexity in local response can be further increased by flood- and sediment-limiting flows. Understanding these complexities is key to predicting landscape behavior in drylands and has important scientific and management implications, including for studies related to paleoclimatology, landscape ecology evolution, and archaeological site context and preservation. Here we use multi-temporal LiDAR surveys, local weather data, and geomorphological observations to identify trends in site change throughout the 446-km-long semi-arid Colorado River corridor in Grand Canyon, Arizona, USA, where archaeological site degradation related to the effects of upstream dam operation is a concern. Using several site case studies, we show the range of landscape responses that might be expected from concomitant occurrence of dam-controlled fluvial sand bar deposition, aeolian sand transport, and rainfall-induced erosion. Empirical rainfall-erosion threshold analyses coupled with a numerical rainfall–runoff–soil erosion model indicate that infiltration-excess overland flow and gullying govern large-scale (centimeter- to decimeter-scale) landscape changes, but that aeolian deposition can in some cases mitigate gully erosion. Whereas threshold analyses identify the normalized rainfall intensity (defined as the ratio of rainfall intensity to hydraulic conductivity) as the primary factor governing hydrologic-driven erosion, assessment of false positives and false negatives in the dataset highlight topographic slope as the next most important parameter governing site response. Analysis of 4+ years of high resolution (four-minute) weather data and 75+ years of low resolution (daily) climate records indicates that dryland erosion is dependent on short-term, storm-driven rainfall intensity rather than cumulative rainfall, and that erosion can occur outside of wet seasons and even wet years. These results can apply to other similar semi-arid landscapes where process complexity may not be fully understood.

Scientific Overview of Temporal Experiment for Storms and Tropical Systems (TEMPEST) Program

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Chandra, C. V.; Reising, S. C.; Kummerow, C. D.; van den Heever, S. C.; Todd, G.; Padmanabhan, S.; Brown, S. T.; Lim, B.; Haddad, Z. S.; Koch, T.; Berg, G.; L'Ecuyer, T.; Munchak, S. J.; Luo, Z. J.; Boukabara, S. A.; Ruf, C. S.

2014-12-01

Over the past decade and a half, we have gained a better understanding of the role of clouds and precipitation on Earth's water cycle, energy budget and climate, from focused Earth science observational satellite missions. However, these missions provide only a snapshot at one point in time of the cloud's development. Processes that govern cloud system development occur primarily on time scales of the order of 5-30 minutes that are generally not observable from low Earth orbiting satellites. Geostationary satellites, in contrast, have higher temporal resolution but at present are limited to visible and infrared wavelengths that observe only the tops of clouds. This observing gap was noted by the National Research Council's Earth Science Decadal Survey in 2007. Uncertainties in global climate models are significantly affected by processes that govern the formation and dissipation of clouds that largely control the global water and energy budgets. Current uncertainties in cloud parameterization within climate models lead to drastically different climate outcomes. With all evidence suggesting that the precipitation onset may be governed by factors such atmospheric stability, it becomes critical to have at least first-order observations globally in diverse climate regimes. Similar arguments are valid for ice processes where more efficient ice formation and precipitation have a tendency to leave fewer ice clouds behind that have different but equally important impacts on the Earth's energy budget and resulting temperature trends. TEMPEST is a unique program that will provide a small constellation of inexpensive CubeSats with millimeter-wave radiometers to address key science needs related to cloud and precipitation processes. Because these processes are most critical in the development of climate models that will soon run at scales that explicitly resolve clouds, the TEMPEST program will directly focus on examining, validating and improving the parameterizations currently used in cloud scale models. The time evolution of cloud and precipitation microphysics is dependent upon parameterized process rates. The outcome of TEMPEST will provide a first-order understanding of how individual assumptions in current cloud model parameterizations behave in diverse climate regimes.

Applying IT Governance Concepts and Elements to Knowledge Governance: An Initial Approach

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Rouyet, Juan Ignacio; Joyanes, Luis

As the era of knowledge-based economy is emerging, the importance of knowledge governance is gradually increasing. The question of how the governance mechanisms influence on the knowledge transactions is becoming increasingly relevant. However, the theoretical approaches have yet to solve outstanding issues, such as how the the micro-level governance mechanisms influence the knowledge processes or what kind of organizational hazard could decrease the benefits form the knowledge processes. Furthermore, the deployment of empirical studies to address the issues mentioned is arguably needed. This paper proposes a knowledge governance framework to assist effectively in the implementation of governance mechanisms for knowledge management processes. Additionally, it shows how this may be implented in a knowledge-intensive firm and proposes specific structures and governance mechanisms.

What works in implementation of integrated care programs for older adults with complex needs? A realist review

PubMed Central

Kirst, Maritt; Im, Jennifer; Burns, Tim; Baker, G. Ross; Goldhar, Jodeme; O'Campo, Patricia; Wojtak, Anne; Wodchis, Walter P

2017-01-01

Abstract Purpose A realist review of the evaluative evidence was conducted on integrated care (IC) programs for older adults to identify key processes that lead to the success or failure of these programs in achieving outcomes such as reduced healthcare utilization, improved patient health, and improved patient and caregiver experience. Data sources International academic literature was searched in 12 indexed, electronic databases and gray literature through internet searches, to identify evaluative studies. Study selection Inclusion criteria included evaluative literature on integrated, long-stay health and social care programs, published between January 1980 and July 2015, in English. Data extraction Data were extracted on the study purpose, period, setting, design, population, sample size, outcomes, and study results, as well as explanations of mechanisms and contextual factors influencing outcomes. Results of data synthesis A total of 65 articles, representing 28 IC programs, were included in the review. Two context-mechanism-outcome configurations (CMOcs) were identified: (i) trusting multidisciplinary team relationships and (ii) provider commitment to and understanding of the model. Contextual factors such as strong leadership that sets clear goals and establishes an organizational culture in support of the program, along with joint governance structures, supported team collaboration and subsequent successful implementation. Furthermore, time to build an infrastructure to implement and flexibility in implementation, emerged as key processes instrumental to success of these programs. Conclusions This review included a wide range of international evidence, and identified key processes for successful implementation of IC programs that should be considered by program planners, leaders and evaluators. PMID:28992156

Initial posting-a critical stage in the employment cycle: lessons from the experience of government doctors in Gujarat, India.

PubMed

Purohit, Bhaskar; Martineau, Tim

2016-07-11

With the critical shortage of government doctors serving in rural health centers in India, understanding the initial posting policies, processes, and practices become important from a retention point of view. The initial posting is a very critical stage of an employment cycle and could play an important role in influencing the key human resource for health outcomes such as turnover and performance. The current study aimed at exploring a rather unknown phenomenon of the initial posting-related processes, practices, and perceptions of Medical Officers working with the Public Health Department in Gujarat, India. This was an exploratory study carried out in the state of Gujarat, India, that used qualitative methods first to document the extant initial posting policy with the help of document review and five Key Informant interviews; next, 19 in-depth interviews were carried out with Medical Officers to assess implementation of policies as well as processes and systems related to the initial posting of Medical Officers. A thematic framework approach was used to analyze qualitative data using NVIVO. The results indicate that there is no formal published or written initial posting policy in the state, and in the absence of a written and formal policy, the overall posting systems were perceived to be arbitrary by the study respondents. In the absence of any policy, the state has some unwritten informal practices such as posting the Medical Officers at their native places. Although this practice reflects a concern towards the Medical Officer's needs, such practices are not consistently applied indicating some inequity and possible implications over Medical Officers' retention and motivation. Initial posting is a critical aspect of an employment cycle, and the perceptions and experiences of MOs regarding the processes and practices involved in their initial posting can be crucial in influencing their performance and turnover rates. If long-term solutions are to be sought in addressing the availability and distribution of Medical Officers in the state, then there is a need to have clearly laid down initial posting-related policies that reflect the equity and consideration towards Medical Officers in placement-related matters.

Nuclear Astrophysics at DANCE

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Reifarth, R.; Bredeweg, T.A.; Esch, E.-I.

2005-05-24

One of the most interesting nuclear physics challenges is obtaining a detailed understanding of the nucleosynthesis processes of the elements. Knowledge about the stellar sites, and how they are governed by stellar evolution and cosmology are crucial in understanding the overall picture. Information on reaction rates for neutron- and charged-particle-induced reactions have a direct impact on existing stellar models. Except for the stable isotopes, very few neutron-induced reactions in the energy range of interest have been measured to date. DANCE measurements on stable and unstable isotopes will provide many of the missing key reactions that are needed to understand themore » nucleosynthesis of the heavy elements.« less

Advanced medical imaging protocol workflow-a flexible electronic solution to optimize process efficiency, care quality and patient safety in the National VA Enterprise.

