Priority setting in practice: participants opinions on vertical and horizontal priority setting for reallocation.

Science.gov (United States)

Waldau, Susanne; Lindholm, Lars; Wiechel, Anna Helena

2010-08-01

In the Västerbotten County Council in Sweden a priority setting process was undertaken to reallocate existing resources for funding of new methods and activities. Resources were created by limiting low priority services. A procedure for priority setting was constructed and fully tested by engaging the entire organisation. The procedure included priority setting within and between departments and political decision making. Participants' views and experiences were collected as a basis for future improvement of the process. Results indicate that participants appreciated the overall approach and methodology and wished to engage in their improvement. Among the improvement proposals is prolongation of the process in order to improve the knowledge base quality. The procedure for identification of new items for funding also needs to be revised. The priority setting process was considered an overall success because it fulfilled its political goals. Factors considered crucial for success are a wish among managers for an economic strategy that addresses existing internal resource allocation; process management characterized by goal orientation and clear leadership; an elaborate communications strategy integrated early in the process and its management; political unity in support of the procedure, and a strong political commitment throughout the process. Generalizability has already been demonstrated by several health care organisations that performed processes founded on this working model. Copyright 2010 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.

Is the political animal politically ignorant? Applying evolutionary psychology to the study of political attitudes.

Science.gov (United States)

Petersen, Michael Bang; Aarøe, Lene

2012-12-20

As evidenced by research in evolutionary psychology, humans have evolved sophisticated psychological mechanisms tailored to solve enduring adaptive problems of social life. Many of these social problems are political in nature and relate to the distribution of costs and benefits within and between groups. In that sense, evolutionary psychology suggests that humans are, by nature, political animals. By implication, a straightforward application of evolutionary psychology to the study of public opinion seems to entail that modern individuals find politics intrinsically interesting. Yet, as documented by more than fifty years of research in political science, people lack knowledge of basic features of the political process and the ability to form consistent political attitudes. By reviewing and integrating research in evolutionary psychology and public opinion, we describe (1) why modern mass politics often fail to activate evolved mechanisms and (2) the conditions in which these mechanisms are in fact triggered.

Pension fund sophistication and investment policy

NARCIS (Netherlands)

de Dreu, J.|info:eu-repo/dai/nl/364537906; Bikker, J.A.|info:eu-repo/dai/nl/06912261X

This paper assesses the sophistication of pension funds’ investment policies using data on 748 Dutch pension funds during the 1999–2006 period. We develop three indicators of sophistication: gross rounding of investment choices, investments in alternative sophisticated asset classes and ‘home bias’.

Seeking Relevance: American Political Science and America

Science.gov (United States)

Maranto, Robert; Woessner, Matthew C.

2012-01-01

In this article, the authors talk about the relevance of American political science and America. Political science has enormous strengths in its highly talented practitioners and sophisticated methods. However, its disconnection from its host society, while not so severe as for fields like English and sociology, nonetheless poses an existential…

In Praise of the Sophists.

Science.gov (United States)

Gibson, Walker

1993-01-01

Discusses the thinking of the Greek Sophist philosophers, particularly Gorgias and Protagoras, and their importance and relevance for contemporary English instructors. Considers the problem of language as signs of reality in the context of Sophist philosophy. (HB)

The organization of political parties and the politics of bureaucratic reform

OpenAIRE

Cruz, Cesi; Keefer, Philip

2013-01-01

Bureaucratic reform is a priority of donor organizations, including the World Bank, but is notoriously difficult to implement. In many countries, politicians have little interest in the basic financial and personnel management systems that are essential to political oversight of bureaucratic performance. To explain this, this paper presents a new perspective on the political economy of bur...

Key Nuclear Verification Priorities: Safeguards and Beyond

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Carlson, J.

2010-01-01

In addressing nuclear verification priorities, we should look beyond the current safeguards system. Non-proliferation, which the safeguards system underpins, is not an end in itself, but an essential condition for achieving and maintaining nuclear disarmament. Effective safeguards are essential for advancing disarmament, and safeguards issues, approaches and techniques are directly relevant to the development of future verification missions. The extent to which safeguards challenges are successfully addressed - or otherwise - will impact not only on confidence in the safeguards system, but on the effectiveness of, and confidence in, disarmament verification. To identify the key nuclear verification priorities, we need to consider the objectives of verification, and the challenges to achieving these. The strategic objective of IAEA safeguards might be expressed as: To support the global nuclear non-proliferation regime by: - Providing credible assurance that states are honouring their safeguards commitments - thereby removing a potential motivation to proliferate; and - Early detection of misuse of nuclear material and technology - thereby deterring proliferation by the risk of early detection, enabling timely intervention by the international community. Or to summarise - confidence-building, detection capability, and deterrence. These will also be essential objectives for future verification missions. The challenges to achieving these involve a mix of political, technical and institutional dimensions. Confidence is largely a political matter, reflecting the qualitative judgment of governments. Clearly assessments of detection capability and deterrence have a major impact on confidence. Detection capability is largely thought of as 'technical', but also involves issues of legal authority, as well as institutional issues. Deterrence has both political and institutional aspects - including judgments on risk of detection and risk of enforcement action being taken. The

Key Nuclear Verification Priorities - Safeguards and Beyond

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Carlson, J.

2010-01-01

In addressing nuclear verification priorities, we should look beyond the current safeguards system. Non-proliferation, which the safeguards system underpins, is not an end in itself, but an essential condition for achieving and maintaining nuclear disarmament. Effective safeguards are essential for advancing disarmament, and safeguards issues, approaches and techniques are directly relevant to the development of future verification missions. The extent to which safeguards challenges are successfully addressed - or otherwise - will impact not only on confidence in the safeguards system, but on the effectiveness of, and confidence in, disarmament verification. To identify the key nuclear verification priorities, we need to consider the objectives of verification, and the challenges to achieving these. The strategic objective of IAEA safeguards might be expressed as: To support the global nuclear non-proliferation regime by: - Providing credible assurance that states are honouring their safeguards commitments - thereby removing a potential motivation to proliferate; and - Early detection of misuse of nuclear material and technology - thereby deterring proliferation by the risk of early detection, enabling timely intervention by the international community. Or to summarise - confidence-building, detection capability, and deterrence. These will also be essential objectives for future verification missions. The challenges to achieving these involve a mix of political, technical and institutional dimensions. Confidence is largely a political matter, reflecting the qualitative judgment of governments. Clearly assessments of detection capability and deterrence have a major impact on confidence. Detection capability is largely thought of as 'technical', but also involves issues of legal authority, as well as institutional issues. Deterrence has both political and institutional aspects - including judgments on risk of detection and risk of enforcement action being taken. The

Implementation Politics

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Hegland, Troels Jacob; Raakjær, Jesper

2008-01-01

level are supplemented or even replaced by national priorities. The chapter concludes that in order to capture the domestic politics associated with CFP implementation in Denmark, it is important to understand the policy process as a synergistic interaction between dominant interests, policy alliances...

A strategy to improve priority setting in developing countries.

Science.gov (United States)

Kapiriri, Lydia; Martin, Douglas K

2007-09-01

Because the demand for health services outstrips the available resources, priority setting is one of the most difficult issues faced by health policy makers, particularly those in developing countries. Priority setting in developing countries is fraught with uncertainty due to lack of credible information, weak priority setting institutions, and unclear priority setting processes. Efforts to improve priority setting in these contexts have focused on providing information and tools. In this paper we argue that priority setting is a value laden and political process, and although important, the available information and tools are not sufficient to address the priority setting challenges in developing countries. Additional complementary efforts are required. Hence, a strategy to improve priority setting in developing countries should also include: (i) capturing current priority setting practices, (ii) improving the legitimacy and capacity of institutions that set priorities, and (iii) developing fair priority setting processes.

Hazards of solid waste management: bioethical problems, principles, and priorities

Science.gov (United States)

Maxey, Margaret N.

1978-01-01

The putative hazards of solid waste management cannot be evaluated without placing the problem within a cultural climate of crisis where some persons consider such by-products of “high, hard technology” to have raised unresolved moral and ethical issues. In order to assist scientific and technical efforts to protect public health and safety, a bioethical perspective requires us to examine three controversial aspects of policy-making about public safety. Failure to recognize the qualitative difference between two cognitive activities—risk-measurements (objective, scientific probabilities) and safety-judgments (subjective, shifting value priorities)—has had three unfortunate consequences. Sophisticated methods of risk analysis have been applied in a piecemeal, haphazard, ad hoc fashion within traditional institutions with the false expectation that incremental risk-reducing programs automatically ensure public health and safety. Ethical priorities require, first and foremost, a whole new field of data arranged for comparable risk-analyses. Critics of cost/risk/benefit quantifications attack the absurdity of “putting a price on human life” but have not been confronted with its threefold ethical justification. The widening discrepancy in risk-perceptions and loss of mutual confidence between scientific experts and ordinary citizens has placed a burden of social responsibility on members of the scientific and technical community to engage in more effective public education through the political process, notwithstanding advocates of a nonscientific adversary process. The urgency of effective public education has been demonstrated by the extent to which we have lost our historically balanced judgment about the alleged environmental hazards posed by advanced technology. PMID:738238

Generating Political Priority for Neonatal Mortality Reduction in Bangladesh

Science.gov (United States)

Sultana, Sharmina

2013-01-01

The low priority that most low-income countries give to neonatal mortality, which now constitutes more than 40% of deaths to children younger than 5 years, is a stumbling block to the world achieving the child survival Millennium Development Goal. Bangladesh is an exception to this inattention. Between 2000 and 2011, newborn survival emerged from obscurity to relative prominence on the government’s health policy agenda. Drawing on a public policy framework, we analyzed how this attention emerged. Critical factors included national advocacy, government commitment to the Millennium Development Goals, and donor resources. The emergence of policy attention involved interactions between global and national factors rather than either alone. The case offers guidance on generating priority for neglected health problems in low-income countries. PMID:23237181

A mathematics course for political and social research

CERN Document Server

Moore, Will H

2013-01-01

Political science and sociology increasingly rely on mathematical modeling and sophisticated data analysis, and many graduate programs in these fields now require students to take a ""math camp"" or a semester-long or yearlong course to acquire the necessary skills. Available textbooks are written for mathematics or economics majors, and fail to convey to students of political science and sociology the reasons for learning often-abstract mathematical concepts. A Mathematics Course for Political and Social Research fills this gap, providing both a primer for math novices in the social s

From Pericles to Plato – from democratic political praxis to totalitarian political philosophy

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Øjvind Larsen

2012-03-01

Full Text Available Plato is normally taken as one of the founders of Western political philosophy, not at least with his Republic. Here, he constructs a hierarchy of forms of governments, beginning with aristocracy at the top as a critical standard for the other forms of governments, and proceeding through timocracy and oligarchy to democracy and tyranny at the bottom. Following Karl Popper, the paper argues that Plato’s is a totalitarian philosophy that emphasizes the similarities between democracy and tyranny, which it considers to be the two worst forms of government. Plato’s denigration of democracy has dominated the tradition of political philosophy until recent times. This paper, however, shows that political philosophy in fact originates in democracy, especially as developed by the sophists and that philosophy is only a form of sophism with a similar origin in ancient Greek democracy. A discussion of Pericles’ funeral oration is used to show that Pericles presented a democratic political philosophy that can serve as a counterpoint to Plato’s political philosophy in the Republic.

The value of multivariate model sophistication

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Rombouts, Jeroen; Stentoft, Lars; Violante, Francesco

2014-01-01

We assess the predictive accuracies of a large number of multivariate volatility models in terms of pricing options on the Dow Jones Industrial Average. We measure the value of model sophistication in terms of dollar losses by considering a set of 444 multivariate models that differ in their spec....... In addition to investigating the value of model sophistication in terms of dollar losses directly, we also use the model confidence set approach to statistically infer the set of models that delivers the best pricing performances.......We assess the predictive accuracies of a large number of multivariate volatility models in terms of pricing options on the Dow Jones Industrial Average. We measure the value of model sophistication in terms of dollar losses by considering a set of 444 multivariate models that differ...

Theorizing political psychology: Doing integrative social science under the condition of postmodernity

OpenAIRE

Rosenberg, Shawn W.

2003-01-01

At the beginning of the 21st century, the field of political psychology; like the social sciences more generally, is being challenged. New theoretical direction is being demanded from within and a greater epistemological sophistication and ethical relevance is being demanded from without. In response, direction for a reconstructed political psychology is offered here. To begin, a theoretical framework for a truly integrative political psychology is sketched. This is done in light of the appar...

Sophistication and Performance of Italian Agri‐food Exports

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Anna Carbone

2012-06-01

Full Text Available Nonprice competition is increasingly important in world food markets. Recently, the expression ‘export sophistication’ has been introduced in the economic literature to refer to a wide set of attributes that increase product value. An index has been proposed to measure sophistication in an indirect way through the per capita GDP of exporting countries (Lall et al., 2006; Haussmann et al., 2007.The paper applies the sophistication measure to the Italian food export sector, moving from an analysis of trends and performance of Italian food exports. An original way to disentangle different components in the temporal variation of the sophistication index is also proposed.Results show that the sophistication index offers original insights on recent trends in world food exports and with respect to Italian core food exports.

A Political Economy Analysis of Domestic Resource Mobilization in Uganda

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Kjær, Anne Mette; Ulriksen, Marianne Sandvad

-building with regard to mobilizing resources for social development. In the paper we analyse how political economy factors affect revenue raising and social spending priorities in Uganda. We establish a theoretical framework based on the political settlement theory, within which we explore instances of revenue bargain......-making. The first two instances relate to the actual mobilization of resources, whereas the third example focuses on bargains over spending priorities within a given revenue base. We find that in Uganda, a low-income country with competing political factions, there are specific challenges to mobilizing resources......This synthesis paper brings together the research findings from four papers prepared by the Uganda team as a part of the UNRISD Politics of Domestic Resource Mobilization for Social Development project, which addresses three broad themes: bargaining and contestation, key relations, and institution...

Regulating the Role of PMCs in Shaping Security and Politics

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Leander, Anna

2006-01-01

This paper focuses on the way PMCs shape security policies and more generally political priorities. Linking up with classical thinking about "civil-military relations", it suggests that preoccupation with security professionals' role in shaping politics is as important when these professionals...

77 FR 18884 - Announcement of the Priority Grant Competition for Immediate Release

Science.gov (United States)

2012-03-28

.... Afghanistan Iraq Pakistan Sudan Communication for Peacebuilding--Participatory Digital Mapping, Local Media, and Community Engagement Arab World Political Transformation The specific topics for each priority...

Priority Questions and Horizon Scanning for Conservation: A Comparative Study

Science.gov (United States)

Kark, Salit; Sutherland, William J.; Shanas, Uri; Klass, Keren; Achisar, Hila; Dayan, Tamar; Gavrieli, Yael; Justo-Hanani, Ronit; Mandelik, Yael; Orion, Nir; Pargament, David; Portman, Michelle; Reisman-Berman, Orna; Safriel, Uriel N.; Schaffer, Gad; Steiner, Noa; Tauber, Israel; Levin, Noam

2016-01-01

Several projects aimed at identifying priority issues for conservation with high relevance to policy have recently been completed in several countries. Two major types of projects have been undertaken, aimed at identifying (i) policy-relevant questions most imperative to conservation and (ii) horizon scanning topics, defined as emerging issues that are expected to have substantial implications for biodiversity conservation and policy in the future. Here, we provide the first overview of the outcomes of biodiversity and conservation-oriented projects recently completed around the world using this framework. We also include the results of the first questions and horizon scanning project completed for a Mediterranean country. Overall, the outcomes of the different projects undertaken (at the global scale, in the UK, US, Canada, Switzerland and in Israel) were strongly correlated in terms of the proportion of questions and/or horizon scanning topics selected when comparing different topic areas. However, some major differences were found across regions. There was large variation among regions in the percentage of proactive (i.e. action and response oriented) versus descriptive (non-response oriented) priority questions and in the emphasis given to socio-political issues. Substantial differences were also found when comparing outcomes of priority questions versus horizon scanning projects undertaken for the same region. For example, issues related to climate change, human demography and marine ecosystems received higher priority as horizon scanning topics, while ecosystem services were more emphasized as current priority questions. We suggest that future initiatives aimed at identifying priority conservation questions and horizon scanning topics should allow simultaneous identification of both current and future priority issues, as presented here for the first time. We propose that further emphasis on social-political issues should be explicitly integrated into future

The First Sophists and the Uses of History.

Science.gov (United States)

Jarratt, Susan C.

1987-01-01

Reviews the history of intellectual views on the Greek sophists in three phases: (1) their disparagement by Plato and Aristotle as the morally disgraceful "other"; (2) nineteenth century British positivists' reappraisal of these relativists as ethically and scientifically superior; and (3) twentieth century versions of the sophists as…

Cumulative Dominance and Probabilistic Sophistication

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Wakker, P.P.; Sarin, R.H.

2000-01-01

Machina & Schmeidler (Econometrica, 60, 1992) gave preference conditions for probabilistic sophistication, i.e. decision making where uncertainty can be expressed in terms of (subjective) probabilities without commitment to expected utility maximization. This note shows that simpler and more general

Igbo Political Systems | Nwaubani | Lagos Notes and Records

African Journals Online (AJOL)

In spite of the increased and sophisticated scholarly output on the Igbo, there is still a tendency to depict precolonial Igbo political systems in general and therefore overly simplified and misleading terms. This paper is an attempt to reconfigure the depiction of those systems. As with previous works that have carefully studied ...

Does Investors' Sophistication Affect Persistence and Pricing of Discretionary Accruals?

OpenAIRE

Lanfeng Kao

2007-01-01

This paper examines whether the sophistication of market investors influences management's strategy on discretionary accounting choice, and thus changes the persistence of discretionary accruals. The results show that the persistence of discretionary accruals for firms face with naive investors is lower than that for firms face with sophisticated investors. The results also demonstrate that sophisticated investors indeed incorporate the implications of current earnings components into future ...

Evolving political science. Biological adaptation, rational action, and symbolism.

Science.gov (United States)

Tingley, Dustin

2006-01-01

Political science, as a discipline, has been reluctant to adopt theories and methodologies developed in fields studying human behavior from an evolutionary standpoint. I ask whether evolutionary concepts are reconcilable with standard political-science theories and whether those concepts help solve puzzles to which these theories classically are applied. I find that evolutionary concepts readily and simultaneously accommodate theories of rational choice, symbolism, interpretation, and acculturation. Moreover, phenomena perennially hard to explain in standard political science become clearer when human interactions are understood in light of natural selection and evolutionary psychology. These phenomena include the political and economic effects of emotion, status, personal attractiveness, and variations in information-processing and decision-making under uncertainty; exemplary is the use of "focal points" in multiple-equilibrium games. I conclude with an overview of recent research by, and ongoing debates among, scholars analyzing politics in evolutionarily sophisticated terms.

The conceptualization and measurement of cognitive health sophistication.

Science.gov (United States)

Bodie, Graham D; Collins, William B; Jensen, Jakob D; Davis, Lashara A; Guntzviller, Lisa M; King, Andy J

2013-01-01

This article develops a conceptualization and measure of cognitive health sophistication--the complexity of an individual's conceptual knowledge about health. Study 1 provides initial validity evidence for the measure--the Healthy-Unhealthy Other Instrument--by showing its association with other cognitive health constructs indicative of higher health sophistication. Study 2 presents data from a sample of low-income adults to provide evidence that the measure does not depend heavily on health-related vocabulary or ethnicity. Results from both studies suggest that the Healthy-Unhealthy Other Instrument can be used to capture variability in the sophistication or complexity of an individual's health-related schematic structures on the basis of responses to two simple open-ended questions. Methodological advantages of the Healthy-Unhealthy Other Instrument and suggestions for future research are highlighted in the discussion.

Obfuscation, Learning, and the Evolution of Investor Sophistication

OpenAIRE

Bruce Ian Carlin; Gustavo Manso

2011-01-01

Investor sophistication has lagged behind the growing complexity of retail financial markets. To explore this, we develop a dynamic model to study the interaction between obfuscation and investor sophistication in mutual fund markets. Taking into account different learning mechanisms within the investor population, we characterize the optimal timing of obfuscation for financial institutions who offer retail products. We show that educational initiatives that are directed to facilitate learnin...

Probabilistic Sophistication, Second Order Stochastic Dominance, and Uncertainty Aversion

OpenAIRE

Simone Cerreia-Vioglio; Fabio Maccheroni; Massimo Marinacci; Luigi Montrucchio

2010-01-01

We study the interplay of probabilistic sophistication, second order stochastic dominance, and uncertainty aversion, three fundamental notions in choice under uncertainty. In particular, our main result, Theorem 2, characterizes uncertainty averse preferences that satisfy second order stochastic dominance, as well as uncertainty averse preferences that are probabilistically sophisticated.

Automatically Assessing Lexical Sophistication: Indices, Tools, Findings, and Application

Science.gov (United States)

Kyle, Kristopher; Crossley, Scott A.

2015-01-01

This study explores the construct of lexical sophistication and its applications for measuring second language lexical and speaking proficiency. In doing so, the study introduces the Tool for the Automatic Analysis of LExical Sophistication (TAALES), which calculates text scores for 135 classic and newly developed lexical indices related to word…

A Data-Driven Voter Guide for U.S. Elections: Adapting Quantitative Measures of the Preferences and Priorities of Political Elites to Help Voters Learn About Candidates

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Adam Bonica

2016-11-01

Full Text Available Internet-based voter advice applications have experienced tremendous growth across Europe in recent years but have yet to be widely adopted in the United States. By comparison, the candidate-centered U.S. electoral system, which routinely requires voters to consider dozens of candidates across a dizzying array of local, state, and federal offices each time they cast a ballot, introduces challenges of scale to the systematic provision of information. Only recently have methodological advances combined with the rapid growth in publicly available data on candidates and their supporters to bring a comprehensive data-driven voter guide within reach. This paper introduces a set of newly developed software tools for collecting, disambiguating, and merging large amounts of data on candidates and other political elites. It then demonstrates how statistical methods developed by political scientists to measure the preferences and expressed priorities of politicians can be adapted to help voters learn about candidates.

A Pedagogy of Civic Engagement for the Undergraduate Political Science Classroom

Science.gov (United States)

DeLaet, Debra L.

2016-01-01

This article provides an overview of a classroom project, titled the Priorities Project, which is designed to promote responsible and informed civic engagement on the part of students in upper level political science courses at Drake University. It provides an overview of the Priorities Project, a brief summary highlighting the process and results…

Financial Literacy and Financial Sophistication in the Older Population

Science.gov (United States)

Lusardi, Annamaria; Mitchell, Olivia S.; Curto, Vilsa

2017-01-01

Using a special-purpose module implemented in the Health and Retirement Study, we evaluate financial sophistication in the American population over the age of 50. We combine several financial literacy questions into an overall index to highlight which questions best capture financial sophistication and examine the sensitivity of financial literacy responses to framing effects. Results show that many older respondents are not financially sophisticated: they fail to grasp essential aspects of risk diversification, asset valuation, portfolio choice, and investment fees. Subgroups with notable deficits include women, the least educated, non-Whites, and those over age 75. In view of the fact that retirees increasingly must take on responsibility for their own retirement security, such meager levels of knowledge have potentially serious and negative implications. PMID:28553191

Financial Literacy and Financial Sophistication in the Older Population.

Science.gov (United States)

Lusardi, Annamaria; Mitchell, Olivia S; Curto, Vilsa

2014-10-01

Using a special-purpose module implemented in the Health and Retirement Study, we evaluate financial sophistication in the American population over the age of 50. We combine several financial literacy questions into an overall index to highlight which questions best capture financial sophistication and examine the sensitivity of financial literacy responses to framing effects. Results show that many older respondents are not financially sophisticated: they fail to grasp essential aspects of risk diversification, asset valuation, portfolio choice, and investment fees. Subgroups with notable deficits include women, the least educated, non-Whites, and those over age 75. In view of the fact that retirees increasingly must take on responsibility for their own retirement security, such meager levels of knowledge have potentially serious and negative implications.

System of Strategic Priorities and Indicators of Ecologically Sustainable Subsoil Use

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Lebedev Yuriy

2015-01-01

Full Text Available The system of strategic priorities and indicators of ecologically sustainable subsoil use is based on a fundamental basis - biotic regulation and it has a systematic character defined by conceptual, ideological, political and economic levels of management. It also possesses strict priorities and is based on interrelated ecological, economic and social factors, it reflects space-time dynamics of development and subsoil use. The indicators of ecologically sustainable subsoil use are indicators that characterize the change of natural, social and economic environment at different times; they provide qualitative and quantitative characteristic of subsoil use problem. The majority of existing sets of indicators of sustainable subsoil use doesn’t give a complete picture, is weakly connected with each other and no priorities are distinguished among them.

Multiple political identities: revisiting the 'maximum standard'

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Besselink, L.F.M.; Silveira, A.; Canotilho, M.; Madeira Froufe, P.

2013-01-01

This paper discusses the meaning of Art. 53 of the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights - which would seem to give priority to those fundamental rights which provide higher protection - from the perspective of fundamental rights as the expression of political and constitutional identity. In doing so, it

Ethics and equity in research priority-setting: stakeholder engagement and the needs of disadvantaged groups.

Science.gov (United States)

Bhaumik, Soumyadeep; Rana, Sangeeta; Karimkhani, Chante; Welch, Vivian; Armstrong, Rebecca; Pottie, Kevin; Dellavalle, Robert; Dhakal, Purushottam; Oliver, Sandy; Francis, Damian K; Nasser, Mona; Crowe, Sally; Aksut, Baran; Amico, Roberto D

2015-01-01

A transparent and evidence-based priority-setting process promotes the optimal use of resources to improve health outcomes. Decision-makers and funders have begun to increasingly engage representatives of patients and healthcare consumers to ensure that research becomes more relevant. However, disadvantaged groups and their needs may not be integrated into the priority-setting process since they do not have a "political voice" or are unable to organise into interest groups. Equitable priority-setting methods need to balance patient needs, values, experiences with population-level issues and issues related to the health system.

The Impact of Financial Sophistication on Adjustable Rate Mortgage Ownership

Science.gov (United States)

Smith, Hyrum; Finke, Michael S.; Huston, Sandra J.

2011-01-01

The influence of a financial sophistication scale on adjustable-rate mortgage (ARM) borrowing is explored. Descriptive statistics and regression analysis using recent data from the Survey of Consumer Finances reveal that ARM borrowing is driven by both the least and most financially sophisticated households but for different reasons. Less…

The factors affecting Nigeria's success toward implementation of global public health priorities.

Science.gov (United States)

Echebiri, Vitalis C

2015-06-01

This paper examines the challenges facing the Nigerian government toward the implementation of global public health priories. The Nigerian government recognizes the need to implement these priorities by putting in place the necessary policy framework, but political instability, poor infrastructural development and inadequate funding have remained barriers toward the achievement of success in implementing these priorities. The rest of the paper elucidates the fact that despite leadership and influence from the World Health Organization and other United Nations agencies, and some responses from the Nigerian government, tackling these public health problems requires much more fundamental reform to primary health services and a reduction in poverty. Although the government has shown enough political will to tackle these problems, it is expected that a better result will be achieved through injecting more funds into the Nigerian health sector, and deploying astute health administrators to manage the sector rather than pure health professionals without managerial acumen. © The Author(s) 2014.

Politics, power and poverty: health for all in 2000 in the Third World?

Science.gov (United States)

Green, R H

1991-01-01

Health for All by 2000 could become a reality in the Third World countries. On present resource allocation, medical professional and political patterns and trends that is unlikely to happen in more than a few countries. For it to happen requires basic priority shifts to universal access primary health care (including preventative). The main obstacles to such a shift are not absolute resource constraints but medical professional conservatism together with its interaction with elite interests and with political priorities based partly on perceived demand and partly on (largely medical) professional advice. These obstacles are surmountable-as illustrated by divergent performances among countries--but only if education, promotion, efficiency in terms of lives saved and healthy years gained, community participation and political activism for Health for All are more carefully analytically based and pursued more seriously and widely than they have been to date.

Cognitive Load and Strategic Sophistication

OpenAIRE

Allred, Sarah; Duffy, Sean; Smith, John

2013-01-01

We study the relationship between the cognitive load manipulation and strategic sophistication. The cognitive load manipulation is designed to reduce the subject's cognitive resources that are available for deliberation on a choice. In our experiment, subjects are placed under a large cognitive load (given a difficult number to remember) or a low cognitive load (given a number which is not difficult to remember). Subsequently, the subjects play a one-shot game then they are asked to recall...

Aristotle and Social-Epistemic Rhetoric: The Systematizing of the Sophistic Legacy.

Science.gov (United States)

Allen, James E.

While Aristotle's philosophical views are more foundational than those of many of the Older Sophists, Aristotle's rhetorical theories inherit and incorporate many of the central tenets ascribed to Sophistic rhetoric, albeit in a more systematic fashion, as represented in the "Rhetoric." However, Aristotle was more than just a rhetorical…

Rhetoric Tradition and Democracy: Isocrates’ Role in Ancient Greek Political Idea. Start Point of Western Political Philosophy

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Shokri Mehdi

2015-07-01

Full Text Available Political participation and the public education that have always been deployed to support the incipient progress of the civic life are revived in the modern political discourses. It has been believed that the age of pre-Socrates was the age of the Sophists whose acrid fallacy works occupied the political sphere, a malaise in government. However, speaking non-traditionally in the modern pedagogical system, there were some pre-Socratic thinkers and political philosophers/orators who’s works are the backbone of modern discourse on this matter. It will be examined whether any part of the classical rhetoric apparatus can be recovered and put to a good practice in the modern education and modern political participation. This point will be illustrated, furthermore, in this paper by alleging the importance of rhetoric, its role in Ancient Greek Democracy, and its influence on the modern concepts of power and democracy, as a continual element in a historical-political life. The further consideration is whether there was any democratic Polis existed in Ancient Athens and then, if there was, what characteristics it consisted of. Moreover, whether such concept can or should be considered in modern political discourses. In this sense, the liberal, non-dogmatic strain of the sophistry of Isocrates tradition urges us to indicate that the findings of this educational principles are, if not necessary, but adjutant complementary metes to our modern political knowledge of the states. In the end, it is inquired to see comparatively that how the tradition of rhetorical art and the concept of power in the Ancient Greek society have pertained to the modern democratic elements and whether we are able to empower this influential element in modern states.

Explaining cross-national variation in the relationship between priority congruence and satisfaction with democracy

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Reher, Stefanie

2015-01-01

Previous research has shown that citizens tend to be more satisfied with the functioning of democracy when their ideological positions are more proximate to representatives’.This article argues that congruence in policy priorities between citizens and political elites should have a similar effect...

Priority Setting for Universal Health Coverage: We Need Evidence-Informed Deliberative Processes, Not Just More Evidence on Cost-Effectiveness

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Rob Baltussen

2016-11-01

Full Text Available Priority setting of health interventions is generally considered as a valuable approach to support low- and middle-income countries (LMICs in their strive for universal health coverage (UHC. However, present initiatives on priority setting are mainly geared towards the development of more cost-effectiveness information, and this evidence does not sufficiently support countries to make optimal choices. The reason is that priority setting is in reality a value-laden political process in which multiple criteria beyond cost-effectiveness are important, and stakeholders often justifiably disagree about the relative importance of these criteria. Here, we propose the use of ‘evidence-informed deliberative processes’ as an approach that does explicitly recognise priority setting as a political process and an intrinsically complex task. In these processes, deliberation between stakeholders is crucial to identify, reflect and learn about the meaning and importance of values, informed by evidence on these values. Such processes then result in the use of a broader range of explicit criteria that can be seen as the product of both international learning (‘core’ criteria, which include eg, cost-effectiveness, priority to the worse off, and financial protection and learning among local stakeholders (‘contextual’ criteria. We believe that, with these evidence-informed deliberative processes in place, priority setting can provide a more meaningful contribution to achieving UHC.

Health Priorities in French-Speaking Swiss Cantons

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Philippe Chastonay

2018-01-01

Full Text Available In Switzerland, the federal authorities, the cantons, and the communes share the responsibility of healthcare, disease prevention and health promotion policies. Yet, the cantons are in most health matters independent in their decisions, thus defining as a matter of fact their own health priorities. We examined and analysed the content of the disease prevention and health promotion plans elaborated during the last decade in six French-speaking cantons with different political contexts and resources, but quite similar population health data, in order to identify the set health priorities. The plans appear significantly inhomogeneous in their structure, scope and priorities. Most of the formal documents are short, in the 16 to 40 pages range. Core values such as equity, solidarity and sustainability are explicitly put forward in 2/6 cantonal plans. Priority health issues shared by all 6 cantons are “physical activity/sedentariness” and “nutrition/food.” Mental health is explicitly mentioned in 5 cantonal plans, whereas tobacco and alcohol consumptions are mentioned 4 times. Less attention has been given to topics that appear as major public health challenges at present and in the future in Switzerland, eg, ageing of the population, rise of social inequalities, increase of vulnerable populations. Little attention has also been paid to issues like domestic violence or healthy work environments. Despite some heterogeneity, there is a common base that should make inter-cantonal collaborations possible and coordination with national strategies easily feasible.

Politically Correct Racism and the Geisha Novel: The Psychology of Sophisticated Racism Mirrors that of Ethnic Jokes

OpenAIRE

TANAKA, Tomoyuki

2006-01-01

In Section 1, politically correct racism (PC racism) is defined as an act with racist intent, justified by righteous appearance, with popularity or near-total acceptance because of its righteous appearance. In Section 2, after presenting a theory of jokes based on analyses by Sigmund Freud and Marvin Minsky, I show that the pleasure one derives from PC racism is similar to that derived from ethnic jokes. In Section 3, I point out the inaccuracies and prejudice contained in the novel Memoirs o...

Influencing the political process through coalitions: the Michigan Council for Maternal and Child Health.

Science.gov (United States)

Holm, R S; Shaheen, P N

1995-08-01

Building a coalition with others is an effective tool for increasing influence at the state level of the political process. It allows for the hiring of a staff who are able to maintain a constant presence in the ever-changing state political arena, which individual physicians and other caregivers simply cannot do. It allows for the development of increased sophistication among its members, which likewise increases the ability to affect the political process. It should be done with a philosophical set of standards that preserves its integrity and focuses on its goals, which must be carefully delineated from the inception. Coalitions are an effective way to deal with public issues of maternal and child health.

Political contexts and maternal health policy: insights from a comparison of south Indian states.

Science.gov (United States)

Smith, Stephanie L

2014-01-01

Nearly 300,000 women die from pregnancy-related complications each year. One-fifth of these deaths occur in India. Maternal survival rose on India's national policy agenda in the mid-2000s, but responsibility for health policy and implementation in the federal system is largely devolved to the state level where priority for the issue and maternal health outcomes vary. This study investigates sources of variation in maternal health policy and implementation sub-nationally in India. The study is guided by four analytical categories drawn from policy process literature: constitutional, governing and social structures; political contexts; actors and ideas. The experiences of two south Indian states-Tamil Nadu a leader and Karnataka a relatively slow mover-are examined. Process-tracing, a case study methodology that helps to identify roles of complex historical events in causal processes, was employed to investigate the research question in each state. The study is informed by interviews with public health policy experts and service delivery professionals, observation of implementation sites and archival document analysis. Historical legacies-Tamil Nadu's non-Brahmin social movement and Karnataka's developmental disparities combined with decentralization-shape the states' political contexts, affecting variation in maternal health policy and implementation. Competition to advance consistent political priorities across regimes in Tamil Nadu offers fertile ground for policy entrepreneurship and strong public health system administration facilitates progress. Inconsistent political priorities and relatively weak public health system administration frustrate progress in Karnataka. These variations offer insights to the ways in which sub-national political and administrative contexts shape health policy and implementation. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Current thinking in qualitative research: evidence-based practice, moral philosophies, and political struggle.

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Papadimitriou, Christina; Magasi, Susan; Frank, Gelya

2012-01-01

In this introduction to the special issue on current thinking in qualitative research and occupational therapy and science, the authors focus on the importance of rigorous qualitative research to inform occupational therapy practice. The authors chosen for this special issue reflect a "second generation of qualitative researchers" who are critical, theoretically sophisticated, methodologically productive, and politically relevant to show that working with disabled clients is political work. Three themes emerged across the articles included in this special issue: (1) recognizing and addressing social justice issues; (2) learning from clients' experiences; and (3) critically reframing occupational therapy's role. These themes can inform occupational therapy practice, research, and education to reflect a more client-centered and politically engaging approach. Copyright 2012, SLACK Incorporated.

[The Danish debate on priority setting in medicine - characteristics and results].