PubMed

Medverd, Jonathan R; Cross, Nathan M; Font, Frank; Casertano, Andrew

2013-08-01

Radiologists routinely make decisions with only limited information when assigning protocol instructions for the performance of advanced medical imaging examinations. Opportunity exists to simultaneously improve the safety, quality and efficiency of this workflow through the application of an electronic solution leveraging health system resources to provide concise, tailored information and decision support in real-time. Such a system has been developed using an open source, open standards design for use within the Veterans Health Administration. The Radiology Protocol Tool Recorder (RAPTOR) project identified key process attributes as well as inherent weaknesses of paper processes and electronic emulators of paper processes to guide the development of its optimized electronic solution. The design provides a kernel that can be expanded to create an integrated radiology environment. RAPTOR has implications relevant to the greater health care community, and serves as a case model for modernization of legacy government health information systems.

New Model of Information Technology Governance in the Government of Gorontalo City using Framework COBIT 4.1

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bouty, A. A.; Koniyo, M. H.; Novian, D.

2018-02-01

This study aims to determine the level of maturity of information technology governance in Gorontalo city government by applying the COBIT framework 4.1. The research method is the case study method, by conducting surveys and data collection at 25 institution in Gorontalo City. The results of this study is the analysis of information technology needs based on the measurement of maturity level. The results of the measurement of the maturity level of information technology governance shows that there are still many business processes running at lower level, from 9 existing business processes there are 4 processes at level 2 (repetitive but intuitive) and 3 processes at level 1 (Initial/Ad hoc). With these results, is expected that the government of Gorontalo city immediately make improvements to the governance of information technology so that it can run more effectively and efficiently.

Public Health Adaptation to Climate Change in OECD Countries

PubMed Central

Austin, Stephanie E.; Biesbroek, Robbert; Berrang-Ford, Lea; Ford, James D.; Parker, Stephen; Fleury, Manon D.

2016-01-01

Climate change is a major challenge facing public health. National governments play a key role in public health adaptation to climate change, but there are competing views on what responsibilities and obligations this will—or should—include in different nations. This study aims to: (1) examine how national-level public health adaptation is occurring in Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) countries; (2) examine the roles national governments are taking in public health adaptation; and (3) critically appraise three key governance dimensions of national-level health adaptation—cross-sectoral collaboration, vertical coordination and national health adaptation planning—and identify practical examples suited to different contexts. We systematically reviewed publicly available public health adaptation to climate change documents and webpages by national governments in ten OECD countries using systematic web searches, assessment of self-reporting, and content analysis. Our findings suggest national governments are primarily addressing infectious disease and heat-related risks posed by climate change, typically emphasizing capacity building or information-based groundwork initiatives. We find national governments are taking a variety of approaches to public health adaptation to climate change that do not follow expected convergence and divergence by governance structure. We discuss practical options for incorporating cross-sectoral collaboration, vertical coordination and national health adaptation planning into a variety of contexts and identify leaders national governments can look to to inform their public health adaptation planning. Following the adoption of the Paris Agreement and subsequent increased momentum for adaptation, research tracking adaptation is needed to define what health adaptation looks like in practice, reveal insights that can be taken up across states and sectors, and ensure policy orientated learning. PMID:27618074

Good governance and corruption in the health sector: lessons from the Karnataka experience.

PubMed

Huss, R; Green, A; Sudarshan, H; Karpagam, Ss; Ramani, Kv; Tomson, G; Gerein, N

2011-11-01

Strengthening good governance and preventing corruption in health care are universal challenges. The Karnataka Lokayukta (KLA), a public complaints agency in Karnataka state (India), was created in 1986 but played a prominent role controlling systemic corruption only after a change of leadership in 2001 with a new Lokayukta (ombudsman) and Vigilance Director for Health (VDH). This case study of the KLA (2001-06) analysed the:Scope and level of poor governance in the health sector; KLA objectives and its strategy; Factors which affected public health sector governance and the operation of the KLA. We used a participatory and opportunistic evaluation design, examined documents about KLA activities, conducted three site visits, two key informant and 44 semi-structured interviews and used a force field model to analyse the governance findings. The Lokayukta and his VDH were both proactive and economically independent with an extended social network, technical expertise in both jurisdiction and health care, and were widely perceived to be acting for the common good. They mobilized media and the public about governance issues which were affected by factors at the individual, organizational and societal levels. Their investigations revealed systemic corruption within the public health sector at all levels as well as in public/private collaborations and the political and justice systems. However, wider contextual issues limited their effectiveness in intervening. The departure of the Lokayukta, upon completing his term, was due to a lack of continued political support for controlling corruption. Governance in the health sector is affected by positive and negative forces. A key positive factor was the combined social, cultural and symbolic capital of the two leaders which empowered them to challenge corrupt behaviour and promote good governance. Although change was possible, it was precarious and requires continuous political support to be sustained.

Public Health Adaptation to Climate Change in OECD Countries.

PubMed

Austin, Stephanie E; Biesbroek, Robbert; Berrang-Ford, Lea; Ford, James D; Parker, Stephen; Fleury, Manon D

2016-09-07

Climate change is a major challenge facing public health. National governments play a key role in public health adaptation to climate change, but there are competing views on what responsibilities and obligations this will-or should-include in different nations. This study aims to: (1) examine how national-level public health adaptation is occurring in Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) countries; (2) examine the roles national governments are taking in public health adaptation; and (3) critically appraise three key governance dimensions of national-level health adaptation-cross-sectoral collaboration, vertical coordination and national health adaptation planning-and identify practical examples suited to different contexts. We systematically reviewed publicly available public health adaptation to climate change documents and webpages by national governments in ten OECD countries using systematic web searches, assessment of self-reporting, and content analysis. Our findings suggest national governments are primarily addressing infectious disease and heat-related risks posed by climate change, typically emphasizing capacity building or information-based groundwork initiatives. We find national governments are taking a variety of approaches to public health adaptation to climate change that do not follow expected convergence and divergence by governance structure. We discuss practical options for incorporating cross-sectoral collaboration, vertical coordination and national health adaptation planning into a variety of contexts and identify leaders national governments can look to to inform their public health adaptation planning. Following the adoption of the Paris Agreement and subsequent increased momentum for adaptation, research tracking adaptation is needed to define what health adaptation looks like in practice, reveal insights that can be taken up across states and sectors, and ensure policy orientated learning.

Recentralization within decentralization: County hospital autonomy under devolution in Kenya

PubMed Central

Manyara, Anthony M.; Molyneux, Sassy; Tsofa, Benjamin

2017-01-01

Background In 2013, Kenya transitioned into a devolved system of government with a central government and 47 semi-autonomous county governments. In this paper, we report early experiences of devolution in the Kenyan health sector, with a focus on public county hospitals. Specifically, we examine changes in hospital autonomy as a result of devolution, and how these have affected hospital functioning. Methods We used a qualitative case study approach to examine the level of autonomy that hospitals had over key management functions and how this had affected hospital functioning in three county hospitals in coastal Kenya. We collected data by in-depth interviews of county health managers and hospital managers in the case study hospitals (n = 21). We adopted the framework proposed by Chawla et al (1995) to examine the autonomy that hospitals had over five management domains (strategic management, finance, procurement, human resource, and administration), and how these influenced hospital functioning. Findings Devolution had resulted in a substantial reduction in the autonomy of county hospitals over the five key functions examined. This resulted in weakened hospital management and leadership, reduced community participation in hospital affairs, compromised quality of services, reduced motivation among hospital staff, non-alignment of county and hospital priorities, staff insubordination, and compromised quality of care. Conclusion Increasing the autonomy of county hospitals in Kenya will improve their functioning. County governments should develop legislation that give hospitals greater control over resources and key management functions. PMID:28771558

Shared Governance and Regional Accreditation: Institutional Processes and Perceptions

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

McGrane, Wendy L.

2013-01-01

This qualitative single-case research study was conducted to gain deeper understanding of the institutional processes to address shared governance accreditation criteria and to determine whether institutional processes altered stakeholder perceptions of shared governance. The data collection strategies were archival records and personal…

Redefining the business process of Department of Food Security and Agriculture in Government of Surabaya City

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Cahyono, H.; Wessiani, N. A.

2018-04-01

Government of Indonesia has been launched the bureaucratic reform program since 2010. One of the action is conducted restructuring organization in all city governments. Department of Food Security and Agriculture in Government of Surabaya City is the result of merger from two Department, namely Bureau of Food Security and Department of Agriculture. This merger makes Department of Food Security and Agriculture to redefine their business process. The new business process is needed to be defined in order to align the new structure with the long term strategic planning of Surabaya City Government. This research aims to redefine the business process of Department of Food Security and Agriculture in Government of Surabaya City. The CIMOSA model is adopted for identifying the activities in the business process. The new business process is important for the department to allocate their resource, mainly the human resource and as the main input for the department to build their standard operating procedure.

Simulating carbon capture by enhanced weathering with croplands: an overview of key processes highlighting areas of future model development

PubMed Central

Quegan, Shaun; Banwart, Steven A.

2017-01-01

Enhanced weathering (EW) aims to amplify a natural sink for CO2 by incorporating powdered silicate rock with high reactive surface area into agricultural soils. The goal is to achieve rapid dissolution of minerals and release of alkalinity with accompanying dissolution of CO2 into soils and drainage waters. EW could counteract phosphorus limitation and greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions in tropical soils, and soil acidification, a common agricultural problem studied with numerical process models over several decades. Here, we review the processes leading to soil acidification in croplands and how the soil weathering CO2 sink is represented in models. Mathematical models capturing the dominant processes and human interventions governing cropland soil chemistry and GHG emissions neglect weathering, while most weathering models neglect agricultural processes. We discuss current approaches to modelling EW and highlight several classes of model having the potential to simulate EW in croplands. Finally, we argue for further integration of process knowledge in mathematical models to capture feedbacks affecting both longer-term CO2 consumption and crop growth and yields. PMID:28381633

Internationalization, Deregulation and the Expansion of Higher Education in Korea: An Historical Overview

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Green, Christopher

2015-01-01

The purpose of this article is to provide an overview of internationalization policies in Korean higher education since 1993. Deregulation was a key strategy of Korean governments, but this strategy has led to an increasing oversupply of enrolment capacity. In response, the current government is implementing a system of reregulation to reduce the…

First Nations, Metis and Inuit Education Policy Framework. A Progress Report

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Alberta Education, 2004

2004-01-01

The Government of Alberta is committed to enhancing the well-being and educational opportunities of Aboriginal peoples in the province. As part of Ministry commitment to the Government of Alberta's Aboriginal Policy Initiative (API), a key priority is to improve First Nations, Inuit and Metis learner success. In the spring of 1999, a review of the…

Student Engagement: Stakeholder Perspectives on Course Representation in University Governance

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Carey, Philip

2013-01-01

Student engagement has become a key feature of UK higher education policy and analysis. At the core of this is a notion of engagement characterised by dialogue and joint venture. The article explores this by considering the role of student representation in university governance. It focuses on the system of course representation that is a feature…

Integrating Corporate Governance Concepts in the Classroom with the Risk Assessment Project

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Elson, Raymond J.; O'Callaghan, Susanne; Walker, John P.

2015-01-01

The recession of 2008 and the demise of established financial firms served as a reminder that effective corporate governance is important to ensure that businesses remain as going concern. One key area is the implementation of effective enterprise-wide risk management practices. The resulting regulatory oversight enacted through the Dodd Frank Act…

Governance Issues in South East Asian Higher Education: Finance, Devolution and Transparency in the Global Era

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Welch, Anthony

2007-01-01

Using Castells' four principal functions of universities, this article examines several key dilemmas relating to governance of higher education in SE Asia, (specifically Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, Thailand and Vietnam). While all five nations value universities highly, and aspire to widen access to higher education, none can provide public…

Dancing with Global Trends: Higher Education Policy and University Governance in Hong Kong, 1997-2012

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Lo, William Yat Wai; Tang, Hei-Hang Hayes

2017-01-01

This article examines the significance of global trends in higher education (HE) development in Hong Kong between 1997 and 2012. Two trends, massification and internationalisation, are considered key driving forces that shaped Hong Kong's HE policy during the period. The former refers to government measures to widen participation in HE. The latter…

The Elements of Effective Board Governance

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Doyle, Jim

2009-01-01

The purpose of this book is to act as a guide to good governance by exploring its various aspects and the key elements of success. It is intended to be used by anybody who is a member of a board, particularly in the nonprofit sector. This book is intended to help board members maximize their effectiveness both individually and collectively.…

78 FR 19713 - Possible Role of Independent Third Parties in Industry-Sponsored Tobacco Product Research...

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2013-04-02

... tobacco product research could be subject to third-party governance? For example, could it be applied to... governance? For example, should both the design and conduct of research studies be subject to third-party... more key functions, including the design and conduct of research, the oversight of specific studies...

"Soft Power", Educational Governance and Political Consensus in Brazil

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Rambla, Xavier

2012-01-01

This article analyses the "soft power" that the Federal Government of Brazil has gained by designing and implementing a very ambitious Plan for the Development of Education. It draws on fieldwork carried out in the country in 2009 and 2010 in order to conduct a discourse analysis of the strategy deployed by the key political agents. The…

The Citizen Bee Guide to American Studies [with] Student Answer Key. Third Edition.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Close Up Foundation, Arlington, VA.

Designed for students, this survey of American history, culture, government, economics, and geography tests their knowledge in these areas through a variety of questions. The questions are organized into 12 subtopics divided among 4 major categories: 5 topics under History, 5 under Government, 1 under Economics, and 1 under Geography. The topic…

Outcomes Approaches to Assessment: Comparing Non-Government and Government Case-Study Schools in Western Australia

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Griffiths, Joanne; Vidovich, Lesley; Chapman, Anne

2008-01-01

A key feature of recent curriculum reform in post-industrialised liberal economies has been the ascendancy of outcomes-based education policies. A 1995 review conducted in Western Australia (WA) recommended an outcomes-based approach, and in response, the Curriculum Framework (CF) was released in 1998. The same year, the WA State government…

"Modern" Governance and Codes of Conduct in Dutch Higher Education

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

de Boer, Harry; Goedegebuure, Leo

2007-01-01

As one of the first countries in Europe to do so, The Netherlands moved towards a new relationship between the state and the higher education institutions in the mid-1980s. Autonomy, quality and accountability were key considerations in this move. In 2006 the Dutch government proposed another radical innovation in its approach to higher education…

Invisible Ink in Collective Bargaining: Why Key Issues Are Not Addressed

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Cohen, Emily; Walsh, Kate; Biddle, RiShawn

2008-01-01

In this report, the National Council on Teacher Quality (NCTQ) takes a close look at the governance of the teaching profession and finds that state legislators and other state-level policymakers crafting state laws and regulation, not those bargaining at the local level, decide some of the most important rules governing the teaching profession.…

Key Resources on Higher Education Governance, Management, and Leadership. A Guide to the Literature.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Peterson, Marvin W., Ed.; Mets, Lisa A., Ed.

Designed as a reference for both practitioners and scholars, this book describes the general development of governance, management, and leadership in higher education, and also outlines the evolution of particular issues, concepts, and literature within each of these three areas. Each bibliographic entry is numbered to provide cross-references to…

A Holistic Approach towards Information and Communication Technology (ICT) for Addressing Education Challenges in Asia and the Pacific

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Ra, Sungsup; Chin, Brian; Lim, Cher Ping

2016-01-01

Information and Communication Technology (ICT) offers opportunities for governments to address key education challenges of quality, equity, and efficiency. While governments and educational institutions in developed countries may have taken up these opportunities, many developing countries in Asia and the Pacific region have often missed them out.…

Governing Independent Colleges and Universities. A Handbook for Trustees, Chief Executives, and Other Campus Leaders.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Ingram, Richard T., Ed.; And Others

This volume offers a comprehensive look at independent college and university leadership, particularly trusteeship, in 20 papers by various authors. Part 1 contains papers on the context in which trustees must function: a blend of financial, demographic, social, legal, and planning issues. Part 2 covers key responsibilities of governing boards.…

Controlling satellite communication system unwanted emissions in congested RF spectrum

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Olsen, Donald; Heymann, Roger