Science.gov (United States)

Pornak, S; Meyer, T; Raspe, H

2011-10-01

Priority setting in medicine helps to achieve a fair and transparent distribution of health-care resources. The German discussion about priority setting is still in its infancy and may benefit from other countries' experiences. This paper aims to analyse the Danish priority setting debate in order to stimulate the German discussion. The methods used are a literature analysis and a document analysis as well as expert interviews. The Danish debate about priority setting in medicine began in the 1970s, when a government committee was constituted to evaluate health-care priorities at the national level. In the 1980s a broader debate arose in politics, ethics, medicine and health economy. The discussions reached a climax in the 1990s, when many local activities - always involving the public - were initiated. Some Danish counties tried to implement priority setting in the daily routine of health care. The Council of Ethics was a major player in the debate of the 1990s and published a detailed statement on priority setting in 1996. With the new century the debate about priority setting seemed to have come to an end, but in 2006 the Technology Council and the Danish Regions resumed the discussion. In 2009 the Medical Association called for a broad debate in order to achieve equity among all patients. The long lasting Danish debate on priority setting has entailed only very little practical consequences on health care. The main problems seem to have been the missing effort to bundle the various local initiatives on a national level and the lack of powerful players to put results of the discussion into practice. Nevertheless, today the attitude towards priority setting is predominantly positive and even politicians talk freely about it. © Georg Thieme Verlag KG Stuttgart · New York.

PAUL AND SOPHISTIC RHETORIC: A PERSPECTIVE ON HIS ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

use of modern rhetorical theories but analyses the letter in terms of the clas- ..... If a critical reader would have had the traditional anti-sophistic arsenal ..... pressions and that 'rhetoric' is mainly a matter of communicating these thoughts.

Research priorities on ending child marriage and supporting married girls.

Science.gov (United States)

Svanemyr, Joar; Chandra-Mouli, Venkatraman; Raj, Anita; Travers, Ellen; Sundaram, Lakshmi

2015-09-03

Over the past few years the issue of child marriage has received growing political and programmatic attention. In spite of some progress in a number of countries, global rates have not declined over the past decade. Knowledge gaps remain in understanding trends, drivers and approaches to ending child marriage, especially to understand what is needed to achieve results on a large scale. This commentary summarizes the outcomes of an Expert Group Meeting organized by World Health Organization to discuss research priorities on Ending Child Marriage and Supporting Married Girls. It presents research gaps and recommends priorities for research in five key areas; (i) prevalence and trends of child marriage; (ii) causes of child marriage (iii) consequences of child marriage; (iv) efforts to prevent child marriage; (v) efforts to support married girls.

SMEs and new ventures need business model sophistication

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Kesting, Peter; Günzel-Jensen, Franziska

2015-01-01

, and Spreadshirt, this article develops a framework that introduces five business model sophistication strategies: (1) uncover additional functions of your product, (2) identify strategic benefits for third parties, (3) take advantage of economies of scope, (4) utilize cross-selling opportunities, and (5) involve...

Roman sophisticated surface modification methods to manufacture silver counterfeited coins

Science.gov (United States)

Ingo, G. M.; Riccucci, C.; Faraldi, F.; Pascucci, M.; Messina, E.; Fierro, G.; Di Carlo, G.

2017-11-01

By means of the combined use of X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), optical microscopy (OM) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM) coupled with energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDS) the surface and subsurface chemical and metallurgical features of silver counterfeited Roman Republican coins are investigated to decipher some aspects of the manufacturing methods and to evaluate the technological ability of the Roman metallurgists to produce thin silver coatings. The results demonstrate that over 2000 ago important advances in the technology of thin layer deposition on metal substrates were attained by Romans. The ancient metallurgists produced counterfeited coins by combining sophisticated micro-plating methods and tailored surface chemical modification based on the mercury-silvering process. The results reveal that Romans were able systematically to chemically and metallurgically manipulate alloys at a micro scale to produce adherent precious metal layers with a uniform thickness up to few micrometers. The results converge to reveal that the production of forgeries was aimed firstly to save expensive metals as much as possible allowing profitable large-scale production at a lower cost. The driving forces could have been a lack of precious metals, an unexpected need to circulate coins for trade and/or a combinations of social, political and economic factors that requested a change in money supply. Finally, some information on corrosion products have been achieved useful to select materials and methods for the conservation of these important witnesses of technology and economy.

Cross-Border Transitions: Navigating Conflict and Political Change through Community Education Practices in Myanmar and the Thai Border

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Maber, Elizabeth J. T.

2016-01-01

Political oscillations in Myanmar and Thailand, between militarisation and democratic reform, have prompted a rapid renegotiation of the alignments, goals and priorities of non-state education providers, both international and community-based, along the two countries' border. This paper explores the responses to shifts in political environment…

How to Use a Trafficked Woman. The Alliance between Political and Criminal Trafficking Organisations

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John Davies

2011-03-01

Full Text Available The principal argument of this paper is that migrant women with secure mobility rights and supportive social networks can avoid or mitigate many trafficking harms. However the paper contends that some actors have conspired to prevent such circumstances so as to pursue diverse political agendas at the expense of migrant women. The paper’s analysis restructures the trafficking contest from organised criminals versus law enforcement agencies to principally a contest between migrant women and those political agents who benefit from the moral panic associated with trafficking. It is then argued that it is these more sophisticated political actors rather than organised criminals and the clients of sex workers are the most important stakeholders in sustaining or exploiting trafficking harm. Therefore, it is concluded that resolving many trafficking harms in the EEA could be achieved by subverting political traffickers through improving migration policy rather than fighting organised crime.

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

Science.gov (United States)

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.

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

Science.gov (United States)

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.

EU-Korea FTA and Its Impact on V4 Economies. A Comparative Analysis of Trade Sophistication and Intra-Industry Trade

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Michalski Bartosz

2018-03-01

Full Text Available This paper investigates selected short- and mid-term effects in trade in goods between the Visegrad countries (V4: the Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland and the Slovak Republic and the Republic of Korea under the framework of the Free Trade Agreement between the European Union and the Republic of Korea. This Agreement is described in the “Trade for All” (2015: 9 strategy as the most ambitious trade deal ever implemented by the EU. The primary purpose of our analysis is to identify, compare, and evaluate the evolution of the technological sophistication of bilateral exports and imports. Another dimension of the paper concentrates on the developments within intra-industry trade. Moreover, these objectives are approached taking into account the context of the South Korean direct investment inflow to the V4. The evaluation of technological sophistication is based on UNCTAD’s methodology, while the intensity of intra-industry trade is measured by the GL-index and identification of its subcategories (horizontal and vertical trade. The analysis covers the timespan 2001–2015. The novelty of the paper lies in the fact that the study of South Korean-V4 trade relations has not so far been carried out from this perspective. Thus this paper investigates interesting phenomena identified in the trade between the Republic of Korea (ROK and V4 economies. The main findings imply an impact of South Korean direct investments on trade. This is represented by the trade deficit of the V4 with ROK and the structure of bilateral trade in terms of its technological sophistication. South Korean investments might also have had positive consequences for the evolution of IIT, particularly in the machinery sector. The political interpretation indicates that they may strengthen common threats associated with the middle-income trap, particularly the technological gap and the emphasis placed on lower costs of production.

Priority setting at the micro-, meso- and macro-levels in Canada, Norway and Uganda.

Science.gov (United States)

Kapiriri, Lydia; Norheim, Ole Frithjof; Martin, Douglas K

2007-06-01

The objectives of this study were (1) to describe the process of healthcare priority setting in Ontario-Canada, Norway and Uganda at the three levels of decision-making; (2) to evaluate the description using the framework for fair priority setting, accountability for reasonableness; so as to identify lessons of good practices. We carried out case studies involving key informant interviews, with 184 health practitioners and health planners from the macro-level, meso-level and micro-level from Canada-Ontario, Norway and Uganda (selected by virtue of their varying experiences in priority setting). Interviews were audio-recorded, transcribed and analyzed using a modified thematic approach. The descriptions were evaluated against the four conditions of "accountability for reasonableness", relevance, publicity, revisions and enforcement. Areas of adherence to these conditions were identified as lessons of good practices; areas of non-adherence were identified as opportunities for improvement. (i) at the macro-level, in all three countries, cabinet makes most of the macro-level resource allocation decisions and they are influenced by politics, public pressure, and advocacy. Decisions within the ministries of health are based on objective formulae and evidence. International priorities influenced decisions in Uganda. Some priority-setting reasons are publicized through circulars, printed documents and the Internet in Canada and Norway. At the meso-level, hospital priority-setting decisions were made by the hospital managers and were based on national priorities, guidelines, and evidence. Hospital departments that handle emergencies, such as surgery, were prioritized. Some of the reasons are available on the hospital intranet or presented at meetings. Micro-level practitioners considered medical and social worth criteria. These reasons are not publicized. Many practitioners lacked knowledge of the macro- and meso-level priority-setting processes. (ii) Evaluation

Geopolitics of energy versus geoenergy of politics

OpenAIRE

VIDAKIS IOANNIS; Baltos Georgios; Balodis Janis

2018-01-01

This study focuses on the significance of energy resources, supply networks and security, recognizing their key role in the analysis and interpretation of national and international politics and economics. Furthermore, the pursuit of ensuring guaranteed availability of oil and natural gas in the desirable quantities is gradually expected to play a pivotal role in the foreign policies and priorities of all the countries on the planet, especially those of the 'Great Powers' having increased dep...

Geopolitics of energy versus geoenergy of politics

OpenAIRE

VIDAKIS, Ioannis; BALTOS, Georgios; BALODIS, Janis

2017-01-01

Published version PDF deposited in Cadmus for personal research purposes only. This study focuses on the significance of energy resources, supply networks and security, recognizing their key role in the analysis and interpretation of national and international politics and economics. Furthermore, the pursuit of ensuring guaranteed availability of oil and natural gas in the desirable quantities is gradually expected to play a pivotal role in the foreign policies and priorities of all the co...

Exploring stakeholders' views of medical education research priorities: a national survey.

Science.gov (United States)

Dennis, Ashley A; Cleland, Jennifer A; Johnston, Peter; Ker, Jean S; Lough, Murray; Rees, Charlotte E

2014-11-01

Setting research priorities is important when exploring complex issues with limited resources. Only two countries (Canada and New Zealand) have previously conducted priority-setting exercises for medical education research (MER). This study aimed to identify the views of multiple stakeholders on MER priorities in Scotland. This study utilised a two-stage design to explore the views of stakeholders across the medical education continuum using online questionnaires. In Stage 1, key informants outlined their top three MER priorities and justified their choices. In Stage 2, participants rated 21 topics generated in Stage 1 according to importance and identified or justified their top priorities. A combination of qualitative (i.e. framework analysis) and quantitative (e.g. exploratory factor analysis) data analyses were employed. Views were gathered from over 1300 stakeholders. A total of 21 subthemes (or priority areas) identified in Stage 1 were explored further in Stage 2. The 21 items loaded onto five factors: the culture of learning together in the workplace; enhancing and valuing the role of educators; curriculum integration and innovation; bridging the gap between assessment and feedback, and building a resilient workforce. Within Stage 2, the top priority subthemes were: balancing conflicts between service and training; providing useful feedback; promoting resiliency and well-being; creating an effective workplace learning culture; selecting and recruiting doctors to reflect need, and ensuring that curricula prepare trainees for practice. Participant characteristics were related to the perceived importance of the factors. Finally, five themes explaining why participants prioritised items were identified: patient safety; quality of care; investing for the future; policy and political agendas, and evidence-based education. This study indicates that, across the spectrum of stakeholders and geography, certain MER priorities are consistently identified. These

Sustainable development: four post-2015 priorities

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Demailly, Damien; Spinazze, Lena; Treyer, Sebastien

2016-06-01

This Policy Brief provides a political agenda for actors engaged in the transformation. It identifies four priority drivers of action to build on the successes of 2015 and to support the progress towards sustainable development: adapting and implementing international commitments in countries; organizing the monitoring of commitments at the international level; encouraging the convergence of signals to bring about a massive investment shift; anticipating social impacts and placing social justice at the center of the transition. This brief is based on analytical work carried out over several months by a committee of practitioners and sustainable development experts, and on discussions involving 150 participants at the international conference 'Sustainable Development: it's time' organized in Paris by IDDRI on May 10-11, 2016

Definition And Realization Of The Priorities Features Of Public Prosecutor's Activity In The Sphere Of Rights And Freedoms Of The Man And Citizen Observance

OpenAIRE

Nadezhda A. Igonina; Tatyana V. Ashitkova; Vladimir G. Bessarabov

2015-01-01

In the present article the notion of "priorities of the prosecution" are defined, its value for the sphere of human rights and freedoms of man and citizen are stated. The classification of priorities, which is based on the provisions of the Russian Constitution and international law are stated. According to the authors, under the primary protection are the personal rights, which are derived from a natural person's status, inherent from birth. Next in order of priority are political rights, en...

A population-based model for priority setting across the care continuum and across modalities

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Mortimer Duncan

2006-03-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background The Health-sector Wide (HsW priority setting model is designed to shift the focus of priority setting away from 'program budgets' – that are typically defined by modality or disease-stage – and towards well-defined target populations with a particular disease/health problem. Methods The key features of the HsW model are i a disease/health problem framework, ii a sequential approach to covering the entire health sector, iii comprehensiveness of scope in identifying intervention options and iv the use of objective evidence. The HsW model redefines the unit of analysis over which priorities are set to include all mutually exclusive and complementary interventions for the prevention and treatment of each disease/health problem under consideration. The HsW model is therefore incompatible with the fragmented approach to priority setting across multiple program budgets that currently characterises allocation in many health systems. The HsW model employs standard cost-utility analyses and decision-rules with the aim of maximising QALYs contingent upon the global budget constraint for the set of diseases/health problems under consideration. It is recognised that the objective function may include non-health arguments that would imply a departure from simple QALY maximisation and that political constraints frequently limit degrees of freedom. In addressing these broader considerations, the HsW model can be modified to maximise value-weighted QALYs contingent upon the global budget constraint and any political constraints bearing upon allocation decisions. Results The HsW model has been applied in several contexts, recently to osteoarthritis, that has demonstrated both its practical application and its capacity to derive clear evidenced-based policy recommendations. Conclusion Comparisons with other approaches to priority setting, such as Programme Budgeting and Marginal Analysis (PBMA and modality-based cost

[General legal conditions for prioritisation within the scope of the German Statutory Health Insurance system].

Science.gov (United States)

Welti, Felix

2009-01-01

In setting health care priorities the law, and in particular the constitution, has to be obeyed. The social constitutional state must guarantee minimum access to health care. Members of the Statutory Health Insurance (SHI) shall have access to health care services protecting their life and ensuring their participation in society. They shall not be discriminated according to gender, race and ethnic origin, language, disability, age and sexual orientation. Essential decisions will have to be made by the legislator. Within the EC the right to access health care services in another EC member state may be an obstacle to prioritisation on the national level, e.g., to waiting lists. The exclusion of health care services on the basis of the social security law may be too simplistic an approach. Administrative discretion needs priorities, but it is unclear whether these are set to meet political priorities and real needs. The decisions of the Federal Joint Committee (Gemeinsamer Bundesausschuss) are sophisticated enough but have to respect the rule of law. There are deficits in research on the prioritisation effects of health care law. Diminishing these deficits is a prerequisite for turning political priorities into effective legal provisions.

How mass media attract political elites' attention

OpenAIRE

Sevenans, Julie

2018-01-01

Abstract: Political agenda-setting research has shown that policy makers are responsive vis-à-vis media priorities. However, the mechanisms behind this effect have remained understudied so far. In particular, agenda-setting scholars have difficulties determining to what extent politicians react to media coverage purely because of the information it contains (information effect), and to what extent the effect is driven not by what the media say but by the fact that certain information is in th...

John Rawls: The Political Education

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Elnora Gondim

2010-01-01

Full Text Available Rawls defines education as the training and development of abilities and aptitudes, a civic, constitutional teaching, as a means for making a living and developing a cooperation sense. To understand the role of education in Rawls’ work we need to understand the concept of a well-ordered society. It is related to primary goods. In them political freedoms are given priority; and through them citizens —in developing their expression and meeting abilities, in enjoying freedom of thought— may get to enhance their self-esteem; guaranteeing citizens’ personal and social life enrichment. From this perspective, education plays a central role in society, as it helps to develop autonomy, allowing for individuals’ actions to be reflected by the principles they would accept as rational, reasonable, equal and free beings. As a consequence, education enables citizens for public debate. According to the theory of justice as fairness, differently from utilitarianism, citizenship development is a fundamental element; politics and education are intertwined aspects.

Factors shaping political priorities for violence against women-mitigation policies in Sri Lanka.

Science.gov (United States)

Colombini, Manuela; Mayhew, Susannah H; Lund, Ragnhild; Singh, Navpreet; Swahnberg, Katarina; Infanti, Jennifer; Schei, Berit; Wijewardene, Kumudu

2018-05-25

Although violence against women (VAW) is a global public health issue, its importance as a health issue is often unrecognized in legal and health policy documents. This paper uses Sri Lanka as a case study to explore the factors influencing the national policy response to VAW, particularly by the health sector. A document based health policy analysis was conducted to examine current policy responses to VAW in Sri Lanka using the Shiffman and Smith (2007) policy analysis framework. The findings suggest that the networks and influences of various actors in Sri Lanka, and their ideas used to frame the issue of VAW, have been particularly important in shaping the nature of the policy response to date. The Ministry of Women and Child Affairs led the national response on VAW, but suffered from limited financial and political support. Results also suggest that there was low engagement by the health sector in the initial policy response to VAW in Sri Lanka, which focused primarily on criminal legislation, following global influences. Furthermore, a lack of empirical data on VAW has impeded its promotion as a health policy issue, despite financial support from international organisations enabling an initial health systems response by the Ministry of Health. Until a legal framework was established (2005), the political context provided limited opportunities for VAW to also be construed as a health issue. It was only then that the Ministry of Health got legitimacy to institutionalise VAW services. Nearly a decade later, a change in government has led to a new national plan on VAW, giving a clear role to the health sector in the fight against VAW. High-level political will, criminalisation of violence, coalesced women's groups advocating for legislative change, prevalence data, and financial support from influential institutions are all critical elements helping frame violence as a national public health issue.

Burden of Disease Study and Priority Setting in Korea: an Ethical Perspective.

Science.gov (United States)

Park, So Youn; Kwon, Ivo; Oh, In Hwan

2016-11-01

When thinking about priority setting in access to healthcare resources, decision-making requires that cost-effectiveness is balanced against medical ethics. The burden of disease has emerged as an important approach to the assessment of health needs for political decision-making. However, the disability adjusted life years approach hides conceptual and methodological issues regarding the claims and value of disabled people. In this article, we discuss ethical issues that are raised as a consequence of the introduction of evidence-based health policy, such as economic evidence, in establishing resource allocation priorities. In terms of ethical values in health priority setting in Korea, there is no reliable rationale for the judgment used in decision-making as well as for setting separate and distinct priorities for different government bodies. An important question, therefore, is which ethical values guiding the practice of decision-making should be reconciled with the economic evidence found in Korean healthcare. The health technology assessment core model from the European network for Health Technology Assessment (EUnetHTA) project is a good example of incorporating ethical values into decision-making. We suggest that a fair distribution of scarce healthcare resources in South Korea can be achieved by considering the ethical aspects of healthcare.