2007-09-01

The International Telecommunication Union (ITU), a United Nations (UN) agency, is the agency that, under an international treaty, sets radio spectrum usage regulations among member nations. Within the United States of America (USA), the organization that sets regulations, coordinates an application for use, and provides authorization for federal government/agency use of the radio frequency (RF) spectrum is the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA). In this regard, the NTIA defines which RF spectrum is available for federal government use in the USA, and how it is to be used. The NTIA is a component of the United States (U.S.) Department of Commerce of the federal government. The significance of ITU regulations is that ITU approval is required for U.S. federal government/agency permission to use the RF spectrum outside of U.S. boundaries. All member nations have signed a treaty to do so. U.S. federal regulations for federal use of the RF spectrum are found in the Manual of Regulations and Procedures for Federal Radio Frequency Management, and extracts of the manual are found in what is known as the Table of Frequency Allocations. Nonfederal government and private sector use of the RF spectrum within the U.S. is regulated by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC). There is a need to control "unwanted emissions" (defined to include out-of-band emissions, which are those immediately adjacent to the necessary and allocated bandwidth, plus spurious emissions) to preclude interference to all other authorized users. This paper discusses the causes, effects, and mitigation of unwanted RF emissions to systems in adjacent spectra. Digital modulations are widely used in today's satellite communications. Commercial communications sector standards are covered for the most part worldwide by Digital Video Broadcast - Satellite (DVB-S) and digital satellite news gathering (DSNG) evolutions and the second generation of DVB-S (DVB-S2) standard, developed by the European Telecommunications Standards Institute (ETSI). In the USA, the Advanced Television Systems Committee (ATSC) has adopted Europe's DVB-S and DVB-S2 standards for satellite digital transmission. With today's digital modulations, RF spectral side lobes can extend out many times the modulating frequency on either side of the carrier at excessive power levels unless filtered. Higher-order digital modulations include quadrature phase shift keying (QPSK), 8 PSK (8-ary phase shift keying), 16 APSK (also called 12-4 APSK (amplitude phase shift keying)), and 16 QAM (quadrature amplitude modulation); they are key for higher spectrum efficiency to enable higher data rate transmissions in limited available bandwidths. Nonlinear high-power amplifiers (HPAs) can regenerate frequency spectral side lobes on input-filtered digital modulations. The paper discusses technologies and techniques for controlling these spectral side lobes, such as the use of square root raised cosine (SRRC) filtering before or during the modulation process, HPA output power back-off (OPBO), and RF filters after the HPA. Spectral mask specifications are a common method of the NTIA and ITU to define spectral occupancy power limits. They are intended to reduce interference among RF spectrum users by limiting excessive radiation at frequencies beyond the regulatory allocated bandwidth.The focus here is on the communication systems of U.S. government satellites used for space research, space operations, Earth exploration satellite services (EESS), meteorological satellite services (METSATS), and other government services. The 8025 to 8400 megahertz (MHz) X band can be used to illustrate the "unwanted emissions" issue. 8025 to 8400 MHz abuts the 8400 to 8450 MHz band allocated by the NTIA and ITU to space research for space-to-Earth transmissions such as receiving very weak Deep Space Network signals. The views and ideas expressed in this paper are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect those of The Aerospace Corporation or The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and its National Environmental Satellite Service (NESDIS).

Factors affecting the dissipation of pharmaceuticals in freshwater sediments.

PubMed

Al-Khazrajy, Omar S A; Bergström, Ed; Boxall, Alistair B A

2018-03-01

Degradation is one of the key processes governing the impact of pharmaceuticals in the aquatic environment. Most studies on the degradation of pharmaceuticals have focused on soil and sludge, with fewer exploring persistence in aquatic sediments. We investigated the dissipation of 6 pharmaceuticals from different therapeutic classes in a range of sediment types. Dissipation of each pharmaceutical was found to follow first-order exponential decay. Half-lives in the sediments ranged from 9.5 (atenolol) to 78.8 (amitriptyline) d. Under sterile conditions, the persistence of pharmaceuticals was considerably longer. Stepwise multiple linear regression analysis was performed to explore the relationships between half-lives of the pharmaceuticals, sediment physicochemical properties, and sorption coefficients for the compounds. Sediment clay, silt, and organic carbon content and microbial activity were the predominant factors related to the degradation rates of diltiazem, cimetidine, and ranitidine. Regression analysis failed to highlight a key property which may be responsible for observed differences in the degradation of the other pharmaceuticals. The present results suggest that the degradation rate of pharmaceuticals in sediments is determined by different factors and processes and does not exclusively depend on a single sediment parameter. Environ Toxicol Chem 2018;37:829-838. © 2017 SETAC. © 2017 SETAC.

An Alternative Pathway for Formononetin Biosynthesis in Pueraria lobata

PubMed Central

Li, Jia; Li, Changfu; Gou, Junbo; Wang, Xin; Fan, Rongyan; Zhang, Yansheng

2016-01-01

The O-methylation is an important tailing process in Pueraria lobata isoflavone metabolism, but the molecular mechanism governing it remains not elucidated. This manuscript describes the mining of key O-methyltransferases (OMTs) involved in the process. Using our previously constructed P. lobata transcriptome, the OMT candidates were searched, extensively analyzed, and their functions were investigated by expression in yeast, Escherichia coli, or Glycine max hairy roots. Here, we report the identification of the key OMT gene responsible for formononetin production in P. lobata (designated as PlOMT9). PlOMT9 primarily functions as an isoflavone-specific 4′-O-methyltransferase, although it shows high sequence identities with isoflavone 7-O-methyltransferases. Moreover, unlike the previously reported OMTs that catalyze the 4′-O-methylation for formononetin biosynthesis at the isoflavanone stage, PlOMT9 performs this modifying step at the isoflavone level, using daidzein rather than 2,7,4′-trihydroxy-isoflavanone as the substrate. Gene expression analyses and metabolite profiling supported its proposed roles in P. lobata. Using the system of transgenic G. max hairy roots, the role of PlOMT9 in the biosynthesis of formononetin was further demonstrated in vivo. PMID:27379141

An Alternative Pathway for Formononetin Biosynthesis in Pueraria lobata.

PubMed

Li, Jia; Li, Changfu; Gou, Junbo; Wang, Xin; Fan, Rongyan; Zhang, Yansheng

2016-01-01

The O-methylation is an important tailing process in Pueraria lobata isoflavone metabolism, but the molecular mechanism governing it remains not elucidated. This manuscript describes the mining of key O-methyltransferases (OMTs) involved in the process. Using our previously constructed P. lobata transcriptome, the OMT candidates were searched, extensively analyzed, and their functions were investigated by expression in yeast, Escherichia coli, or Glycine max hairy roots. Here, we report the identification of the key OMT gene responsible for formononetin production in P. lobata (designated as PlOMT9). PlOMT9 primarily functions as an isoflavone-specific 4'-O-methyltransferase, although it shows high sequence identities with isoflavone 7-O-methyltransferases. Moreover, unlike the previously reported OMTs that catalyze the 4'-O-methylation for formononetin biosynthesis at the isoflavanone stage, PlOMT9 performs this modifying step at the isoflavone level, using daidzein rather than 2,7,4'-trihydroxy-isoflavanone as the substrate. Gene expression analyses and metabolite profiling supported its proposed roles in P. lobata. Using the system of transgenic G. max hairy roots, the role of PlOMT9 in the biosynthesis of formononetin was further demonstrated in vivo.

Shared governance in a clinic system.

PubMed

Meyers, Michelle M; Costanzo, Cindy

2015-01-01

Shared governance in health care empowers nurses to share in the decision-making process, which results in decentralized management and collective accountability. Share governance practices have been present in hospitals since the late 1970s. However, shared governance in ambulatory care clinics has not been well established. The subjects of this quality project included staff and administrative nurses in a clinic system. The stakeholder committee chose what model of shared governance to implement and educated clinic staff. The Index of Professional Nursing Governance measured a shared governance score pre- and postimplementation of the Clinic Nursing Council. The Clinic Nursing Council met bimonthly for 3 months during this project to discuss issues and make decisions related to nursing staff. The Index of Professional Nursing Governance scores indicated traditional governance pre- and postimplementation of the Clinic Nursing Council, which is to be expected. The stakeholder committee was beneficial to the initial implementation process and facilitated staff nurse involvement. Shared governance is an evolutionary process that develops empowered nurses and nurse leaders.

Evaluating the impact of Brexit on the pharmaceutical industry.

PubMed

Kazzazi, Fawz; Pollard, Cleo; Tern, Paul; Ayuso-Garcia, Alejandro; Gillespie, Jack; Thomsen, Inesa

2017-01-01

The UK Pharmaceutical Industry is arguably one of the most important industries to consider in the negotiations following the Brexit vote. Providing tens of thousands of jobs and billions in tax revenue and research investment, the importance of this industry cannot be understated. At stake is the global leadership in the sector, which produces some of the field's most influential basic science and translation work. However, interruptions and losses may occur at multiple levels, affecting patients, researchers, universities, companies and government. By understanding the current state of pharmaceutical sector, the potential effect of leaving the European Union (EU) on this successful industry can be better understood. This paper aims to address the priorities for negotiations by collating the analyses of professionals in the field, leading companies and non-EU member states. A government healthcare policy advisor and Chief Science Officer (CSO) for a major pharmaceutical firm were consulted to scope the paper. In these discussions, five key areas were identified: contribution, legislative processes, regulatory processes, research and outcomes, commercial risk. Multiple search engines were utilised for selecting relevant material, predominantly PubMed and Google Scholar. To supplement this information, Government documents were located using the "GOV.UK" publications tool, and interviews and commentaries were found through the Google News search function. With thorough investigation of the literature, we propose four foundations in the advancement of negotiations. These prioritise: negotiation of 'associated country' status, bilaterally favourable trade agreements, minimal interruption to regulatory bodies and special protection for the movement of workforce in the life sciences industry.