The Relationship between Logistics Sophistication and Drivers of the Outsourcing of Logistics Activities

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Peter Wanke

2008-10-01

Full Text Available A strong link has been established between operational excellence and the degree of sophistication of logistics organization, a function of factors such as performance monitoring, investment in Information Technology [IT] and the formalization of logistics organization, as proposed in the Bowersox, Daugherty, Dröge, Germain and Rogers (1992 Leading Edge model. At the same time, shippers have been increasingly outsourcing their logistics activities to third party providers. This paper, based on a survey with large Brazilian shippers, addresses a gap in the literature by investigating the relationship between dimensions of logistics organization sophistication and drivers of logistics outsourcing. To this end, the dimensions behind the logistics sophistication construct were first investigated. Results from factor analysis led to the identification of six dimensions of logistics sophistication. By means of multivariate logistical regression analyses it was possible to relate some of these dimensions, such as the formalization of the logistics organization, to certain drivers of the outsourcing of logistics activities of Brazilian shippers, such as cost savings. These results indicate the possibility of segmenting shippers according to characteristics of their logistics organization, which may be particularly useful to logistics service providers.

Lexical Complexity Development from Dynamic Systems Theory Perspective: Lexical Density, Diversity, and Sophistication

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Reza Kalantari

2017-10-01

Full Text Available This longitudinal case study explored Iranian EFL learners’ lexical complexity (LC through the lenses of Dynamic Systems Theory (DST. Fifty independent essays written by five intermediate to advanced female EFL learners in a TOEFL iBT preparation course over six months constituted the corpus of this study. Three Coh-Metrix indices (Graesser, McNamara, Louwerse, & Cai, 2004; McNamara & Graesser, 2012, three Lexical Complexity Analyzer indices (Lu, 2010, 2012; Lu & Ai, 2011, and four Vocabprofile indices (Cobb, 2000 were selected to measure different dimensions of LC. Results of repeated measures analysis of variance (RM ANOVA indicated an improvement with regard to only lexical sophistication. Positive and significant relationships were found between time and mean values in Academic Word List and Beyond-2000 as indicators of lexical sophistication. The remaining seven indices of LC, falling short of significance, tended to flatten over the course of this writing program. Correlation analyses among LC indices indicated that lexical density enjoyed positive correlations with lexical sophistication. However, lexical diversity revealed no significant correlations with both lexical density and lexical sophistication. This study suggests that DST perspective specifies a viable foundation for analyzing lexical complexity

Politics and public health ethics in practice: right and left meet right and wrong.

Science.gov (United States)

Gollust, Sarah E; Baum, Nancy M; Jacobson, Peter D

2008-01-01

As public health practitioners are no doubt aware, public health practice and politics are closely linked. Although theoretical discussion of the emerging field of public health ethics has been rich, scholars have paid little attention to the relationship between ethical issues and politics in public health practice. We conducted semistructured interviews with 45 public health practitioners across a range of occupations (eg, health officers, medical directors, sanitarians, nurses, educators, and commissioners) working at 12 local health departments across Michigan and the state health department. Practitioners were asked to describe the ethical issues they faced in their daily practice. Ethical issues that resulted from the political environment emerged as one major category of ethical issues our interviewees described. This article illustrates how political issues engender ethical challenges in 4 main areas: public health agenda-setting, political pressures, political conflicts with best practices, and the scope of public health practice. The findings suggest that politics and public health ethics intrinsically intersect, because political pressures and priorities often impose ethical challenges that practitioners negotiate in their daily work.

Power Politics and the Rule of Law in Post-Dayton Bosnia

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Timothy Donais

2013-06-01

Full Text Available Over the past two decades, therule of law has emerged as a key priority within contemporary peacebuildingefforts. Drawing on examples from post-Dayton Bosnia, this article examines theimpact of rule of law reform efforts on broader patterns of power and politicalauthority in peacebuilding contexts. It suggests that in the case of Bosnia,the use of rule of law strategies to restructure political life has largelyfailed. Thus, despite some notable achievements on the rule of law front, thecore dynamics of Bosnia’s political conflict remain intact, and country’s peaceprocess is as fragile as ever. The article concludes by noting that charting acourse between accepting the political status quo and fundamentallytransforming it requires more nuanced approaches that advance the rule of laweven while accepting its limits as an instrument of deep politicaltransformation.

How Thailand's greater convergence created sustainable funding for emerging health priorities caused by globalization.

Science.gov (United States)

Charoenca, Naowarut; Kungskulniti, Nipapun; Mock, Jeremiah; Hamann, Stephen; Vathesatogkit, Prakit

2015-01-01

Global health is shifting gradually from a limited focus on individual communicable disease goals to the formulation of broader sustainable health development goals. A major impediment to this shift is that most low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) have not established adequate sustainable funding for health promotion and health infrastructure. In this article, we analyze how Thailand, a middle-income country, created a mechanism for sustainable funding for health. We analyzed the progression of tobacco control and health promotion policies over the past three decades within the wider political-economic and sociocultural context. We constructed a parallel longitudinal analysis of statistical data on one emerging priority - road accidents - to determine whether policy shifts resulted in reduced injuries, hospitalizations and deaths. In Thailand, the convergence of priorities among national interest groups for sustainable health development created an opportunity to use domestic tax policy and to create a semi-autonomous foundation (ThaiHealth) to address a range of pressing health priorities, including programs that substantially reduced road accidents. Thailand's strategic process to develop a domestic mechanism for sustainable funding for health may provide LMICs with a roadmap to address emerging health priorities, especially those caused by modernization and globalization.

[Economic and political aspects of prostate cancer prevention].

Science.gov (United States)

Durand-Zaleski, I

2008-04-01

Deciding on a health policy in practice means dedicating human and financial resources and prioritising spendings. The economic evaluation of prevention strategies attempts to establish a relationship between the medical benefit of prevention and its additional cost (or in some cases cost reduction) compared to no prevention. Decisions on reimbursing drugs, interventions or funding health programmes do not usually follow efficiency criteria which define economic rationality. Politics may for example decide to make prostate cancer a public health priority if mortality in a country or in some regions of the country appears to be excessively high. Economic rationality alone is not an appropriate factor on which to base a decision which may be purely political, reflecting the actual values of the society at a given point in time.

Bureaucratic politics and national preference formation in EU constitutional politics – is the state merely a transmission belt?

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Beach, Derek

  In a perfect representative democracy, there is a democratic chain of delegation that links voters with their elected representatives and then onwards to the executive branch and finally to civil servants in the bureaucracy (Strøm 2000). But is this an accurate picture of foreign policy making ...... that bureaucratic politics do matter, and that how positions are coordinated did have some independent impact upon national positions. But in the majority of issues, it does appear that the state was merely a transmission belt for executive priorities....

The musicality of non-musicians: an index for assessing musical sophistication in the general population.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Daniel Müllensiefen

Full Text Available Musical skills and expertise vary greatly in Western societies. Individuals can differ in their repertoire of musical behaviours as well as in the level of skill they display for any single musical behaviour. The types of musical behaviours we refer to here are broad, ranging from performance on an instrument and listening expertise, to the ability to employ music in functional settings or to communicate about music. In this paper, we first describe the concept of 'musical sophistication' which can be used to describe the multi-faceted nature of musical expertise. Next, we develop a novel measurement instrument, the Goldsmiths Musical Sophistication Index (Gold-MSI to assess self-reported musical skills and behaviours on multiple dimensions in the general population using a large Internet sample (n = 147,636. Thirdly, we report results from several lab studies, demonstrating that the Gold-MSI possesses good psychometric properties, and that self-reported musical sophistication is associated with performance on two listening tasks. Finally, we identify occupation, occupational status, age, gender, and wealth as the main socio-demographic factors associated with musical sophistication. Results are discussed in terms of theoretical accounts of implicit and statistical music learning and with regard to social conditions of sophisticated musical engagement.

The musicality of non-musicians: an index for assessing musical sophistication in the general population.

Science.gov (United States)

Müllensiefen, Daniel; Gingras, Bruno; Musil, Jason; Stewart, Lauren

2014-01-01

Musical skills and expertise vary greatly in Western societies. Individuals can differ in their repertoire of musical behaviours as well as in the level of skill they display for any single musical behaviour. The types of musical behaviours we refer to here are broad, ranging from performance on an instrument and listening expertise, to the ability to employ music in functional settings or to communicate about music. In this paper, we first describe the concept of 'musical sophistication' which can be used to describe the multi-faceted nature of musical expertise. Next, we develop a novel measurement instrument, the Goldsmiths Musical Sophistication Index (Gold-MSI) to assess self-reported musical skills and behaviours on multiple dimensions in the general population using a large Internet sample (n = 147,636). Thirdly, we report results from several lab studies, demonstrating that the Gold-MSI possesses good psychometric properties, and that self-reported musical sophistication is associated with performance on two listening tasks. Finally, we identify occupation, occupational status, age, gender, and wealth as the main socio-demographic factors associated with musical sophistication. Results are discussed in terms of theoretical accounts of implicit and statistical music learning and with regard to social conditions of sophisticated musical engagement.

The New Toxicology of Sophisticated Materials: Nanotoxicology and Beyond

Science.gov (United States)

Maynard, Andrew D.; Warheit, David B.; Philbert, Martin A.

2011-01-01

It has long been recognized that the physical form of materials can mediate their toxicity—the health impacts of asbestiform materials, industrial aerosols, and ambient particulate matter are prime examples. Yet over the past 20 years, toxicology research has suggested complex and previously unrecognized associations between material physicochemistry at the nanoscale and biological interactions. With the rapid rise of the field of nanotechnology and the design and production of increasingly complex nanoscale materials, it has become ever more important to understand how the physical form and chemical composition of these materials interact synergistically to determine toxicity. As a result, a new field of research has emerged—nanotoxicology. Research within this field is highlighting the importance of material physicochemical properties in how dose is understood, how materials are characterized in a manner that enables quantitative data interpretation and comparison, and how materials move within, interact with, and are transformed by biological systems. Yet many of the substances that are the focus of current nanotoxicology studies are relatively simple materials that are at the vanguard of a new era of complex materials. Over the next 50 years, there will be a need to understand the toxicology of increasingly sophisticated materials that exhibit novel, dynamic and multifaceted functionality. If the toxicology community is to meet the challenge of ensuring the safe use of this new generation of substances, it will need to move beyond “nano” toxicology and toward a new toxicology of sophisticated materials. Here, we present a brief overview of the current state of the science on the toxicology of nanoscale materials and focus on three emerging toxicology-based challenges presented by sophisticated materials that will become increasingly important over the next 50 years: identifying relevant materials for study, physicochemical characterization, and

The political economy of emissions trading

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hanoteau, J.

2004-06-01

This thesis is a positive analysis of emissions trading systems' implementation. We explain why allowances are generally granted for free even though normative economic analysis recommends their sale. We show empirically that free tradable permits, source of windfall profit, motivate rent seeking behaviours. The study focuses on the US market for SO 2 emissions allowances. The initial allocation rule resulted from parliamentary discussions that looked like a zero sum game. We formalize it as an endogenous sharing rule, function of lobbying effort, and we test it using political (money) contributions.We analyse theoretically the behaviour of an influenced regulator that has chosen to organize a market for permits and that must still decide on two policy variables: the whole quantity of permits and the way to allocate them initially. We formalize this decisions making process with the common agency model of politics.We show that the choice of an initial allocation rule is not neutral in presence of political market failures (lobbying). The decision to sell the permits or to grant them for free modifies the shareholders' incentive, in a polluting industry, to pressure for or against the reduction of legal emissions.Then, we analyse the public arbitration between the two policy variables when several industrial lobbies play a partially cooperative game for the free permits. The regulator chooses in priority to grant the rights for free rather than to manipulate their quantity, and this constitutes an efficient answer to the political influence. (author)

How Internal Political Efficacy Translates Political Knowledge Into Political Participation

Science.gov (United States)

Reichert, Frank

2016-01-01

This study presents evidence for the mediation effect of political knowledge through political self-efficacy (i.e. internal political efficacy) in the prediction of political participation. It employs an action theoretic approach—by and large grounded on the Theory of Planned Behaviour—and uses data from the German Longitudinal Election Study to examine whether political knowledge has distinct direct effects on voting, conventional, and/or unconventional political participation. It argues that political knowledge raises internal political efficacy and thereby indirectly increases the chance that a citizen will participate in politics. The results of mediated multiple regression analyses yield evidence that political knowledge indeed translates into internal political efficacy, thus it affects political participation of various kinds indirectly. However, internal political efficacy and intentions to participate politically yield simultaneous direct effects only on conventional political participation. Sequentially mediated effects appear for voting and conventional political participation, with political knowledge being mediated by internal political efficacy and subsequently also by behavioural intentions. The mediation patterns for unconventional political participation are less clear though. The discussion accounts for restrictions of this study and points to questions for answer by future research. PMID:27298633

Procles the Carthaginian: A North African Sophist in Pausanias’ Periegesis

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Juan Pablo Sánchez Hernández

2010-11-01

Full Text Available Procles, cited by Pausanias (in the imperfect tense about a display in Rome and for an opinion about Pyrrhus of Epirus, probably was not a historian of Hellenistic date, but a contemporary sophist whom Pausanias encountered in person in Rome.

Bottom-up priority setting revised. A second evaluation of an institutional intervention in a Swedish health care organisation.

Science.gov (United States)

Waldau, Susanne

2015-09-01

Transparent priority setting in health care based on specific ethical principles is requested by the Swedish Parliament since 1997. Implementation has been limited. In this case, transparent priority setting was performed for a second time round and engaged an entire health care organisation. Objectives were to refine a bottom-up priority setting process, reach a political decision on service limits to make reallocation towards higher prioritised services possible, and raise systems knowledge. An action research approach was chosen. The national model for priority setting was used with addition of dimensions costs, volumes, gender distribution and feasibility. The intervention included a three step process and specific procedures for each step which were created, revised and evaluated regarding factual and functional aspects. Evaluations methods included analyses of documents, recordings and surveys. Vertical and horizontal priority setting occurred and resources were reallocated. Participants' attitudes remained positive, however less so than in the first priority setting round. Identifying low-priority services was perceived difficult, causing resentment and strategic behaviour. The horizontal stage served to raise quality of the knowledge base, level out differences in ranking of services and raise systems knowledge. Existing health care management systems do not meet institutional requirements for transparent priority setting. Introducing transparent priority setting constitutes a complex institutional reform, which needs to be driven by management/administration. Strong managerial commitment is required. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.

The Political Economy of Healthcare Litigation : Model and Empirical Application to Uruguay

OpenAIRE

Corduneanu-Huci, Cristina; Hamilton, Alexander; Masses-Ferrer, Issel

2011-01-01

The political economy of health care is complex, as stakeholders have conflicting preferences over efficiency and equity. This paper formally models the preferences of consumer and producer groups involved in priority setting and judicialization in public health care. It uses a unique dataset of stakeholder perceptions, from Uruguay, to test whether these hypotheses are consistent with emp...

Insects as food and feed: European perspectives on recent research and future priorities

OpenAIRE

Payne, C; Doberman, D; Forkes, AD; House, J; Josephs, J; McBride, A; Mueller, A; Quilliam, R; Soares, S

2016-01-01

This is the final version of the article. It first appeared from Wageningen Academic Publishers via http://dx.doi.org/10.3920/JIFF2016.0011 This paper discusses the current state and priorities of Europe-based research on insects as food and feed, based on presentations at a workshop held in December 2015, and discussions that followed. We divide research into studies that focus on farming, health and nutrition, and those that prioritise psychological, social and political concerns. Edible...

ESARDA - safeguards in the wake of politics

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ehrfeld, U.

1983-01-01

As the number of facilities to be put under safeguards control in accordance with non-proliferation aspects increases, the scope and priorities of surveillance measures are becoming more and more of a politica issue. This problem also arises for ESARDA, the association of European research centers and operators of nuclear facilities working on research and development in the safeguards field with the participation of Euratom. It involves the need to keep politics out of this scientific and technical field, also because of the composition of ESARDA. (orig.) [de

Quality Assurance in the Political Context: In the Midst of Different Expectations and Conflicting Goals

Science.gov (United States)

Beerkens, Maarja

2015-01-01

Higher education quality assurance systems develop within a complex political environment where national level goals and priorities interact with European and global developments. Furthermore, quality assurance is influenced by broader processes in the public sector that set expectations with respect to accountability, legitimacy and regulatory…

Does underground storage still require sophisticated studies?

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Marsily, G. de

1997-01-01

Most countries agree to the necessity of burying high or medium-level wastes in geological layers situated at a few hundred meters below the ground level. The advantages and disadvantages of different types of rock such as salt, clay, granite and volcanic material are examined. Sophisticated studies are lead to determine the best geological confinement but questions arise about the time for which safety must be ensured. France has chosen 3 possible sites. These sites are geologically described in the article. The final place will be proposed after a testing phase of about 5 years in an underground facility. (A.C.)

The Politics of US Feminist Internationalism and Cuba: Solidarities and Fractures on the Venceremos Brigades, 1969-89

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Karen W. Tice

2018-03-01

Full Text Available Despite US travel bans to Cuba, a wide spectrum of US feminist and radical activists defied and crossed geo-political borders to participate in unique modes of solidarity activism and alliances with Cuba revolutionaries. Based on the narratives of US feminist political travellers who joined the Venceremos Brigades, an anti-imperialist radical education project, this article analyses the difficult conversations about feminism, gender politics, homophobia, racism, cultural imperialism, revolutionary priorities, social change strategies, and intersectionality as well as the productive organisational linkages that were generated by this political travel. This article highlights how political differences were both managed and/or silenced within transnational activist encounters, and concludes by suggesting the import of these debates for building and sustaining multi-issue and coalitional affinities within contemporary transnational feminist organising and solidarity delegations.

How Thailand's greater convergence created sustainable funding for emerging health priorities caused by globalization

Science.gov (United States)

Charoenca, Naowarut; Kungskulniti, Nipapun; Mock, Jeremiah; Hamann, Stephen; Vathesatogkit, Prakit

2015-01-01

Background Global health is shifting gradually from a limited focus on individual communicable disease goals to the formulation of broader sustainable health development goals. A major impediment to this shift is that most low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) have not established adequate sustainable funding for health promotion and health infrastructure. Objective In this article, we analyze how Thailand, a middle-income country, created a mechanism for sustainable funding for health. Design We analyzed the progression of tobacco control and health promotion policies over the past three decades within the wider political-economic and sociocultural context. We constructed a parallel longitudinal analysis of statistical data on one emerging priority – road accidents – to determine whether policy shifts resulted in reduced injuries, hospitalizations and deaths. Results In Thailand, the convergence of priorities among national interest groups for sustainable health development created an opportunity to use domestic tax policy and to create a semi-autonomous foundation (ThaiHealth) to address a range of pressing health priorities, including programs that substantially reduced road accidents. Conclusions Thailand's strategic process to develop a domestic mechanism for sustainable funding for health may provide LMICs with a roadmap to address emerging health priorities, especially those caused by modernization and globalization. PMID:26328948

How Thailand's greater convergence created sustainable funding for emerging health priorities caused by globalization

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Naowarut Charoenca

2015-08-01

Full Text Available Background: Global health is shifting gradually from a limited focus on individual communicable disease goals to the formulation of broader sustainable health development goals. A major impediment to this shift is that most low- and middle-income countries (LMICs have not established adequate sustainable funding for health promotion and health infrastructure. Objective: In this article, we analyze how Thailand, a middle-income country, created a mechanism for sustainable funding for health. Design: We analyzed the progression of tobacco control and health promotion policies over the past three decades within the wider political-economic and sociocultural context. We constructed a parallel longitudinal analysis of statistical data on one emerging priority – road accidents – to determine whether policy shifts resulted in reduced injuries, hospitalizations and deaths. Results: In Thailand, the convergence of priorities among national interest groups for sustainable health development created an opportunity to use domestic tax policy and to create a semi-autonomous foundation (ThaiHealth to address a range of pressing health priorities, including programs that substantially reduced road accidents. Conclusions: Thailand's strategic process to develop a domestic mechanism for sustainable funding for health may provide LMICs with a roadmap to address emerging health priorities, especially those caused by modernization and globalization.

Finding the Fabulous Few: Why Your Program Needs Sophisticated Research.

Science.gov (United States)

Pfizenmaier, Emily

1981-01-01

Fund raising, it is argued, needs sophisticated prospect research. Professional prospect researchers play an important role in helping to identify prospective donors and also in helping to stimulate interest in gift giving. A sample of an individual work-up on a donor and a bibliography are provided. (MLW)

Reading wild minds: A computational assay of Theory of Mind sophistication across seven primate species.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Marie Devaine

2017-11-01

Full Text Available Theory of Mind (ToM, i.e. the ability to understand others' mental states, endows humans with highly adaptive social skills such as teaching or deceiving. Candidate evolutionary explanations have been proposed for the unique sophistication of human ToM among primates. For example, the Machiavellian intelligence hypothesis states that the increasing complexity of social networks may have induced a demand for sophisticated ToM. This type of scenario ignores neurocognitive constraints that may eventually be crucial limiting factors for ToM evolution. In contradistinction, the cognitive scaffolding hypothesis asserts that a species' opportunity to develop sophisticated ToM is mostly determined by its general cognitive capacity (on which ToM is scaffolded. However, the actual relationships between ToM sophistication and either brain volume (a proxy for general cognitive capacity or social group size (a proxy for social network complexity are unclear. Here, we let 39 individuals sampled from seven non-human primate species (lemurs, macaques, mangabeys, orangutans, gorillas and chimpanzees engage in simple dyadic games against artificial ToM players (via a familiar human caregiver. Using computational analyses of primates' choice sequences, we found that the probability of exhibiting a ToM-compatible learning style is mainly driven by species' brain volume (rather than by social group size. Moreover, primates' social cognitive sophistication culminates in a precursor form of ToM, which still falls short of human fully-developed ToM abilities.

The unfunded priorities: an evaluation of priority setting for noncommunicable disease control in Uganda.

Science.gov (United States)

Essue, Beverley M; Kapiriri, Lydia

2018-02-20

The double burden of infectious diseases coupled with noncommunicable diseases poses unique challenges for priority setting and for achieving equitable action to address the major causes of disease burden in health systems already impacted by limited resources. Noncommunicable disease control is an important global health and development priority. However, there are challenges for translating this global priority into local priorities and action. The aim of this study was to evaluate the influence of national, sub-national and global factors on priority setting for noncommunicable disease control in Uganda and examine the extent to which priority setting was successful. A mixed methods design that used the Kapiriri & Martin framework for evaluating priority setting in low income countries. The evaluation period was 2005-2015. Data collection included a document review (policy documents (n = 19); meeting minutes (n = 28)), media analysis (n = 114) and stakeholder interviews (n = 9). Data were analysed according to the Kapiriri & Martin (2010) framework. Priority setting for noncommunicable diseases was not entirely fair nor successful. While there were explicit processes that incorporated relevant criteria, evidence and wide stakeholder involvement, these criteria were not used systematically or consistently in the contemplation of noncommunicable diseases. There were insufficient resources for noncommunicable diseases, despite being a priority area. There were weaknesses in the priority setting institutions, and insufficient mechanisms to ensure accountability for decision-making. Priority setting was influenced by the priorities of major stakeholders (i.e. development assistance partners) which were not always aligned with national priorities. There were major delays in the implementation of noncommunicable disease-related priorities and in many cases, a failure to implement. This evaluation revealed the challenges that low income countries are

Lexical Sophistication as a Multidimensional Phenomenon: Relations to Second Language Lexical Proficiency, Development, and Writing Quality

Science.gov (United States)

Kim, Minkyung; Crossley, Scott A.; Kyle, Kristopher

2018-01-01

This study conceptualizes lexical sophistication as a multidimensional phenomenon by reducing numerous lexical features of lexical sophistication into 12 aggregated components (i.e., dimensions) via a principal component analysis approach. These components were then used to predict second language (L2) writing proficiency levels, holistic lexical…

Few remarks on chiral theories with sophisticated topology

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Golo, V.L.; Perelomov, A.M.

1978-01-01

Two classes of the two-dimensional Euclidean chiral field theoreties are singled out: 1) the field phi(x) takes the values in the compact Hermitiam symmetric space 2) the field phi(x) takes the values in an orbit of the adjoint representation of the comcompact Lie group. The theories have sophisticated topological and rich analytical structures. They are considered with the help of topological invariants (topological charges). Explicit formulae for the topological charges are indicated, and the lower bound extimate for the action is given

Priority setting: what constitutes success? A conceptual framework for successful priority setting.

Science.gov (United States)

Sibbald, Shannon L; Singer, Peter A; Upshur, Ross; Martin, Douglas K

2009-03-05

The sustainability of healthcare systems worldwide is threatened by a growing demand for services and expensive innovative technologies. Decision makers struggle in this environment to set priorities appropriately, particularly because they lack consensus about which values should guide their decisions. One way to approach this problem is to determine what all relevant stakeholders understand successful priority setting to mean. The goal of this research was to develop a conceptual framework for successful priority setting. Three separate empirical studies were completed using qualitative data collection methods (one-on-one interviews with healthcare decision makers from across Canada; focus groups with representation of patients, caregivers and policy makers; and Delphi study including scholars and decision makers from five countries). This paper synthesizes the findings from three studies into a framework of ten separate but interconnected elements germane to successful priority setting: stakeholder understanding, shifted priorities/reallocation of resources, decision making quality, stakeholder acceptance and satisfaction, positive externalities, stakeholder engagement, use of explicit process, information management, consideration of values and context, and revision or appeals mechanism. The ten elements specify both quantitative and qualitative dimensions of priority setting and relate to both process and outcome components. To our knowledge, this is the first framework that describes successful priority setting. The ten elements identified in this research provide guidance for decision makers and a common language to discuss priority setting success and work toward improving priority setting efforts.

Setting conservation priorities.

Science.gov (United States)

Wilson, Kerrie A; Carwardine, Josie; Possingham, Hugh P

2009-04-01

A generic framework for setting conservation priorities based on the principles of classic decision theory is provided. This framework encapsulates the key elements of any problem, including the objective, the constraints, and knowledge of the system. Within the context of this framework the broad array of approaches for setting conservation priorities are reviewed. While some approaches prioritize assets or locations for conservation investment, it is concluded here that prioritization is incomplete without consideration of the conservation actions required to conserve the assets at particular locations. The challenges associated with prioritizing investments through time in the face of threats (and also spatially and temporally heterogeneous costs) can be aided by proper problem definition. Using the authors' general framework for setting conservation priorities, multiple criteria can be rationally integrated and where, how, and when to invest conservation resources can be scheduled. Trade-offs are unavoidable in priority setting when there are multiple considerations, and budgets are almost always finite. The authors discuss how trade-offs, risks, uncertainty, feedbacks, and learning can be explicitly evaluated within their generic framework for setting conservation priorities. Finally, they suggest ways that current priority-setting approaches may be improved.

[Health and politics in France].

Science.gov (United States)

Tabuteau, Didier

2012-06-01

be regarded as priorities for public actions because of social and humanitarian challenges they represent, but also the new political and bioethical questions they give rise to.

Cross-border transitions : Navigating conflict and political change through community education practices in Myanmar and the Thai border

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Maber, E.J.T.

2016-01-01

Political oscillations in Myanmar and Thailand, between militarisation and democratic reform, have prompted a rapid renegotiation of the alignments, goals and priorities of non-state education providers, both international and community-based, along the two countries’ border. This paper explores the

STOCK EXCHANGE LISTING INDUCES SOPHISTICATION OF CAPITAL BUDGETING

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Wesley Mendes-da-Silva

2014-08-01

Full Text Available This article compares capital budgeting techniques employed in listed and unlisted companies in Brazil. We surveyed the Chief Financial Officers (CFOs of 398 listed companies and 300 large unlisted companies, and based on 91 respondents, the results suggest that the CFOs of listed companies tend to use less simplistic methods more often, for example: NPV and CAPM, and that CFOs of unlisted companies are less likely to estimate the cost of equity, despite being large companies. These findings indicate that stock exchange listing may require greater sophistication of the capital budgeting process.

Spaceflight-relevant stem education and outreach: Social goals and priorities

Science.gov (United States)

Caldwell, Barrett S.

2015-07-01

This paper is based on a presentation and conference proceedings paper given at the 65th International Astronautical Congress. The paper addresses concerns in education and public outreach (EPO) in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM). The author serves as a Director of a US statewide NASA-funded Space Grant Consortium, with responsibilities to coordinate funding for undergraduate scholarships, graduate fellowships, and program awards. Space Grant is a national NASA network of STEM EPO programs including over 1000 higher education, outreach center, science museum, local government, and corporate partners. As a Space Grant Director, the author interacts with a variety of levels of STEM literacy and sophistication among members of the public. A number of interactions highlight the need for STEM EPO leaders to speak directly to a variety of social goals and priorities. Spaceflight is largely seen as an appealing and potentially desirable STEM application. However, members of the public are often unclear and ill-informed regarding relative expense, relative benefit, and relative breadth of domains of expertise that are relevant to the spaceflight enterprise. In response (and resulting in further disconnects between STEM specialists and the public), focused STEM professionals frequently over-emphasize their own technical specialty and its priority in general because of its importance to that professional. These potential divides in the attempt to share and connect STEM related goals and priorities are discussed as an elaboration of invitations to discuss spacefaring in "futures forum" contexts. Spaceflight can be seen as addressing a combination of "actualization" and "aspirational" goals at social and societal levels. Maslow's hierarchy of needs distinguishes between "basic needs" and "actualization" as a higher-order need. Another aspect of spaceflight is aspirational-it speaks to hopes and desires for levels of flexibility and capability at the

The Medicare Chronic Disease Dental Scheme: Historical, Scientific, Socio-political Origins.

Science.gov (United States)

Akers, Harry Francis; Weerakoon, Arosha Tania; Foley, Michael Anthony; McAuliffe, Andrew James

While evidence and expert opinion are the foundations of effective policy, the politics, economics, and timing of a proposal can affect outcome. Australian government involvement in the planning, funding and delivery of dental services has been minimal and inconsistent. Many believe that the hybrid dispersal model of shared constitutional power has intermittently led to poor administration of national health policy. Throughout the decade-long prelude to the introduction of the Chronic Disease Dental Scheme, a landmark health policy in Australia, Parliamentarians moved responsibility for public dental services of disadvantaged Australians into an impasse between the Federal, State, and Territorial Governments. Developments throughout the era confirm the influence of administrative intrigue, centralized authority, competing priorities, funding pressures, political strategy, public opinion, scientific evidence and the timing of a proposal on the formulation and implementation of oral health policy. Synchronized inter-governmental collaboration was also absent. Moreover, the impasse and its resolution immediately before a national election demonstrate the bipolar roles of centralized political authority and political resolve in either obstructing or implementing policy. The historical, scientific, and socio-political contexts undermining the preamble to the Chronic Disease Dental Scheme lend weight to concerns about the hybrid dispersal model of constitutional power. Copyright American Academy of the History of Dentistry.

BRANDING IN POLITICS PADA PEMILU 2014

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Syaefurachman Al Banjari

2014-11-01

Full Text Available Brand is always emotional, especially in politics. Political brand must go beyondtheory and identify the emotional drivers of its target audience and use tough-mindedstrategies and positioning to steal market share (especially audience’s mind and heart sharefrom the competition. Stealing Mind and Heart Share has developed a unique process unlikeany other brand company in the world that is designed with a single purpose, to steal marketshare. The tactics of emotional branding have evolved over time as consumers have becomemore sophisticated. We’re emotional beings, and we respond to emotional appeals. That’swhy political brand and politicians are much more effective telling stories than quotingstatistics. The statistics may be correct, but the stories ring true. They have to win people’shearts instead of their minds. All brands and its elements can leverage the power ofpersonality to strengthen its appeal. It can only add to the power of a differentiatedpositioning. Merek selalu emosional , terutama dalam politik . merek politik harus melampauiteori dan mengidentifikasi driver emosional audiens target dan menggunakan strategi kerashati dan positioning untuk mencuri pangsa pasar ( pikiran terutama penonton dan berbagi hati dari kompetisi . Mencuri Pikiran dan Hati Berbagi telah mengembangkan proses unik tidakseperti merek perusahaan lain di dunia yang dirancang dengan tujuan tunggal , untuk mencuripangsa pasar . Taktik emotional branding telah berevolusi dari waktu ke waktu sebagaikonsumen telah menjadi lebih canggih . Kami makhluk emosional , dan kami menanggapibanding emosional . Itu sebabnya merek politik dan politisi yang jauh lebih efektif berceritadari statistik mengutip . Statistik mungkin benar , tapi cerita berdering benar . Mereka harusmemenangkan hati rakyat bukan pikiran mereka . Semua merek dan unsur-unsurnya dapatmemanfaatkan kekuatan kepribadian untuk memperkuat daya tariknya . Ini hanya dapatmenambah kekuatan positioning

Modernism and catholic political doctrine

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Henry T. Sardaryan

2017-01-01

Full Text Available The article studies the perception of Modernism by the Catholic Church as a movement within the clerical structure and philosophy that existed during the 19-20th centuries in the framework of general skepticism and rejection of tradition, prioritization of individualism, formal equality, faith in inevitability of social, scientific and technological progress, rationalization and professionalization. A distinctive feature of this movement is the participation of the priests themselves, especially in France and Italy. The object of research is the Catholic political doctrine during the pontificate of Pius X. Modernist movement in Catholicism, in opinion of many scientists had a decisive impact on the reform direction during the Second Vatican Council, but on closer study of the discourse that took place in the late 19th - early 20th centuries, it becomes obvious that this is not true. The focus of the article is the political doctrine of Catholicism - the issue of state political structure, its relationship with church institutions, status of the individual in societyc. In this regard, the modernists gave priority to necessity of secularization and complete separation of secular and spiritual power. In the article different scientifical methods, ave used such as dialectical, logical, comparative, systematic. The main conclusion of the author is that modernism should be regarded as an unsuccessful attempt to reform the Catholic Church that could have lead to its another schism, rather than a route towards the Second Vatican Council. The desire to change the structure, methods of church mission, its hierarchy and a number of other formal elements – was implemented by church itself for multiple times before. However, revision of the foundations of Christian ethics and its ontology, including its political doctrine, ran into resistance of the Holy See, causing, in essence, a rhetorical question - whether scientific and technical progress should

Differential ethnic associations between maternal flexibility and play sophistication in toddlers born very low birth weight

Science.gov (United States)

Erickson, Sarah J.; Montague, Erica Q.; Maclean, Peggy C.; Bancroft, Mary E.; Lowe, Jean R.

2013-01-01

Children born very low birth weight (development of self-regulation and effective functional skills, and play serves as an important avenue of early intervention. The current study investigated associations between maternal flexibility and toddler play sophistication in Caucasian, Spanish speaking Hispanic, English speaking Hispanic, and Native American toddlers (18-22 months adjusted age) in a cross-sectional cohort of 73 toddlers born VLBW and their mothers. We found that the association between maternal flexibility and toddler play sophistication differed by ethnicity (F(3,65) = 3.34, p = .02). In particular, Spanish speaking Hispanic dyads evidenced a significant positive association between maternal flexibility and play sophistication of medium effect size. Results for Native Americans were parallel to those of Spanish speaking Hispanic dyads: the relationship between flexibility and play sophistication was positive and of small-medium effect size. Findings indicate that for Caucasians and English speaking Hispanics, flexibility evidenced a non-significant (negative and small effect size) association with toddler play sophistication. Significant follow-up contrasts revealed that the associations for Caucasian and English speaking Hispanic dyads were significantly different from those of the other two ethnic groups. Results remained unchanged after adjusting for the amount of maternal language, an index of maternal engagement and stimulation; and after adjusting for birth weight, gestational age, gender, test age, cognitive ability, as well maternal age, education, and income. Our results provide preliminary evidence that ethnicity and acculturation may mediate the association between maternal interactive behavior such as flexibility and toddler developmental outcomes, as indexed by play sophistication. Addressing these association differences is particularly important in children born VLBW because interventions targeting parent interaction strategies such as

Is there a need for political liberalism to have an account of pre-overlapping consensus reasoning?

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Zelić Nebojša

2014-01-01

Full Text Available In his Liberalism without Perfection, Jonathan Quong argues for internal conception of political liberalism which goal is to show that a liberal well-ordered society is internally coherent ideal and that citizens who would be raised in such society could endorse and support their own liberal institutions and principles if those institutions and principles are justified in particular way These institutions should be justified by particular conception of public reason which main feature is that overlapping consensus is the first stage of its justificatory structure. So, public reasoning of citizens in well-ordered society should be based solely on values and ideas inherent to liberal conception of justice - freedom, equality, fair system of cooperation and burdens of judgment. Another important feature of Quong’s conception of public reason concerns its scope. Quong argues for a wide scope of public reason which demands that all coercive or binding laws or public policies should be justified (whenever possible on basis of these values alone. Thus, reasonable citizens in well-ordered society by definition accord deliberative priority to public reasons over their other comprehensive or nonpublic beliefs whenever they exercise their collective political power over one another. The problem I raise in this paper is that it is very likely that in well-ordered society there will be a group of citizens that will not accord full deliberative priority to political values, especially not at all levels of political deliberation. On certain issues they will like to see their particular values being realized through common political institutions. If our political theory excludes this group from justificatory constituency on this particular issue or categorize them as unreasonable it can easily undermine their general adherence to liberal conception of justice and endanger stability of well-ordered society. Thus, my point is that we need a further development

Does a more sophisticated storm erosion model improve probabilistic erosion estimates?