Dynamite fishing in Tanzania.

PubMed

Slade, Lorna M; Kalangahe, Baraka

2015-12-30

Fishing using explosives is common in Tanzanian waters; it is considered to be more widely practised now than at any other point in history. Mwambao Coastal Community Network, a Tanzanian NGO carried out a multi-stakeholder consultation in April 2014 initiated through the concern of private investors and tourism operators. Consultations were held with villagers, fisheries officers, government officers, hoteliers, dive operators, fish processors, NGOs and other key individuals, and shed some light on key factors enabling this practice to flourish. Key areas identified for attention include engendering political will at all levels, upholding of the law through a non-corrupt enforcement and judicial system, and defining clear roles and responsibilities for monitoring and surveillance. The work identified other successful initiatives which have tackled this pervasive practice including projects that build local capacity for marine governance, villages that have declared themselves intolerant of blast-fishing, and private-public partnerships for patrol and protection. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Including refugees in disease elimination: challenges observed from a sleeping sickness programme in Uganda.

PubMed

Palmer, Jennifer J; Robert, Okello; Kansiime, Freddie

2017-01-01

Ensuring equity between forcibly-displaced and host area populations is a key challenge for global elimination programmes. We studied Uganda's response to the recent refugee influx from South Sudan to identify key governance and operational lessons for national sleeping sickness programmes working with displaced populations today. A refugee policy which favours integration of primary healthcare services for refugee and host populations and the availability of rapid diagnostic tests (RDTs) to detect sleeping sickness at this health system level makes Uganda well-placed to include refugees in sleeping sickness surveillance. Using ethnographic observations of coordination meetings, review of programme data, interviews with sleeping sickness and refugee authorities and group discussions with health staff and refugees (2013-2016), we nevertheless identified some key challenges to equitably integrating refugees into government sleeping sickness surveillance. Despite fears that refugees were at risk of disease and posed a threat to elimination, six months into the response, programme coordinators progressed to a sentinel surveillance strategy in districts hosting the highest concentrations of refugees. This meant that RDTs, the programme's primary surveillance tool, were removed from most refugee-serving facilities, exacerbating existing inequitable access to surveillance and leading refugees to claim that their access to sleeping sickness tests had been better in South Sudan. This was not intentionally done to exclude refugees from care, rather, four key governance challenges made it difficult for the programme to recognise and correct inequities affecting refugees: (a) perceived donor pressure to reduce the sleeping sickness programme's scope without clear international elimination guidance on surveillance quality; (b) a problematic history of programme relations with refugee-hosting districts which strained supervision of surveillance quality; (c) difficulties that government health workers faced to produce good quality surveillance in a crisis; and (d) reluctant engagement between the sleeping sickness programme and humanitarian structures. Despite progressive policy intentions, several entrenched governance norms and practices worked against integration of refugees into the national sleeping sickness surveillance system. Elimination programmes which marginalise forced migrants risk unwittingly contributing to disease spread and reinforce social inequities, so new norms urgently need to be established at local, national and international levels.

The primacy of politics: charting the governance of the Papua New Guinea health system since independence.

PubMed

Day, Benjamin

2009-01-01

To chart the course of health governance in Papua New Guinea (PNG) since Independence, this article identifies two arks of public sector administration in PNG. Each was instigated by the passing of an Organic Law. The reform periods presaged by the Organic Law on Provincial Government 1976 (OLPG) and the Organic Law on Provincial Governments and Local-level Governments 1995 (OLPGLLG) have fundamentally transformed the political and administrative structures governing the country, and in particularly those relating to health. Comparing the organization of the government-operated health system during each of these reform periods not only reveals why PNG's health services have struggled to improve since Independence, but also casts light on the key drivers of fundamental reforms in PNG. Ultimately, the exercise illustrates the 'primacy of politics', and why political concerns invariably trump service delivery concerns.

Clinical governance and infection control in the United Kingdom.

PubMed

Masterson, R G; Teare, E L

2001-01-01

The recent organizational changes in the NHS have at their core the concept of clinical governance. Although initially poorly defined and understood this term has now taken on a clear identity, placing quality alongside fiscal probity and corporate governance at the top of NHS priorities. Integral to clinical governance are the basic elements of clear national standards for services and treatments that are to be locally delivered through assured, monitored, high quality healthcare. It is within this framework that workers in infection control must develop their own methods of applying clinical governance. This review explores the implications that the strategy of clinical governance holds for the speciality of infection control, emphasizing the benefits its active adoption can bring and highlighting the key relevance of clinical risk management in this setting. It illustrates clinical governance as a tool to engage colleagues on a multi-disciplinary front, most particularly the crucial link to senior Trust management.

Health sector operational planning and budgeting processes in Kenya—“never the twain shall meet”

PubMed Central

Molyneux, Sassy; Goodman, Catherine

2015-01-01

Summary Operational planning is considered an important tool for translating government policies and strategic objectives into day‐to‐day management activities. However, developing countries suffer from persistent misalignment between policy, planning and budgeting. The Medium Term Expenditure Framework (MTEF) was introduced to address this misalignment. Kenya adopted the MTEF in the early 2000s, and in 2005, the Ministry of Health adopted the Annual Operational Plan process to adapt the MTEF to the health sector. This study assessed the degree to which the health sector Annual Operational Plan process in Kenya has achieved alignment between planning and budgeting at the national level, using document reviews, participant observation and key informant interviews. We found that the Kenyan health sector was far from achieving planning and budgeting alignment. Several factors contributed to this problem including weak Ministry of Health stewardship and institutionalized separation between planning and budgeting processes; a rapidly changing planning and budgeting environment; lack of reliable data to inform target setting and poor participation by key stakeholders in the process including a top‐down approach to target setting. We conclude that alignment is unlikely to be achieved without consideration of the specific institutional contexts and the power relationships between stakeholders. In particular, there is a need for institutional integration of the planning and budgeting processes into a common cycle and framework with common reporting lines and for improved data and local‐level input to inform appropriate and realistic target setting. © 2015 The Authors. International Journal of Health Planning and Management published by John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. PMID:25783862

47 CFR 22.959 - Rules governing processing of applications for initial systems.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-10-01

... 47 Telecommunication 2 2010-10-01 2010-10-01 false Rules governing processing of applications for...) COMMON CARRIER SERVICES PUBLIC MOBILE SERVICES Cellular Radiotelephone Service § 22.959 Rules governing processing of applications for initial systems. Pending applications for authority to operate the first...

Urbanism, climate change and health: systems approaches to governance.

PubMed

Capon, Anthony G; Synnott, Emma S; Holliday, Sue

2009-01-01

Effective action on climate change health impacts and vulnerability will require systems approaches and integrated policy and planning responses from a range of government agencies. Similar responses are needed to address other complex problems, such as the obesity epidemic. Local government, with its focus on the governance of place, will have a key role in responding to these convergent agendas. Industry can also be part of the solution - indeed it must be, because it has a lead role in relevant sectors. Understanding the co-benefits for health of climate mitigation actions will strengthen the case for early action. There is a need for improved decision support tools to inform urban governance. These tools should be based on a systems approach and should incorporate a spatial perspective.

Enhanced Training by a Systemic Governance of Force Capabilities, Tasks, and Processes

DTIC Science & Technology

2013-06-01

18th ICCRTS “C2 in Underdeveloped, Degraded and Denied Operational Environments” Enhanced Training by a Systemic Governance of Force Capabilities...TITLE AND SUBTITLE Enhanced Training by a Systemic Governance of Force Capabilities, Tasks, and Processes 5a. CONTRACT NUMBER 5b. GRANT NUMBER 5c...assess, evaluate and accredit the Swedish forces. This paper presents a Systemic Governance of Capabilities, Tasks, and Processes applied to the

Democratising health care governance? New Zealand's inaugural district health board elections, 2001.

PubMed

Gauld, Robin

2002-01-01

New Zealand's 'district health board' (DHB) system has been under implementation since the 1999 general election. A key factor motivating the change to DHBs is the democratisation of health care governance. A majority of the new DHB members are popularly elected. Previously, hospital board members were government appointees. Inaugural DHB elections were held in October 2001. This article reports on the election results and the wider operating context for DHBs. It notes organisational issues to be considered for the next DHB elections in 2004, and questions the extent to which the elections and DHB governance structure will enhance health care democratisation in New Zealand.