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Ranasinghe, R.W.M.R.J.B.; Callaghan, D.; Roelvink, D.

2013-01-01

The dependency between the accuracy/uncertainty of storm erosion exceedance estimates obtained via a probabilistic model and the level of sophistication of the structural function (storm erosion model) embedded in the probabilistic model is assessed via the application of Callaghan et al.'s (2008)

Identifying priority healthcare trainings in frozen conflict situations: The case of Nagorno Karabagh.

Science.gov (United States)

Thompson, Michael E; Dorian, Alina H; Harutyunyan, Tsovinar L

2010-12-09

Health care in post-war situations, where the system's human and fixed capital are depleted, is challenging. The addition of a frozen conflict situation, where international recognition of boundaries and authorities are lacking, introduces further complexities. Nagorno Karabagh (NK) is an ethnically Armenian territory locked within post-Soviet Azerbaijan and one such frozen conflict situation. This article highlights the use of evidence-based practice and community engagement to determine priority areas for health care training in NK. Drawing on the precepts of APEXPH (Assessment Protocol for Excellence in Public Health) and MAPP (Mobilizing for Action through Planning and Partnerships), this first-of-its-kind assessment in NK relied on in-depth interviews and focus group discussions supplemented with expert assessments and field observations. Training options were evaluated against a series of ethical and pragmatic principles. A unique factor among the ethical and pragmatic considerations when prioritizing among alternatives was NK's ambiguous political status and consequent sponsor constraints. Training priorities differed across the region and by type of provider, but consensus prioritization emerged for first aid, clinical Integrated Management of Childhood Illnesses, and Adult Disease Management. These priorities were then incorporated into the training programs funded by the sponsor. Programming responsive to both the evidence-base and stakeholder priorities is always desirable and provides a foundation for long-term planning and response. In frozen conflict, low resource settings, such an approach is critical to balancing the community's immediate humanitarian needs with sponsor concerns and constraints.

DEMOCRATIZATION AND POLITICAL TRANSITION IN ARAB WORLD: PROSPECTS AND CHALLENGES

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ibrahim Kawuley Mikail

2015-12-01

Full Text Available Democracy and Democratization process was among the top priorities in the new post-cold war global agenda. This issue has convinced some undemocratic countries of Arab World to set up in quest for democracy and to assertively demand their long-denied socio-economic and political justice by the autocratic rulers for the region. Indeed, the current Arab spring is geared towards transition from undemocratic system (i.e. Monarchy and Military dictatorship to democracy. Secondary data was adopted in this study. The study revealed that humiliation, prolong monarchy/military dictatorship, lack of economic reform, globalization and proliferation of mass literacy were among the factors responsible for political transition in the region. Meanwhile, establishment of tenets of democracy (i.e. rules of law, human rights, freedom, etc. and insecurity, external domination and loss of lives were among the prospect and challenges of the transition. The paper recommended among others that there is need for political and economic reform in the Arab countries which would lead to transit to democracy.

Sophisticating a naive Liapunov function

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Smith, D.; Lewins, J.D.

1985-01-01

The art of the direct method of Liapunov to determine system stability is to construct a suitable Liapunov or V function where V is to be positive definite (PD), to shrink to a center, which may be conveniently chosen as the origin, and where V is the negative definite (ND). One aid to the art is to solve an approximation to the system equations in order to provide a candidate V function. It can happen, however, that the V function is not strictly ND but vanishes at a finite number of isolated points. Naively, one anticipates that stability has been demonstrated since the trajectory of the system at such points is only momentarily tangential and immediately enters a region of inward directed trajectories. To demonstrate stability rigorously requires the construction of a sophisticated Liapunov function from what can be called the naive original choice. In this paper, the authors demonstrate the method of perturbing the naive function in the context of the well-known second-order oscillator and then apply the method to a more complicated problem based on a prompt jump model for a nuclear fission reactor

Strategic sophistication of individuals and teams. Experimental evidence

Science.gov (United States)

Sutter, Matthias; Czermak, Simon; Feri, Francesco

2013-01-01

Many important decisions require strategic sophistication. We examine experimentally whether teams act more strategically than individuals. We let individuals and teams make choices in simple games, and also elicit first- and second-order beliefs. We find that teams play the Nash equilibrium strategy significantly more often, and their choices are more often a best response to stated first order beliefs. Distributional preferences make equilibrium play less likely. Using a mixture model, the estimated probability to play strategically is 62% for teams, but only 40% for individuals. A model of noisy introspection reveals that teams differ from individuals in higher order beliefs. PMID:24926100

Determination the Research Priorities in the Field of HIV/AIDS in Iran: A Systematic Review Article.

Science.gov (United States)

Doosti-Irani, Amin; Holakouie-Naieni, Kourosh

2016-09-01

HIV and AIDS have many different epidemiological, social and political aspects. The aim of this study was to determine the research priorities according to the necessary aspects of HIV and AIDS in Iran. The national and international databases were searched to obtain the published articles regarding HIV and AIDS in Iran. All Epidemiologic studies were included in this review for assess research priorities. Of 3059 retrieved references, 362 studies were included. The most studies were conducted in Tehran, Kermanshah, Fars and Kerman provinces. The cross-sectional studies with 71.55% have higher proportion. Studies related to adherence to treatment (0.55%), drug resistance (0.83%) and experience, perception and behavior of HIV/AIDS patients (0.83%) had the lowest proportion of conducted studies. Proportion of studies regarding prevention of HIV was 2.76%. The authors of studies on female sex workers (FSWs) (63.64%) and prisoners (58.82%) suggested further studies on these groups. According to our results, the high-risk groups such as female sex workers, injecting drug users and prisoners are in priority for research. Moreover, topics related to the prevention of HIV and AIDS, adherence to treatment and antiretroviral drug resistance are other research priorities in Iran.

Governing Education: a revisiting of ‘Political Power beyond the State’ 25 years on

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Lim, Miguel Antonio

2016-01-01

that are used in classrooms, management offices, and policy setting agencies. Each of these instruments and calculative devices is pregnant with interest. They bridge the gap between everyday practices and larger governance goals. Yet as the technical sophistication of these instruments increases......This article revisits Political Power Beyond the State: Problematics of Government by sociologist Nikolas Rose and critical accounting scholar Peter Miller. The reach of this influential critique of the nature of power and its exercise ‘beyond the state’ continues to this day, 25 years after...

Conflict, location, and politics: Siting a nuclear waste repository

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Jacob, G.R.

1988-01-01

Nuclear power and the management of high-level radioactive waste is examined with the goal of explaining the forces driving the formulation of the 1982 Nuclear Waste Policy Act and a subsequent decision to site a nuclear waste repository at Yucca Mountain, Nevada. The study draws upon geographic, political, economic, and organizational factors to examine the commitment to dispose of spent fuel in a geologic repository located in Nevada or in Utah, Texas, Mississippi, Louisiana, or at Hanford Washington. Special attention is given to the impact of location, science and technology on the definition of the nuclear waste problem and political agendas, public participation, and the power of the nuclear establishment. The study finds that the choice of a Yucca Mountain Nevada as the preferred site for a repository was based more on technological precedent and political-economic expediency than on the demonstrated superiority of that site's geology. Conflict over a repository location is interpreted as a symptom of more fundamental conflicts concerning: the credibility of nuclear science, the legitimacy of federal authority and administration, and the priorities of environmental protection and a nuclear economy

Balancing Professional Standards and Political Discretion in Selecting Top Officials in Slovenia

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Polonca KOVAČ

2013-10-01

Full Text Available One of the key drivers of modern and efficient public administration under the good governance doctrine is an efficient top officials’ selection system. A targeted selection and recruitment system is a prerequisite for the whole administration to act in compliance with the political priorities of the government. However, civil servants and top officials alike must put professional competencies above political loyalty. Therefore, a new system was introduced in Slovenia following the 2003 Civil Servants Act, aimed at ensuring professionalism against (overpoliticization of public administration. A research carried out in 2012 among candidates and selected top officials and ministers, as their political superiors, revealed an overall efficiency of the Slovenian selection scheme in the sense of restricted over-politicization and increased professionalism. Its outcomes lead to the conclusion that the selection system in Slovenia, owing to its two-phase professional and political selection, is most adequate in terms of both regulation and practice since it takes into account the twofold role of top officials and civil service or public administration as a whole (first, as a force providing professional solutions by ensuring legality and efficient resource management, and second, as the closest collaborators of the political leadership implementing government policies.

Priority in Process Algebras

Science.gov (United States)

Cleaveland, Rance; Luettgen, Gerald; Natarajan, V.

1999-01-01

This paper surveys the semantic ramifications of extending traditional process algebras with notions of priority that allow for some transitions to be given precedence over others. These enriched formalisms allow one to model system features such as interrupts, prioritized choice, or real-time behavior. Approaches to priority in process algebras can be classified according to whether the induced notion of preemption on transitions is global or local and whether priorities are static or dynamic. Early work in the area concentrated on global pre-emption and static priorities and led to formalisms for modeling interrupts and aspects of real-time, such as maximal progress, in centralized computing environments. More recent research has investigated localized notions of pre-emption in which the distribution of systems is taken into account, as well as dynamic priority approaches, i.e., those where priority values may change as systems evolve. The latter allows one to model behavioral phenomena such as scheduling algorithms and also enables the efficient encoding of real-time semantics. Technically, this paper studies the different models of priorities by presenting extensions of Milner's Calculus of Communicating Systems (CCS) with static and dynamic priority as well as with notions of global and local pre- emption. In each case the operational semantics of CCS is modified appropriately, behavioral theories based on strong and weak bisimulation are given, and related approaches for different process-algebraic settings are discussed.

Strengthening fairness, transparency and accountability in health care priority setting at district level in Tanzania

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Stephen Maluka

2011-11-01

Full Text Available Health care systems are faced with the challenge of resource scarcity and have insufficient resources to respond to all health problems and target groups simultaneously. Hence, priority setting is an inevitable aspect of every health system. However, priority setting is complex and difficult because the process is frequently influenced by political, institutional and managerial factors that are not considered by conventional priority-setting tools. In a five-year EU-supported project, which started in 2006, ways of strengthening fairness and accountability in priority setting in district health management were studied. This review is based on a PhD thesis that aimed to analyse health care organisation and management systems, and explore the potential and challenges of implementing Accountability for Reasonableness (A4R approach to priority setting in Tanzania. A qualitative case study in Mbarali district formed the basis of exploring the sociopolitical and institutional contexts within which health care decision making takes place. The study also explores how the A4R intervention was shaped, enabled and constrained by the contexts. Key informant interviews were conducted. Relevant documents were also gathered and group priority-setting processes in the district were observed. The study revealed that, despite the obvious national rhetoric on decentralisation, actual practice in the district involved little community participation. The assumption that devolution to local government promotes transparency, accountability and community participation, is far from reality. The study also found that while the A4R approach was perceived to be helpful in strengthening transparency, accountability and stakeholder engagement, integrating the innovation into the district health system was challenging. This study underscores the idea that greater involvement and accountability among local actors may increase the legitimacy and fairness of priority

Health politics meets post-modernism: its meaning and implications for community health organizing.

Science.gov (United States)

Rosenau, P V

1994-01-01

In this article, post-modern theory is described and applied to health politics with examples from community health organizing, social movements, and health promotion. Post-modernism questions conventional assumptions about concepts such as representation, participation, empowerment, community, identity, causality, accountability, responsibility, authority, and roles in community health promotion (those of expert, leader, and organizer). I compare post-modern social movements with their modern counterparts: the organizational forms, leadership styles, and substantive intellectual orientations of the two differ. I explain the social planning, community development, and social action models of community health organizing, comparing them with the priorities of post-modern social movements, and show the similarities and differences between them as to structural preferences, process, and strategies. Finally, and most importantly, I present the implicit lessons that post-modernism offers to health politics and outline the strengths and weaknesses of this approach to health politics.

Development Strategies for Tourism Destinations: Tourism Sophistication vs. Resource Investments

OpenAIRE

Rainer Andergassen; Guido Candela

2010-01-01

This paper investigates the effectiveness of development strategies for tourism destinations. We argue that resource investments unambiguously increase tourism revenues and that increasing the degree of tourism sophistication, that is increasing the variety of tourism related goods and services, increases tourism activity and decreases the perceived quality of the destination's resource endowment, leading to an ambiguous effect on tourism revenues. We disentangle these two effects and charact...

Ways, characteristic features and machinery of economic and political power interaction

OpenAIRE

F. Shamhalov

2008-01-01

History of mankind has given convincing evidence for interaction and interdependence of property and power, economy and politics. Wealth, possession of some kind of material, financial or any other resources provides access to the power levers and they both provide access to the high status in society, authority and popularity. Strivings after power and richness is a driving force and motive to develop human societies. The first priority task of a state is to provide security of the property ...

Do organizations adopt sophisticated capital budgeting practices to deal with uncertainty in the investment decision? : A research note

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Verbeeten, Frank H M

This study examines the impact of uncertainty on the sophistication of capital budgeting practices. While the theoretical applications of sophisticated capital budgeting practices (defined as the use of real option reasoning and/or game theory decision rules) have been well documented, empirical

Priority setting and economic appraisal: whose priorities--the community or the economist?

Science.gov (United States)

Green, A; Barker, C

1988-01-01

Scarce resources for health require a process for setting priorities. The exact mechanism chosen has important implications for the type of priorities and plans set, and in particular their relationship to the principles of primary health care. One technique increasingly advocated as an aid to priority setting is economic appraisal. It is argued however that economic appraisal is likely to reinforce a selective primary health care approach through its espousal of a technocratic medical model and through its hidden but implicit value judgements. It is suggested that urgent attention is needed to develop approaches to priority setting that incorporate the strengths of economic appraisal, but that are consistent with comprehensive primary health care.

Stakeholder views on criteria and processes for priority setting in Norway: a qualitative study.

Science.gov (United States)

Aidem, Jeremy M

2017-06-01

Since 2013, Norway has engaged in political processes to revise criteria for priority setting. These processes have yielded key efficiency and equity criteria, but excluded potentially relevant social values. This study describes the views of 27 stakeholders in Norway's health system regarding a wider set of priority-setting criteria and procedural characteristics. Between January and February 2016, semi-structured interviews and focus groups were conducted with a purposive sample of policymakers, hospital administrators, practitioners, university students and seniors. Improving health among low-socioeconomic-status groups was considered an important policy objective: some favored giving more priority to diseases affecting socioeconomically disadvantaged groups, and some believed inequalities in health could be more effectively addressed outside the health sector. Age was not widely accepted as an independent criterion, but deemed relevant as an indicator of capacity to benefit, cost-effectiveness and health loss. Cost-effectiveness, severity and health-loss measures were judged relevant to policymaking, but cost-effectiveness and health loss were considered less influential to clinical decision-making. Public engagement was seen as essential yet complicated by media and stakeholder pressures. This study highlights how views on the relevance and implementation of criteria can vary significantly according to the health system level being evaluated. Further, the findings suggest that giving priority to socioeconomically disadvantaged groups and reducing inequalities in health may be relevant preferences not captured in recent policy proposals. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Western Political Consulting Techniques and Post-Soviet Political Technology in Political Campaigns in Latvia

OpenAIRE

Bērziņa, Ieva

2012-01-01

Western Political Consulting Techniques and Post-Soviet Political Technology in Political Campaigns in Latvia Ieva Dmitričenko Keywords: political campaignsm political consulting, political technology, parties, marketing, media Political campaigning is an international phenomenon, because there is a free flow of information, knowledge and human resource among practitioners of political campaigning in various countries. As a result political campaigning techniques that have proven to ...

[Priorities for health policy and systems research focused on human resources in health].

Science.gov (United States)

Reveiz, Ludovic; Chapman, Evelina; Flórez, Carlos E Pinzón; Torres, Rubén

2013-11-01

Identify priorities for health policy and systems research related to human resources in Latin America and Caribbean countries. An online survey was designed based on a search in PubMed, Cochrane Library, and LILACS that contributed previously prioritized research questions. Respondents, mainly researchers and decision-makers, were identified through various sources. The first round, directed at researchers, aimed at refining and adding research questions and prioritizing questions that researchers regarded as relevant or very relevant. The second round was directed at researchers and decision-makers. A question was considered a priority when 50% (or more) of respondents described it as "relevant" or "very relevant." The first round included 20 questions on human resources and 33/66 researchers responded. Questions suggested by the researchers were added, resulting in 26 questions for the second round, which were sent to 121 researchers and decision-makers. Respondent representation by country was uniform in both rounds. In the second round, 14/26 (54%) questions were described as very relevant. Priority issues related to regulation of the market, integration of education and health care needs, and distribution of human resources. The response rate was 50% in the first round (33/66), and 34% in the second round (41/121). The results of this exercise provide a starting point for mobilization of resources for health policy and systems research. Identification of health systems research priorities is an effective and efficient strategy for reorienting political, financial, management, and social organization efforts for attaining universal health coverage.

Identifying priority healthcare trainings in frozen conflict situations: The case of Nagorno Karabagh

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Dorian Alina H

2010-12-01

Full Text Available Abstract Introduction Health care in post-war situations, where the system's human and fixed capital are depleted, is challenging. The addition of a frozen conflict situation, where international recognition of boundaries and authorities are lacking, introduces further complexities. Case description Nagorno Karabagh (NK is an ethnically Armenian territory locked within post-Soviet Azerbaijan and one such frozen conflict situation. This article highlights the use of evidence-based practice and community engagement to determine priority areas for health care training in NK. Drawing on the precepts of APEXPH (Assessment Protocol for Excellence in Public Health and MAPP (Mobilizing for Action through Planning and Partnerships, this first-of-its-kind assessment in NK relied on in-depth interviews and focus group discussions supplemented with expert assessments and field observations. Training options were evaluated against a series of ethical and pragmatic principles. Discussion and Evaluation A unique factor among the ethical and pragmatic considerations when prioritizing among alternatives was NK's ambiguous political status and consequent sponsor constraints. Training priorities differed across the region and by type of provider, but consensus prioritization emerged for first aid, clinical Integrated Management of Childhood Illnesses, and Adult Disease Management. These priorities were then incorporated into the training programs funded by the sponsor. Conclusions Programming responsive to both the evidence-base and stakeholder priorities is always desirable and provides a foundation for long-term planning and response. In frozen conflict, low resource settings, such an approach is critical to balancing the community's immediate humanitarian needs with sponsor concerns and constraints.