State strategies of governance in biomedical innovation: aligning conceptual approaches for understanding 'Rising Powers' in the global context

PubMed Central

2011-01-01

Background 'Innovation' has become a policy focus in its own right in many states as they compete to position themselves in the emerging knowledge economies. Innovation in biomedicine is a global enterprise in which 'Rising Power' states figure prominently, and which undoubtedly will re-shape health systems and health economies globally. Scientific and technological innovation processes and policies raise difficult issues in the domains of science/technology, civil society, and the economic and healthcare marketplace. The production of knowledge in these fields is complex, uncertain, inter-disciplinary and inter-institutional, and subject to a continuing political struggle for advantage. As part of this struggle, a wide variety of issues - regulation, intellectual property, ethics, scientific boundaries, healthcare market formation - are raised and policy agendas negotiated. Methods A range of social science disciplines and approaches have conceptualised such innovation processes. Against a background of concepts such as the competition state and the developmental state, and national innovation systems, we give an overview of a range of approaches that have potential for advancing understanding of governance of global life science and biomedical innovation, with special reference to the 'Rising Powers', in order to examine convergences and divergences between them. Conceptual approaches that we focus on include those drawn from political science/political economy, sociology of technology; Innovation Studies and Science & Technology Studies. The paper is part of a project supported by the UK ESRC's Rising Powers programme. Results We show convergences and complementarities between the approaches discussed, and argue that the role of the national state itself has become relatively neglected in much of the relevant theorising. Conclusions We conclude that an approach is required that enables innovation and governance to be seen as 'co-producing' each other in a multi-level, global ecology of innovation, taking account of the particular, differing characteristics of different emerging scientific fields and technologies. We suggest key points to take account of in order in the future to move toward a satisfactory integrative conceptual framework, capable of better understanding the processes of the emergence, state steerage and transnational governance of innovative biomedical sectors in the Rising Powers and global context. PMID:21349182

Strategic environmental assessment in Hong Kong.

PubMed

Ng, Kay Leng; Obbard, Jeffrey Philip

2005-05-01

This review examines the development and application of strategic environmental assessment (SEA) process in the planning framework of Hong Kong. Two strategic planning case studies are evaluated within the context of SEA, namely the Territorial Development Strategy Review (TDS Review) and the Third Comprehensive Transport Study (CTS-3). Rapid population growth and urbanisation in Hong Kong, coupled with a historic lack of planning controls and inherent conflicts between government departments have been major obstacles to achieving sustainable development in the territory. Despite these challenges, Hong Kong was one of the first Asian countries to apply SEA to major development plans, where the implementation of the 'SUSDEV 21' study on sustainable development has demonstrated the government's commitment towards integrated environmental protection. The application of SEA has provided decision-makers with key information on potential environment impacts arising from proposed developments, resulting in greater accountability and transparency in the decision-making process. SEA in Hong Kong has also prompted an increased level of environmental awareness and co-operation between government departments and agencies responsible for the management of Hong Kong's natural and urban environments. However, the application of SEA in Hong Kong continues to have notable limitations. SEA needs to evolve beyond its current sectoral application to examine ways in which development decisions can not only pre-empt and prevent environmental damage, but also positively enhance and restore existing natural resources. Current land use plans and transportation strategies still largely determine the pattern of development in the near future without adequate longer-term environmental cost-benefit analysis. Sustainable development includes environmental, social and economic considerations, and these inter-related elements need be suitably balanced. SEA is not a means to obstruct development in Hong Kong, but should be recognised for its inherent socio-economic and ecological value, and fully integrated with the decision-making process. Whilst it is admirable that Hong Kong has taken positive steps in this direction, it is now an opportune moment for the government to have the foresight and tenacity to create a sustainable development framework for Hong Kong into the future.

The role of community participation for sustainable integrated neglected tropical diseases and water, sanitation and hygiene intervention programs: A pilot project in Tanzania.

PubMed

Madon, Shirin; Malecela, Mwele Ntuli; Mashoto, Kijakazi; Donohue, Rose; Mubyazi, Godfrey; Michael, Edwin

2018-04-01

Strategies aimed at reducing the prevalence of neglected tropical diseases (NTDs) in Tanzania including those attributed to water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) problems have been largely top-down in nature. They have focused on strengthening the governance of NTD-WASH programs by integrating different vertical disease programs and improving the efficiency of report-generation. In this paper, we argue for community participation as an effective strategy for developing sustainable village health governance. We present the results of a pilot undertaken between November 2015 and April 2016 in which we adopted a mixed methods case study approach to implement an Enhanced Development Governance (EDG) model using existing village governance structures. Our results show that the EDG model was associated with a statistically significant reduction in the prevalence of schistosomiasis and diarrhoea, and has led to an increase in awareness of WASH interventions for sustaining gains in NTD control. We identify five key social processes enacted by the EDG model that have led to improved health benefits related to frequency of meetings and attendance, promotion of health and sanitation awareness, income-generating activities, self-organising capabilities, and interaction between village bodies. These findings hold important implications for conceptualising the role of community participation in sustaining NTD-WASH intervention programs and for sensitising institutional and policy reform. Copyright © 2018 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd.. All rights reserved.

Global Government Health Partners' Forum 2006: eighteen months later.

PubMed

Foster, J; Guisinger, V; Graham, A; Hutchcraft, L; Salmon, M

2010-06-01

The challenge of global health worker shortages, particularly among nurses, has been the topic of numerous forums over the last several years. Nevertheless, there has been little attention given to the roles of government chief nursing and medical officers as key partners in addressing health worker shortages. This partnership and its potential impact on the adequacy of the global health workforce was the focus of the most recent Global Government Health Partners (GGHP) Forum held in November 2006 in Atlanta, Georgia, USA. This forum was uniquely designed to create a context for government chief nursing officers and chief medical officers to engage in a joint learning and planning experience focused on positioning their leadership to impact health workforce issues. This article describes an 18-month follow-up evaluation of the outcomes of the GGHP. The purpose of the evaluation was to assess the impact of the forum experience on the actions of participants based on the country-level plans they produced at the forum. This important feedback is intended to inform the design of future partnered global forums and gain insights into the utility of forum-based action plans. The evaluation process itself has served as an opportunity for the engagement of university faculty, students and staff in a global service learning experience. The outcomes of this evaluation indicate that important progress has been made by countries whose leadership was involved in the forum, and was also an important learning activity for those participating in the conduct of the study.

External factors affecting decision-making and use of evidence in an Australian public health policy environment.

PubMed

Zardo, Pauline; Collie, Alex; Livingstone, Charles

2014-05-01

This study examined external factors affecting policy and program decision-making in a specific public health policy context: injury prevention and rehabilitation compensation in the Australian state of Victoria. The aim was twofold: identify external factors that affect policy and program decision-making in this specific context; use this evidence to inform targeting of interventions aimed at increasing research use in this context. Qualitative interviews were undertaken from June 2011 to January 2012 with 33 employees from two state government agencies. Key factors identified were stakeholder feedback and action, government and ministerial input, legal feedback and action, injured persons and the media. The identified external factors were able to significantly influence policy and program decision-making processes: acting as both barriers and facilitators, depending on the particular issue at hand. The factors with the most influence were the Minister and government, lawyers, and agency stakeholders, particularly health providers, trade unions and employer groups. This research revealed that interventions aimed at increasing use of research in this context must target and harness the influence of these groups. This research provides critical insights for researchers seeking to design interventions to increase use of research in policy environments and influence decision-making in Victorian injury prevention and rehabilitation compensation. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Integrated water resources management and water users' associations in the arid region of northwest China: a case study of farmers' perceptions.

PubMed

Hu, Xiao-Jun; Xiong, You-Cai; Li, Yong-Jin; Wang, Jian-Xin; Li, Feng-Min; Wang, Hai-Yang; Li, Lan-Lan

2014-12-01

Water scarcity is a critical policy issue in the arid regions of northwest China. The local government has widely adopted integrated water resources management (IWRM), but lacks support from farmers and farm communities. We undertook a case study in the Minqin oasis of northwest China to examine farmers' responses to IWRM and understand why farmer water users' associations (WUAs) are not functioning effectively at the community level. Results of quantitative and qualitative surveys of 392 farmers in 27 administrative villages showed that over 70% of farmers disapprove of the IWRM market-based reforms. In particular, the failure of farmer WUAs can be attributed to overlapping organizational structures between the WUAs and the villagers' committees; mismatches between the organizational scale of the WUAs and practical irrigation management by the farmers themselves; marginalization of rural women in water decision-making processes; and the inflexibility of IWRM implementation. An important policy implication from this study is that rebuilding farmer WUAs is key to overcoming the difficulties of IWRM. The current water governance structure, which is dominated by administrative systems, must be thoroughly reviewed to break the vicious cycle of tension and distrust between farmers and the government. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Strengthening national health laboratories in sub-Saharan Africa: a decade of remarkable progress.