Management and policy: political strategies and instruments of the risk types

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Renn, O.; Klinke, A.

1998-01-01

The main objective of the risk classification is to gain an effective and feasible policy tool for the evaluation and the management or risks. The characterisation provides a platform for designing specific political strategies and measures for each risk type. The strategies pursue the goal to transform unacceptable into acceptable risks, i.e. the risks should not be reduced to zero, but they should be reduced to a level that routine risk management becomes sufficient to ensure safety and integrity. All strategies and respective measures are arranged according to priorities. In the normal case more than one strategy and more than one measure are naturally appropriate and necessary. If resources are limited, strategies and measures should be taken in line with the priority list. The following part lists the prior strategies and the prior measures recommended for each risk type. (authors)

Systematization and sophistication of a comprehensive sensitivity analysis program. Phase 2

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Oyamada, Kiyoshi; Ikeda, Takao

2004-02-01

This study developed minute estimation by adopting comprehensive sensitivity analytical program for reliability of TRU waste repository concepts in a crystalline rock condition. We examined each components and groundwater scenario of geological repository and prepared systematic bases to examine the reliability from the point of comprehensiveness. Models and data are sophisticated to examine the reliability. Based on an existing TRU waste repository concepts, effects of parameters to nuclide migration were quantitatively classified. Those parameters, that will be decided quantitatively, are such as site character of natural barrier and design specification of engineered barriers. Considering the feasibility of those figures of specifications, reliability is re-examined on combinations of those parameters within a practical range. Future issues are; Comprehensive representation of hybrid geosphere model including the fractured medium and permeable matrix medium. Sophistication of tools to develop the reliable combinations of parameters. It is significant to continue this study because the disposal concepts and specification of TRU nuclides containing waste on various sites shall be determined rationally and safely through these studies. (author)

The Prediction of Political Competencies by Political Action and Political Media Consumption

Science.gov (United States)

Reichert, Frank

2014-01-01

Political competencies are often considered a precondition for political action; however, they are not independent of previous political participation, which may also include the frequency and the kind of political media consumption. My research aims at finding out the importance of participation in political activities in the past, as well as…

45 CFR 2531.20 - Funding priorities.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-10-01

... priorities. The Corporation may choose to set priorities (and to periodically revise such priorities) that... given fiscal year. In setting these priorities, the Corporation will seek to concentrate funds on those... 45 Public Welfare 4 2010-10-01 2010-10-01 false Funding priorities. 2531.20 Section 2531.20 Public...

Fate, behaviour and weathering of priority HNS in the marine environment: An online tool.

Science.gov (United States)

Cunha, Isabel; Oliveira, Helena; Neuparth, Teresa; Torres, Tiago; Santos, Miguel Machado

2016-10-15

Literature data and data obtained with modelling tools were compiled to derive the physicochemical behaviour of 24 priority Hazardous and Noxious Substances (HNS), as a proxy to improve environmental, public health and political issues in relation to HNS spills. Parameters that rule the HNS behaviour in water and those that determine their distribution and persistence in the environment, such as fugacity, physicochemical degradation, biodegradation, bioaccumulation/biotransformation and aquatic toxicity, were selected. Data systematized and produced in the frame of the Arcopol Platform project was made available through a public database (http://www.ciimar.up.pt/hns/substances.php). This tool is expected to assist stakeholders involved in HNS spills preparedness and response, policy makers and legislators, as well as to contribute to a current picture of the scientific knowledge on the fate, behaviour, weathering and toxicity of priority HNS, being essential to support future improvements in maritime safety and coastal pollution response before, during and after spill incidents. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Sector-based political analysis of energy transition: Green shift in the forest policy regime in France

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Sergent, Arnaud

2014-01-01

This article examines energy transition political process from a sector-based approach, through the analysis of recent shift in the French forest policy regime. We demonstrate that, since 2007, energy transition policies have led to a harvesting turn within the French forest policy framework, meaning that priority is given to wood mobilisation, mainly for biomass uses. In addition, our findings suggest that the political authority wielded by the state over forest policy has shifted from forest administrative services to energy agencies and local authorities. Finally, we show that, although implementation of the harvesting turn is a cause of sectoral and inter-sectoral tensions, energy transition challenge also contributes to a process of (re)institutionalisation of mediation relationships among forestry stakeholders and wood-based industries representatives. The article concludes by arguing that sectors should retain relevant institutional frameworks for actors when choosing political arrangements required for implementing energy transition policy. - Highlights: • Implementing energy transition policy potentially challenges sector-based politics. • We propose a policy regime framework and socio-political investigations. • We analyse the political impact of energy transition policy on French forest sector. • Shifts occur in sectoral policy framework, authority, and mediation relationships

Indonesia's road to universal health coverage: a political journey.

Science.gov (United States)

Pisani, Elizabeth; Olivier Kok, Maarten; Nugroho, Kharisma

2017-03-01

In 2013 Indonesia, the world's fourth most populous country, declared that it would provide affordable health care for all its citizens within seven years. This crystallised an ambition first enshrined in law over five decades earlier, but never previously realised. This paper explores Indonesia's journey towards universal health coverage (UHC) from independence to the launch of a comprehensive health insurance scheme in January 2014. We find that Indonesia's path has been determined largely by domestic political concerns – different groups obtained access to healthcare as their socio-political importance grew. A major inflection point occurred following the Asian financial crisis of 1997. To stave off social unrest, the government provided health coverage for the poor for the first time, creating a path dependency that influenced later policy choices. The end of this programme coincided with decentralisation, leading to experimentation with several different models of health provision at the local level. When direct elections for local leaders were introduced in 2005, popular health schemes led to success at the polls. UHC became an electoral asset, moving up the political agenda. It also became contested, with national policy-makers appropriating health insurance programmes that were first developed locally, and taking credit for them. The Indonesian experience underlines the value of policy experimentation, and of a close understanding of the contextual and political factors that drive successful UHC models at the local level. Specific drivers of success and failure should be taken into account when scaling UHC to the national level. In the Indonesian example, UHC became possible when the interests of politically and economically influential groups were either satisfied or neutralised. While technical considerations took a back seat to political priorities in developing the structures for health coverage nationally, they will have to be addressed going forward

The Value of Multivariate Model Sophistication: An Application to pricing Dow Jones Industrial Average options

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Rombouts, Jeroen V.K.; Stentoft, Lars; Violante, Francesco

innovation for a Laplace innovation assumption improves the pricing in a smaller way. Apart from investigating directly the value of model sophistication in terms of dollar losses, we also use the model condence set approach to statistically infer the set of models that delivers the best pricing performance.......We assess the predictive accuracy of a large number of multivariate volatility models in terms of pricing options on the Dow Jones Industrial Average. We measure the value of model sophistication in terms of dollar losses by considering a set 248 multivariate models that differer...

FINANCING DEMOCRACY OR CORRUPTION? POLITICAL PARTY FINANCING IN THE EU’ S SOUTHEASTERN AND EASTERN MEMBER STATES

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ada-Iuliana POPESCU

2015-09-01

Full Text Available Fighting public-sector corruption has become a priority for most governments and international organizations. The public sector is the source of many benefits. Realizing improper private gains from these benefits has long been the core definition of corruption. As the public sector grows and expands its activities, the complexity of its activities also increases. The opportunities for improper private gains grow, too. Therefore, not surprisingly, the EU admits that the public sector, including political parties and public administrations, are especially vulnerable to corruption. Political parties, for instance, depend on the funding destined for their capability to win elections and otherwise to influence public policies. In turn, this dependency creates opportunities for a variety of corrupt activities. Ensuring that campaign funding promotes democracy and not corruption requires well-crafted, vigorously enforced laws. This article analyzes the legal framework of political party financing in the Eastern and South-eastern European EU member states, in order to assess how well it works in preventing political party corruption.

Sophistic Ethics in the Technical Writing Classroom: Teaching "Nomos," Deliberation, and Action.

Science.gov (United States)

Scott, J. Blake

1995-01-01

Claims that teaching ethics is particularly important to technical writing. Outlines a classical, sophistic approach to ethics based on the theories and pedagogies of Protagoras, Gorgias, and Isocrates, which emphasizes the Greek concept of "nomos," internal and external deliberation, and responsible action. Discusses problems and…

Priorities for Extension.

Science.gov (United States)

Hayward, J. A.

Agricultural extension is one component in an array including research, training, education, marketing, international trade, etc. which develop together to bring about growth, and sustained growth determines the priorities for extension. These priorities depend inevitably on the stage of development of a country or region, and on the current…

The effects of sexual orientation on state legislators' behavior and priorities.

Science.gov (United States)

Herrick, Rebekah

2009-01-01

This article explores whether sexual orientation, surrogate representation, and political factors affect legislators' work on gay, lesbian, and bisexual (GLB) interests, and whether the latter explains away the influence of sexual orientation. A survey of openly GLB state legislators and their colleagues was conducted to measure legislators' campaign issues, legislative priorities, surrogate representation, and ambition. This information is supplemented with bill introduction and district data. The results indicate that legislators' sexual orientation strongly influences their work on GLB issues and although surrogate representation and electoral considerations also affect GLB work, they do not explain away the importance of sexual orientation. The implications of this for the relationship between descriptive and substantive representation are explored.

Priorities of statutory claimants

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Pawluck, B.K.; Prowse, J.T.

1996-01-01

The statutory rights that unpaid creditors have when an oil or gas operator is placed in bankruptcy, were evaluated. Those statutory rights may give priority to their claims against the operator. Fifteen topics dealing with statutory priorities were examined, focusing on the change in priorities which would occur if the insolvent operator were placed in bankruptcy. The topics were: (1) Summary of statutory federal and provincial priorities, (2) Revenue Canada - source deductions/deemed trust, (3) Revenue Canada - source deductions/enhanced requirement to pay, (4) Revenue Canada - goods and service tax (GST)/deemed trust, (5) Revenue Canada - GST/enhanced requirement to pay, (6) Federal income taxes, (7) Validity of provincially legislated priority provisions in bankruptcy, (8) Provincially authorized municipal taxes - real property, (9) Provincial workers' compensation board, (10) Provincially legislated wages, overtime pay and holiday pay, (11) Provincially legislated severance/termination pay, (12) Provincially legislated successor employer obligations, (13) Provincially legislated private employment pension plans, (14) Provincial health care insurance premiums, and (15) Provincial freehold mineral rights tax

Sophisticated Fowl: The Complex Behaviour and Cognitive Skills of Chickens and Red Junglefowl

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Laura Garnham

2018-01-01

Full Text Available The world’s most numerous bird, the domestic chicken, and their wild ancestor, the red junglefowl, have long been used as model species for animal behaviour research. Recently, this research has advanced our understanding of the social behaviour, personality, and cognition of fowl, and demonstrated their sophisticated behaviour and cognitive skills. Here, we overview some of this research, starting with describing research investigating the well-developed senses of fowl, before presenting how socially and cognitively complex they can be. The realisation that domestic chickens, our most abundant production animal, are behaviourally and cognitively sophisticated should encourage an increase in general appraise and fascination towards them. In turn, this should inspire increased use of them as both research and hobby animals, as well as improvements in their unfortunately often poor welfare.

New perspectives and evidence on political communication and campaign effects.

Science.gov (United States)

Iyengar, S; Simon, A F

2000-01-01

We review recent empirical evidence that shows political campaigns are more potent than widely believed, focusing on the conceptual and methodological advances that have produced these findings. Conceptually, a broader definition of effects--that includes learning and agenda-control, as well as vote choice--characterizes contemporary research. This research also features two kinds of interactive models that are more complex than the traditional hypodermic (message-based) approach. The resonance model considers the relationship between message content and receivers' predispositions, while the strategic model highlights the interactions between competing messages. Finally, we attribute the emergence of stronger evidence in favor of campaign effects to the use of new methodologies including experimentation and content analysis, as well as the more sophisticated use of sample surveys.

Politics has strong say in who benefits from oil

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Tippee, B.; Beck, R.J.

1995-01-01

Oil's many values are more visible now than ever. Price information streams from financial and physical commodity markets around the world. A sophisticated array of analytical tools turns price data into nearly real-time indications of what a particular crude or petroleum product is worth to a particular type of trader in a particular market. Value, though, means something beyond price. Economic values ultimately must benefit someone. In a market that gushes price data, it's much easier to measure oil values than it is to determine who benefits from them. The paper discusses new value gauges, where values flow, the trend toward lower government take upstream, the decade-long trend in the decline of state takes, suppressing prices, political dimensions, the squeeze OPEC feels, taxing products, claim on values, and values in perspective

Political Crowdfunding as concept of political technologies

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Valeria GOLKA

2016-09-01

Full Text Available Political crowdfunding is analyzed as a new concept of political science. The justification of use of crowdfunding technologies not only in business but also in the political sphere is argued. The efficiency, availability, low cost of the new forms of political investment through the development of information and communication technologies are noted. The typology of political crowdfunding is proposed. Political projects promoting domestic crowdfunding platforms are analyzed. Attention is drawn to the problem of legal gaps in the regulation of crowdfunding is studied. The foreign experience of organizing public support (mikroinvestment political projects. It is emphasized that in terms of political theory crowdfunding is based on solidarity. The crowdfunding properties of transforming social capital accumulated by social networks into financial capital are mentioned.

Space, politics, and the political

OpenAIRE

dikec , mustafa

1987-01-01

International audience; Introduction Geography and politics'', Gottmann wrote in 1980, ``have long been in search of each other'' (page 11). Debates in the literature suggest not only that they have found each other, but also that the encounter has instigated, notably in the last decade or so, a body of literature seeking to think space politically, and to think politics spatially. This is not to suggest that previous work on space was apolitical, nor to suggest that previous work on politics...

Assessing Epistemic Sophistication by Considering Domain-Specific Absolute and Multiplicistic Beliefs Separately

Science.gov (United States)

Peter, Johannes; Rosman, Tom; Mayer, Anne-Kathrin; Leichner, Nikolas; Krampen, Günter

2016-01-01

Background: Particularly in higher education, not only a view of science as a means of finding absolute truths (absolutism), but also a view of science as generally tentative (multiplicism) can be unsophisticated and obstructive for learning. Most quantitative epistemic belief inventories neglect this and understand epistemic sophistication as…

Final priority; Rehabilitation Services Administration--Assistive Technology Alternative Financing Program. Final priority.

Science.gov (United States)

2014-08-14

The Assistant Secretary for Special Education and Rehabilitative Services announces a priority under the Assistive Technology Alternative Financing Program administered by the Rehabilitation Services Administration (RSA). The Assistant Secretary may use this priority for competitions in fiscal year (FY) 2014 and later years. This priority is designed to ensure that the Department funds high-quality assistive technology (AT) alternative financing programs (AFPs) that meet rigorous standards in order to enable individuals with disabilities to access and acquire assistive technology devices and services necessary to achieve education, community living, and employment goals.

QUEUEING DISCIPLINES BASED ON PRIORITY MATRIX

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Taufik I. Aliev

2014-11-01

Full Text Available The paper deals with queueing disciplines for demands of general type in queueing systems with multivendor load. A priority matrix is proposed to be used for the purpose of mathematical description of such disciplines, which represents the priority type (preemptive priority, not preemptive priority or no priority between any two demands classes. Having an intuitive and simple way of priority assignment, such description gives mathematical dependencies of system operation characteristics on its parameters. Requirements for priority matrix construction are formulated and the notion of canonical priority matrix is given. It is shown that not every matrix, constructed in accordance with such requirements, is correct. The notion of incorrect priority matrix is illustrated by an example, and it is shown that such matrixes do not ensure any unambiguousness and determinacy in design of algorithm, which realizes corresponding queueing discipline. Rules governing construction of correct matrixes are given for canonical priority matrixes. Residence time for demands of different classes in system, which is the sum of waiting time and service time, is considered as one of the most important characteristics. By introducing extra event method Laplace transforms for these characteristics are obtained, and mathematical dependencies are derived on their basis for calculation of two first moments for corresponding characteristics of demands queueing

Policy Responsiveness and Political Accountability in City Politics

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Anthony M. Sayers

2017-03-01

coverage of daily council business, leaves most voters inclined to rely on something other than political signals when they decide who to support. Inevitably, a candidate’s personal character and length of experience take on a larger priority in the voting decision. So, the longer a councillor serves, the longer he or she might be likely to keep serving. The natural outcome of this phenomenon is that city councils are less likely to become polarized as councillors have an incentive to seek consensus by limiting obvious policy distinctions between themselves and their fellow representatives, contributing to a dynamic where city council works more like a corporate body and less like a partisan legislature. As long as citizens remain largely unperturbed by the overall actions of their city council, they might judge the risk of replacing them at election time as unnecessarily high compared to sticking with the status quo. This behaviour challenges much of the prevailing theory about how political processes improve political responsiveness and accountability. This is occurring at a time when cities are emerging as important and increasingly powerful nodes in the modern global economy. That the very nature of how they are governed is diverging so markedly from the norm that Canadians have come to expect from other levels of government is not something to be considered lightly.

International Occupational Therapy Research Priorities.

Science.gov (United States)

Mackenzie, Lynette; Coppola, Susan; Alvarez, Liliana; Cibule, Lolita; Maltsev, Sergey; Loh, Siew Yim; Mlambo, Tecla; Ikiugu, Moses N; Pihlar, Zdenka; Sriphetcharawut, Sarinya; Baptiste, Sue; Ledgerd, Richard

2017-04-01

Occupational therapy is a global profession represented by the World Federation of Occupational Therapists (WFOT). International research priorities are needed for strategic guidance on global occupational therapy practice. The objective of this study was to develop international research priorities to reflect global occupational therapy practice. A Delphi study using three rounds of electronic surveys, distributed to WFOT member organizations and WFOT accredited universities, was conducted. Data were analyzed after each round, and priorities were presented for rating and ranking in order of importance. Forty-six (53%) out of 87 WFOT member countries participated in the Delphi process. Eight research priorities were confirmed by the final electronic survey round. Differences were observed in rankings given by member organizations and university respondents. Despite attrition at Round 3, the final research priorities will help to focus research efforts in occupational therapy globally. Follow-up research is needed to determine how the research priorities are being adopted internationally.