PubMed

Alemnji, G A; Zeh, C; Yao, K; Fonjungo, P N

2014-04-01

Efforts to combat the HIV/AIDS pandemic have underscored the fragile and neglected nature of some national health laboratories in Africa. In response, national and international partners and various governments have worked collaboratively over the last several years to build sustainable laboratory capacities within the continent. Key accomplishments reflecting this successful partnership include the establishment of the African-based World Health Organization Regional Office for Africa (WHO-AFRO) Stepwise Laboratory Quality Improvement Process Towards Accreditation (SLIPTA); development of the Strengthening Laboratory Management Toward Accreditation (SLMTA) training programme; and launching of a Pan African-based institution, the African Society for Laboratory Medicine (ASLM). These platforms continue to serve as the foundations for national health laboratory infrastructure enhancement, capacity development and overall quality system improvement. Further targeted interventions should encourage countries to aim at integrated tiered referral networks, promote quality system improvement and accreditation, develop laboratory policies and strategic plans, enhance training and laboratory workforce development and a retention strategy, create career paths for laboratory professionals and establish public-private partnerships. Maintaining the gains and ensuring sustainability will require concerted action by all stakeholders with strong leadership and funding from African governments and from the African Union. Published 2014. This article is a U.S. Government work and is in the public domain in the U.S.A.

Weapons to widgets: Organic systems and public policy for tech transfer

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Cargo, Russell A.

1994-01-01

Large cuts in defense spending cause serious repercussions throughout the American economy. One means to counter the negative effects of defense reductions is to redirect federal dollars to temporarily prop up defense industries and, over the longer-term, stimulate growth of new nondefense industries. The creation of non-defense products and industries by channeling ideas from public laboratories into the private sector manufacturing facilities, known as technology transfer, is being undertaken in a massive program that has high visibility, large amounts of money, and broad federal agency involvement. How effectively federal money can be directed toward stimulating the creation of non-defense products will define the strength of the economy, (i.e., tax base, employment level, trade balance, capital investments, etc.), over the next decade. Key functions of the tech transfer process are technology and market assessment, capital formation, manufacturing feasibility, sales and distribution, and business organization creation. Those, however, are not functions typically associated with the federal government. Is the government prepared to provide leadership in those areas? This paper suggests organic systems theory as a means to structure the public sector's actions to provide leadership in functional areas normally outside their scope of expertise. By applying new ideas in organization theory, can we design government action to efficiently and effectively transfer technologies?

Born to run: creating the muscle fiber.

PubMed

Schejter, Eyal D; Baylies, Mary K

2010-10-01

From the muscles that control the blink of your eye to those that allow you to walk, the basic architecture of muscle is the same: muscles consist of bundles of the unit muscle cell, the muscle fiber. The unique morphology of the individual muscle fiber is dictated by the functional demands necessary to generate and withstand the forces of contraction, which in turn leads to movement. Contractile muscle fibers are elongated, syncytial cells, which interact with both the nervous and skeletal systems to govern body motion. In this review, we focus on three key cell-cell and cell-matrix contact processes, that are necessary to create this exquisitely specialized cell: cell fusion, cell elongation, and establishment of a myotendinous junction. We address these processes by highlighting recent findings from the Drosophila model system. Copyright © 2010 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Towards Mechanistic Understanding of Mercury Availability and Toxicity to Aquatic Primary Producers.

PubMed

Dranguet, Perrine; Flück, Rebecca; Regier, Nicole; Cosio, Claudia; Le Faucheur, Séverine; Slaveykova, Vera I

2014-11-01

The present article reviews current knowledge and recent progress on the bioavailability and toxicity of mercury to aquatic primary producers. Mercury is a ubiquitous toxic trace element of global concern. At the base of the food web, primary producers are central for mercury incorporation into the food web. Here, the emphasis is on key, but still poorly understood, processes governing the interactions between mercury species and phytoplankton, and macrophytes, two representatives of primary producers. Mass transfer to biota surface, adsorption to cell wall, internalization and release from cells, as well as underlying toxicity mechanisms of both inorganic mercury and methylmercury are discussed critically. In addition, the intracellular distribution and transformation processes, their importance for mercury toxicity, species-sensitivity differences and trophic transfer are presented. The mini-review is illustrated with examples of our own research.

A DEMETER-like DNA demethylase governs tomato fruit ripening

PubMed Central

Liu, Ruie; How-Kit, Alexandre; Stammitti, Linda; Teyssier, Emeline; Rolin, Dominique; Mortain-Bertrand, Anne; Halle, Stefanie; Liu, Mingchun; Kong, Junhua; Wu, Chaoqun; Degraeve-Guibault, Charlotte; Chapman, Natalie H.; Maucourt, Mickael; Hodgman, T. Charlie; Tost, Jörg; Bouzayen, Mondher; Hong, Yiguo; Seymour, Graham B.; Giovannoni, James J.; Gallusci, Philippe

2015-01-01

In plants, genomic DNA methylation which contributes to development and stress responses can be actively removed by DEMETER-like DNA demethylases (DMLs). Indeed, in Arabidopsis DMLs are important for maternal imprinting and endosperm demethylation, but only a few studies demonstrate the developmental roles of active DNA demethylation conclusively in this plant. Here, we show a direct cause and effect relationship between active DNA demethylation mainly mediated by the tomato DML, SlDML2, and fruit ripening— an important developmental process unique to plants. RNAi SlDML2 knockdown results in ripening inhibition via hypermethylation and repression of the expression of genes encoding ripening transcription factors and rate-limiting enzymes of key biochemical processes such as carotenoid synthesis. Our data demonstrate that active DNA demethylation is central to the control of ripening in tomato. PMID:26261318

Information spread of emergency events: path searching on social networks.

PubMed

Dai, Weihui; Hu, Hongzhi; Wu, Tunan; Dai, Yonghui

2014-01-01

Emergency has attracted global attentions of government and the public, and it will easily trigger a series of serious social problems if it is not supervised effectively in the dissemination process. In the Internet world, people communicate with each other and form various virtual communities based on social networks, which lead to a complex and fast information spread pattern of emergency events. This paper collects Internet data based on data acquisition and topic detection technology, analyzes the process of information spread on social networks, describes the diffusions and impacts of that information from the perspective of random graph, and finally seeks the key paths through an improved IBF algorithm. Application cases have shown that this algorithm can search the shortest spread paths efficiently, which may help us to guide and control the information dissemination of emergency events on early warning.

Public purchasing and private priorities for healthcare in New Zealand.

PubMed

Howden-Chapman, P; Ashton, T

2000-11-01

The 1993 Health and Disability Services Act heralded a range of structural reforms in the New Zealand health care system. Despite these reforms considerable resources being spent on convincing consumers of their merits, have failed to gain widespread public approval. This paper examines two key issues that have arisen during the reform process. These are the difficulties associated with trying to set priorities in ways which are effective and politically acceptable, and the relationship between the public and private sectors. Unacknowledged conflicts of interest have helped to undermine the priority setting process. The discussion suggests that it may be increasingly difficult for any government in future to determine the allocation of resources without taking private sector interests and rising public concern into account. It remains to be seen which of these factors is more powerful.

Quantifying sources and sinks of reactive gases in the lower atmosphere using airborne flux observations

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Wolfe, Glenn; Hanisco, T. F.; Atkinson, H. L.

Atmospheric composition is governed by the interplay of emissions, chemistry, deposition, and transport. Substantial questions surround each of these processes, especially in forested environments with strong biogenic emissions. Utilizing aircraft observations acquired over a forest in the southeast U.S., we calculate eddy covariance fluxes for a suite of reactive gases and apply the synergistic information derived from this analysis to quantify emission and deposition fluxes, oxidant concentrations, aerosol uptake coefficients, and other key parameters. Evaluation of results against state-of-the-science models and parameterizations provides insight into our current understanding of this system and frames future observational priorities. As a near-direct measurementmore » of fundamental process rates, airborne fluxes offer a new tool to improve biogenic and anthropogenic emissions inventories, photochemical mechanisms, and deposition parameterizations.« less

Dilemmas and challenges for the shelter sector: lessons learned from the Sphere revision process.

PubMed

Saunders, Graham

2004-06-01

Key dilemmas and challenges for those involved in the shelter sector are described, based on issues that emerged from the extensive global consultative process undertaken to inform the revision of the Sphere handbook. The range of perspectives on the major themes is presented, with suggestions as to how these issues could be progressed. Themes include the poor definition of the sector and the lack of a consistent approach among the leading shelter actors; the absence of a common terminology; the conflict between "temporary" versus "durable" solutions; the disconnect between technical advisers and the field; the need for greater recognition of local coping strategies and the local context; the involvement of recipients and host governments in policy development; the need for better "how-to" guidance; and the limited incorporation of the emerging themes of livelihoods etc. to date.

Microbial community assembly and metabolic function during mammalian corpse decomposition.

PubMed

Metcalf, Jessica L; Xu, Zhenjiang Zech; Weiss, Sophie; Lax, Simon; Van Treuren, Will; Hyde, Embriette R; Song, Se Jin; Amir, Amnon; Larsen, Peter; Sangwan, Naseer; Haarmann, Daniel; Humphrey, Greg C; Ackermann, Gail; Thompson, Luke R; Lauber, Christian; Bibat, Alexander; Nicholas, Catherine; Gebert, Matthew J; Petrosino, Joseph F; Reed, Sasha C; Gilbert, Jack A; Lynne, Aaron M; Bucheli, Sibyl R; Carter, David O; Knight, Rob

2016-01-08

Vertebrate corpse decomposition provides an important stage in nutrient cycling in most terrestrial habitats, yet microbially mediated processes are poorly understood. Here we combine deep microbial community characterization, community-level metabolic reconstruction, and soil biogeochemical assessment to understand the principles governing microbial community assembly during decomposition of mouse and human corpses on different soil substrates. We find a suite of bacterial and fungal groups that contribute to nitrogen cycling and a reproducible network of decomposers that emerge on predictable time scales. Our results show that this decomposer community is derived primarily from bulk soil, but key decomposers are ubiquitous in low abundance. Soil type was not a dominant factor driving community development, and the process of decomposition is sufficiently reproducible to offer new opportunities for forensic investigations. Copyright © 2016, American Association for the Advancement of Science.

Is health care financing in Uganda equitable?

PubMed

Zikusooka, C M; Kyomuhang, R; Orem, J N; Tumwine, M

2009-10-01

Health care financing provides the resources and economic incentives for operating health systems and is a key determinant of health system performance. Equitable financing is based on: financial protection, progressive financing and cross-subsidies. This paper describes Uganda's health care financing landscape and documents the key equity issues associated with the current financing mechanisms. We extensively reviewed government documents and relevant literature and conducted key informant interviews, with the aim of assessing whether Uganda's health care financing mechanisms exhibited the key principles of fair financing. Uganda's health sector remains significantly under-funded, mainly relying on private sources of financing, especially out-of-pocket spending. At 9.6 % of total government expenditure, public spending on health is far below the Abuja target of 15% that GoU committed to. Prepayments form a small proportion of funding for Uganda's health sector. There is limited cross-subsidisation and high fragmentation within and between health financing mechanisms, mainly due to high reliance on out-of-pocket payments and limited prepayment mechanisms. Without compulsory health insurance and low coverage of private health insurance, Uganda has limited pooling of resources, and hence minimal cross-subsidisation. Although tax revenue is equitable, the remaining financing mechanisms for Uganda are inequitable due to their regressive nature, their lack of financial protection and limited cross-subsidisation. Overall, Uganda's current health financing is inequitable and fragmented. The government should take explicit action to promote equitable health care financing by establishing pre-payment schemes, enhancing cross-subsidisation mechanisms and through appropriate integration of financing mechanisms.

Licensing procedures and registration of medical doctors in the European Union.

PubMed

Kovacs, Eszter; Schmidt, Andrea E; Szocska, Gabor; Busse, Reinhard; McKee, Martin; Legido-Quigley, Helena

2014-06-01

The current proposals to update the European Union (EU) directive on professional qualifications will have potentially important implications for health professions. Yet those discussing it will struggle to find basic information on key issues such as licensing and registration of physicians in different countries. A survey was conducted among national experts in 14 EU member states, supplemented by literature and independent expert review. The questionnaire covered five components of licensing and registration: (1) definitions, (2) regulatory basis, (3) governance, (4) the process of registration and (5) flow and quantity of applications. We identify seven areas of concern: (1) the meaning of terminology, which is inconsistent; (2) the role of language assessments and the responsibility for them; (3) whether approval to practise should be lifelong or time limited, subject to periodic assessment; (4) the need for improved systems to identify those deemed no longer fit to practise in one member state; (5) the complexity of processes for graduates from non-EU/European Economic Area (EAA) countries; (6) public access to registers; and (7) transparency of systems of governance. The systems of licensing and registration of doctors in Europe have developed within specific national contexts and vary widely. This creates inevitable problems in the context of free movement of professionals and increasing mobility. © 2014 Royal College of Physicians.

[Red tape in psychiatry: on bureaucracy, bureaucratism, and our secret fondness for procedures].

PubMed

Blom, J D; Smink, F R E; Kwidama, E V; Vladár Rivero, V M

2016-01-01

A frequent complaint in psychiatry is that the psychiatrist-patient relationship and the quality of care are hampered by bureaucratic processes. To provide an analysis of various types of bureaucracy in psychiatry that can serve as a starting-point for the improvement of care and the performance of qualitative studies. We conducted an exploratory study using PubMed, Google, and various Dutch medical journals. Contemporary psychiatry is characterised by a bureaucratic organization structure. Mental, somatic, and social problems are translated in a standardised manner into medical jargon which gives rise to a DSM diagnosis, a cost-price, and outcome measures. This medical-bureaucratic system has important virtues, provided it is applied efficiently and the patient-psychiatrist relationship remains intact. In the Netherlands, however, this balance has been disturbed. Future research can be facilitated if distinctions are made between various types of bureaucracy (referred to here as Hippocratic, Weberian, and Kafkaesque bureaucracy). In addition, we discuss various national initiatives which aim to counter bureaucracy, including initiatives of the Dutch government. If the patient-psychiatrist relationship is to regain its central role, bureaucracy needs to be countered constantly. The government can facilitate this process, but healthcare providers can also play a key role and meanwhile help to bring about a substantial reduction in the costs of care.

Pharmaceutical policies in Canada: another example of federal-provincial discord

PubMed Central

Anis, A H

2000-01-01

Pharmaceutical policy in Canada is set at both the federal and provincial levels of government. The federal government is responsible for intellectual property rights of manufacturers (patents) and the initial approval and labelling of prescription drugs and for ensuring overall market competitiveness. The provincial government has responsibility and jurisdiction over the funding of all health care services, including pharmaceuticals. Various interactions between the pharmaceutical industry, the federal and provincial governments and consumers have shaped the current landscape for prescription drugs in Canada. One key failing of the system is that the federal government is almost completely insulated from the impact of its policies because, although it regulates drug prices, it does not buy any drugs. In contrast, provincial governments have no jurisdiction over market competitiveness or pricing, yet end up paying for most of the drug expenditures incurred. PMID:10701389

Oil on the water: Government regulation of a carcinogen in the twentieth-century Lancashire cotton spinning industry.

PubMed

Higgins, David; Tweedale, Geoffrey

2010-01-01

In the Lancashire cotton textile industry, mule spinners were prone to a chronic and sometimes fatal skin cancer (often affecting the groin). The disease had reached epidemic proportions by the 1920s, which necessitated action by the government, employers, and trade unions. In contrast to previous accounts, this article focuses on the government's reaction to mule spinners' cancer. Using official records in the National Archives, the slow introduction of health and safety measures by the government is explored in detail. Although obstructionism by the employers played a key role, one of the reasons for government inaction was the ambiguity of scientific research on engineering oils. On the other hand, prolonged scientific research suited a government policy that was framed around self regulation - a policy that had proved largely ineffective by the 1950s.

42 CFR 137.295 - May Self-Governance Tribes elect to develop their own environmental review process?

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-10-01

... own environmental review process? Yes, Self-Governance Tribes may develop their own environmental... 42 Public Health 1 2011-10-01 2011-10-01 false May Self-Governance Tribes elect to develop their own environmental review process? 137.295 Section 137.295 Public Health PUBLIC HEALTH SERVICE...

Goals, Strategies, and Achievements in the Internationalization of Higher Education in Japan and Taiwan

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Ho, Hsuan-Fu; Lin, Ming-Huang; Yang, Cheng-Cheng

2015-01-01

International knowledge and skills are essential for success in today's highly competitive global marketplace. As one of the key providers of such knowledge and skills, universities have become a key focus of the internationalization strategies of governments throughout the world. While the internationalization of higher education clearly has…

Building and Strengthening Policy Research Capacity: Key Issues in Canadian Higher Education

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Jones, Glen A.

2014-01-01

Given the importance of higher education in social and economic development, governments need to build a strong higher education data and policy research infrastructure to support informed decision-making, provide policy advice, and offer a critical assessment of key trends and issues. The author discusses the decline of higher education policy…

Vocational Training and Social Inclusion. At a Glance

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Hargreaves, Jo

2011-01-01

Social inclusion has become a key focus for public policy in Australia, with governments supporting interventions that aim to improve the lives of those who are disengaged or disadvantaged. One of the key areas of concern is raising the educational levels of individuals. Vocational education and training (VET) has long played an important role in…