Priority setting of health interventions: the need for multi-criteria decision analysis

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Baltussen Rob

2006-08-01

Full Text Available Abstract Priority setting of health interventions is often ad-hoc and resources are not used to an optimal extent. Underlying problem is that multiple criteria play a role and decisions are complex. Interventions may be chosen to maximize general population health, to reduce health inequalities of disadvantaged or vulnerable groups, ad/or to respond to life-threatening situations, all with respect to practical and budgetary constraints. This is the type of problem that policy makers are typically bad at solving rationally, unaided. They tend to use heuristic or intuitive approaches to simplify complexity, and in the process, important information is ignored. Next, policy makers may select interventions for only political motives. This indicates the need for rational and transparent approaches to priority setting. Over the past decades, a number of approaches have been developed, including evidence-based medicine, burden of disease analyses, cost-effectiveness analyses, and equity analyses. However, these approaches concentrate on single criteria only, whereas in reality, policy makers need to make choices taking into account multiple criteria simultaneously. Moreover, they do not cover all criteria that are relevant to policy makers. Therefore, the development of a multi-criteria approach to priority setting is necessary, and this has indeed recently been identified as one of the most important issues in health system research. In other scientific disciplines, multi-criteria decision analysis is well developed, has gained widespread acceptance and is routinely used. This paper presents the main principles of multi-criteria decision analysis. There are only a very few applications to guide resource allocation decisions in health. We call for a shift away from present priority setting tools in health – that tend to focus on single criteria – towards transparent and systematic approaches that take into account all relevant criteria

A Survey on Priority Queues

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Brodal, Gerth Stølting

2013-01-01

Back in 1964 Williams introduced the binary heap as a basic priority queue data structure supporting the operations Insert and ExtractMin in logarithmic time. Since then numerous papers have been published on priority queues. This paper tries to list some of the directions research on priority qu...

Political Transmigrants: Rethinking Hmong Political Activism in America

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Nengher N. Vang, Ph.D

2011-12-01

Full Text Available Since the initial resettlement of the Hmong in the United States in the mid-1970s, they have maintained strong political and military relationships with the Lao People‘s Democratic Republic (LPDR. Yet, there is little research on that relationship and the involvement of the Hmong in the United States in political developments in Laos. Most works on Hmong political activism have focused on the electoral participation and representation of Hmong Americans in relation to American domestic politics. In this article, using archival, ethnographic, and interview data that I have collected between 2006 and 2009 in Laos, Thailand, and the United States, I describe and analyze the non-domestic or transnational form of Hmong American political expression and participation. I argue that Hmong political activism in America not only was transnational from the outset, but that their transnational involvement in political developments in Laos and their relations with the Lao PDR government also had a significant impact on their ethnic politics. Many Hmong political activists made their entry into ethnic politics through the door of transnational politics, and many were motivated by transnational political issues to participate in domestic American politics. By exploring their transnational involvement in political developments in Laos and their relations with the Lao PDR government, we get a more complete and dynamic understanding of Hmong political activism in the United States than is possible by focusing exclusively on domestic and electoral participation. Examining their transnational politics also allows us to see the transnationality of not only their culture, identity, and community but also that of their political activities and aspirations.

Coal mining, social injustice and health: a universal conflict of power and priorities.

Science.gov (United States)

Morrice, Emily; Colagiuri, Ruth

2013-01-01

Given the current insatiable demand for coal to build and fuel the world's burgeoning cities the debate about mining-related social, environmental and health injustices remains eminently salient. Furthermore, the core issues appear universally consistent. This paper combines the theoretical base for defining these injustices with reports in the international health literature about the impact of coal mining on local communities. It explores and analyses mechanisms of coal mining related injustice, conflicting priorities and power asymmetries between political and industry interests versus inhabitants of mining communities, and asks what would be required for considerations of health to take precedence over wealth. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Defining priorities

CERN Multimedia

2013-01-01

Last week the European Strategy Group met in Erice (Italy) to distil reams of input and months of discussion into a concise document outlining an updated Strategy for European Particle Physics. The result is a document that will be presented to the Council for feedback next month, before final approval by the Council at a special meeting in Brussels on 29 May. The Strategy process was important when it began in 2005, and is even more so today with important discoveries behind us and a changing global landscape for particle physics ahead.   The draft update, it’s fair to say, contains few surprises, but there are nevertheless some weighty issues for the Council to deliberate. The top priority is, of course, the full exploitation of the LHC, but the Strategy goes further, stating unambiguously that Europe’s top priority should be the high-luminosity upgrade of the machine. Other high-priority items are accelerator R&D to ensure the long-term global future of the field. O...

15 CFR 700.11 - Priority ratings.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-01-01

... OF INDUSTRY AND SECURITY, DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE NATIONAL SECURITY INDUSTRIAL BASE REGULATIONS DEFENSE PRIORITIES AND ALLOCATIONS SYSTEM Industrial Priorities § 700.11 Priority ratings. (a) Levels of...

Fate, behaviour and weathering of priority HNS in the marine environment: An online tool

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Cunha, Isabel; Oliveira, Helena; Neuparth, Teresa; Torres, Tiago; Santos, Miguel Machado

2016-01-01

Literature data and data obtained with modelling tools were compiled to derive the physicochemical behaviour of 24 priority Hazardous and Noxious Substances (HNS), as a proxy to improve environmental, public health and political issues in relation to HNS spills. Parameters that rule the HNS behaviour in water and those that determine their distribution and persistence in the environment, such as fugacity, physicochemical degradation, biodegradation, bioaccumulation/biotransformation and aquatic toxicity, were selected. Data systematized and produced in the frame of the Arcopol Platform project was made available through a public database ( (http://www.ciimar.up.pt/hns/substances.php)). This tool is expected to assist stakeholders involved in HNS spills preparedness and response, policy makers and legislators, as well as to contribute to a current picture of the scientific knowledge on the fate, behaviour, weathering and toxicity of priority HNS, being essential to support future improvements in maritime safety and coastal pollution response before, during and after spill incidents. - Highlights: • Fate, behaviour and weathering of priority HNS in marine environments are addressed. • Environmental and public health issues in relation to HNS spills are discussed. • Physicochemical behaviour is derived through mathematical tools and literature data. • Data produced are made available through a public online database. • Database can assist relevant bodies involved in HNS spills preparedness and response.

Musical Sophistication and the Effect of Complexity on Auditory Discrimination in Finnish Speakers

Science.gov (United States)

Dawson, Caitlin; Aalto, Daniel; Šimko, Juraj; Vainio, Martti; Tervaniemi, Mari

2017-01-01

Musical experiences and native language are both known to affect auditory processing. The present work aims to disentangle the influences of native language phonology and musicality on behavioral and subcortical sound feature processing in a population of musically diverse Finnish speakers as well as to investigate the specificity of enhancement from musical training. Finnish speakers are highly sensitive to duration cues since in Finnish, vowel and consonant duration determine word meaning. Using a correlational approach with a set of behavioral sound feature discrimination tasks, brainstem recordings, and a musical sophistication questionnaire, we find no evidence for an association between musical sophistication and more precise duration processing in Finnish speakers either in the auditory brainstem response or in behavioral tasks, but they do show an enhanced pitch discrimination compared to Finnish speakers with less musical experience and show greater duration modulation in a complex task. These results are consistent with a ceiling effect set for certain sound features which corresponds to the phonology of the native language, leaving an opportunity for music experience-based enhancement of sound features not explicitly encoded in the language (such as pitch, which is not explicitly encoded in Finnish). Finally, the pattern of duration modulation in more musically sophisticated Finnish speakers suggests integrated feature processing for greater efficiency in a real world musical situation. These results have implications for research into the specificity of plasticity in the auditory system as well as to the effects of interaction of specific language features with musical experiences. PMID:28450829

Musical Sophistication and the Effect of Complexity on Auditory Discrimination in Finnish Speakers.

Science.gov (United States)

Dawson, Caitlin; Aalto, Daniel; Šimko, Juraj; Vainio, Martti; Tervaniemi, Mari

2017-01-01

Musical experiences and native language are both known to affect auditory processing. The present work aims to disentangle the influences of native language phonology and musicality on behavioral and subcortical sound feature processing in a population of musically diverse Finnish speakers as well as to investigate the specificity of enhancement from musical training. Finnish speakers are highly sensitive to duration cues since in Finnish, vowel and consonant duration determine word meaning. Using a correlational approach with a set of behavioral sound feature discrimination tasks, brainstem recordings, and a musical sophistication questionnaire, we find no evidence for an association between musical sophistication and more precise duration processing in Finnish speakers either in the auditory brainstem response or in behavioral tasks, but they do show an enhanced pitch discrimination compared to Finnish speakers with less musical experience and show greater duration modulation in a complex task. These results are consistent with a ceiling effect set for certain sound features which corresponds to the phonology of the native language, leaving an opportunity for music experience-based enhancement of sound features not explicitly encoded in the language (such as pitch, which is not explicitly encoded in Finnish). Finally, the pattern of duration modulation in more musically sophisticated Finnish speakers suggests integrated feature processing for greater efficiency in a real world musical situation. These results have implications for research into the specificity of plasticity in the auditory system as well as to the effects of interaction of specific language features with musical experiences.

Healthcare priority setting in Kenya

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Bukachi, Salome A.; Onyango-Ouma, Washington; Siso, Jared Maaka

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...

Politically Active Home Economists: Their Socialization to Politics.

Science.gov (United States)

Ley, Connie J.

1980-01-01

A nationwide study identified a pattern of political socialization for home economists who were politically active. The most outstanding feature of the politically active subjects was their perception that political activity is a professional role. (SK)

Ascendancy of agricultural biotechnology in the Australian political mainstream coexists with technology criticism by a vocal-minority.

Science.gov (United States)

Tribe, David

2014-07-03

Australia is a federation of States. This political structure necessitates collaborative arrangements between Australian governments to harmonize national regulation of gene technology and food standards. Extensive political negotiation among institutions of federal government has managed regulation of GM crops and food. Well-developed human resources in Australian government provided numerous policy documents facilitating a transparent political process. Workable legislation has been devised in the face of criticisms of gene technology though the political process. Conflicts between potential disruptions to food commodity trade by precautionary proposals for environmental protection were one cause of political tensions, and differences in policy priorities at regional political levels versus national and international forums for negotiation were another. Australian policy outcomes on GM crops reflect (a) strong economic self-interest in innovative and productive farming, (b) reliance on global agricultural market reforms through the Cairns trade group and the WTO, and (c) the importance of Codex Alimentarius and WTO instruments SPS and TBT. Precautionary frameworks for GM food safety assurance that are inconsistent with WTO obligations were avoided in legislation. Since 2008 the 2 major parties, Australian Labor Party (ALP) and the Liberals appear to have reached a workable consensus at the Federal policy level about an important role for agricultural biotechnology in Australia's economic future.

Ascendancy of agricultural biotechnology in the Australian political mainstream coexists with technology criticism by a vocal-minority

Science.gov (United States)

Tribe, David

2014-01-01

Australia is a federation of States. This political structure necessitates collaborative arrangements between Australian governments to harmonize national regulation of gene technology and food standards. Extensive political negotiation among institutions of federal government has managed regulation of GM crops and food. Well-developed human resources in Australian government provided numerous policy documents facilitating a transparent political process. Workable legislation has been devised in the face of criticisms of gene technology though the political process. Conflicts between potential disruptions to food commodity trade by precautionary proposals for environmental protection were one cause of political tensions, and differences in policy priorities at regional political levels versus national and international forums for negotiation were another. Australian policy outcomes on GM crops reflect (a) strong economic self-interest in innovative and productive farming, (b) reliance on global agricultural market reforms through the Cairns trade group and the WTO, and (c) the importance of Codex Alimentarius and WTO instruments SPS and TBT. Precautionary frameworks for GM food safety assurance that are inconsistent with WTO obligations were avoided in legislation. Since 2008 the 2 major parties, Australian Labor Party (ALP) and the Liberals appear to have reached a workable consensus at the Federal policy level about an important role for agricultural biotechnology in Australia's economic future. PMID:25437242

Political culture of civil society within synergetic paradigm context

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

I. Z. Derzhko

2014-12-01

society can be defined as a system separate and independent from the state, interpersonal, family, economic, cultural, religious, political relations and structures that are designed to provide the conditions for self-realization of individuals and groups. Priorities of civil society are in inverse points of the political process - the elections, the formation of the state, where society depend on the prospects for change; renewal of power, improve administrative efficiency of its structures. Political culture permeates the entire set of relationships that develop between political actors, the po­tential impact on the form of government, the structure of its institutions, allowing effectively regulate the relationship between the state and civil society, ensure social consensus. Political culture is a factor that can directly help or hinder democratic political development. This confirms the practice of developed democra­cies, which shows that it is a democratic political culture, is the foundation of stability and dynamic perfor­mance. Understanding the political regime as functional characteristics of the political system, including the methods and techniques of political domination, and the order of the citizen, society and political power, helps to define the connection mode of political culture and its place in it.  In a democracy, trust in government is directly determined by its ability to real dialogue with public opin­ion and its main source - the civil society. Democratic political systems require for their existence a certain type of political culture. The lack of long-term and large-scale practices of democratic institutions and pre­vent the consolidation of a democratic political culture society. The main areas of transformation of political culture are: establishment of a democratic type of political consciousness, the formation of political behavior on democratic principles, establishment of a democratic culture functioning administrative institutions

Basic priority rating model 2.0: current applications for priority setting in health promotion practice.

Science.gov (United States)

Neiger, Brad L; Thackeray, Rosemary; Fagen, Michael C

2011-03-01

Priority setting is an important component of systematic planning in health promotion and also factors into the development of a comprehensive evaluation plan. The basic priority rating (BPR) model was introduced more than 50 years ago and includes criteria that should be considered in any priority setting approach (i.e., use of predetermined criteria, standardized comparisons, and a rubric that controls bias). Although the BPR model has provided basic direction in priority setting, it does not represent the broad array of data currently available to decision makers. Elements in the model also give more weight to the impact of communicable diseases compared with chronic diseases. For these reasons, several modifications are recommended to improve the BPR model and to better assist health promotion practitioners in the priority setting process. The authors also suggest a new name, BPR 2.0, to represent this revised model.

Priority for sustainability. Final report

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

2007-12-01

The Dutch Minister of Economic Affairs (EZ) has been asked to realize priority in connection to the grid for sustainable production capacity. Currently there are waiting lists for connection of new production capacity to the grid in some areas, due to a shortage in transport capacity. The Dutch connection policy (first come, first serve) may possibly lead to delays in connecting sustainable production capacity, which is not desirable in view of the incentivisation of sustainability. EZ and TenneT have asked Booz Allen to examine the options for giving priority to sustainability (wind and CHP). Priority in connection applies only to new sustainable production capacity, but priority in transport also applies to existing sustainable production capacity. [mk] [nl

Strategic political postures and political market orientation

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Ormrod, Robert P.; Henneberg, Stephan C.

2010-01-01

by developing an integrated concept of political marketing strategy using two complementary frameworks, namely Strategic Political Postures (SPP) and Political Market Orientation (PMO). We introduce the two main concepts and derive for each of the strategic posture-specific PMO profiles as well as inter......Recently, the areas of strategic political marketing and political market orientation have been the subject of several conceptual articles which have provided the theoretical foundations for further empirical work. However, despite the close conceptual relatedness of the proposed concepts......, these have yet to be integrated to provide a more nuanced framework which both researchers and political marketing practitioners can utilise in the development of strategies and offerings with which to achieve their organizational goals. The aim of this conceptual paper is to address this deficit...

Exploring Women's Understanding of Politics, Political Contestation ...

International Development Research Centre (IDRC) Digital Library (Canada)

Exploring Women's Understanding of Politics, Political Contestation and Gender ... First, researchers will explore women's political leadership and the extent to ... Sign up now for IDRC news and views sent directly to your inbox each month.

Political symbols and political transitions

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Herrero de Miñón, Miguel

2006-11-01

Full Text Available Politics, Law and Psychology are fields that come together in the symbolic. This text takes evidence from those three areas to develop an analysis of political symbols and political transitions. The development of the analysis goes through three stages. The first succinctly describes the concept of transition and its meaning. The second closely examines the notion of the symbol, in terms of its definition, to explain aspects that allow us to understand it, characterise it and make its functions clear. Finally, from the author's experience as a witness and as an actor, I suggest three ways of understanding symbols in the processes of political transition: as symbols of change, as symbols of acknowledgment, and as symbols of support.

Political Education as a Means of Political Socialization.

Science.gov (United States)

Grabe, Weronika; Knobelsdorf, Wodzimierz

1980-01-01

This essay describes the dimensions of political socialization with systematic political education as a major component. Both promote individual acceptance of political norms--particularly where government and school systems are tightly linked. The authors argue that political socialization should promote effective citizenship rather than simply…

Priority Queues Resilient to Memory Faults

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Jørgensen, Allan Grønlund; Moruz, Gabriel; Mølhave, Thomas

2007-01-01

In the faulty-memory RAM model, the content of memory cells can get corrupted at any time during the execution of an algorithm, and a constant number of uncorruptible registers are available. A resilient data structure in this model works correctly on the set of uncorrupted values. In this paper we...... introduce a resilient priority queue. The deletemin operation of a resilient priority queue returns either the minimum uncorrupted element or some corrupted element. Our resilient priority queue uses $O(n)$ space to store $n$ elements. Both insert and deletemin operations are performed in $O(\\log n......+\\delta)$ time amortized, where $\\delta$ is the maximum amount of corruptions tolerated. Our priority queue matches the performance of classical optimal priority queues in the RAM model when the number of corruptions tolerated is $O(\\log n)$. We prove matching worst case lower bounds for resilient priority...

Financial Sophistication and the Distribution of the Welfare Cost of Inflation

OpenAIRE

Paola Boel; Gabriele Camera

2009-01-01

The welfare cost of anticipated inflation is quantified in a calibrated model of the U.S. economy that exhibits tractable equilibrium dispersion in wealth and earnings. Inflation does not generate large losses in societal welfare, yet its impact varies noticeably across segments of society depending also on the financial sophistication of the economy. If money is the only asset, then inflation hurts mostly the wealthier and more productive agents, while those poorer and less productive may ev...

Building a translational science on children and youth affected by political violence and armed conflict: A commentary.

Science.gov (United States)

Masten, Ann S

2017-02-01

Articles in this timely Special Section represent an important milestone in the developmental science on children and youth involved in political violence and armed conflict. With millions of children worldwide affected by past and present wars and conflicts, there is an urgent and growing need for research to inform efforts to understand, prevent, and mitigate the possible harm of such violence to individual children, families, communities, and societies, for present as well as future generations. The four programs of research highlighted in this Special Section illustrate key advances and challenges in contemporary development research on young people growing up in the midst or aftermath of political violence. These studies are longitudinal, methodologically sophisticated, and grounded in socioecological systems models that align well with current models of risk and resilience in developmental psychopathology. These studies collectively mark a critically important shift to process-focused research that holds great promise for translational applications. Nonetheless, given the scope of the international crisis of children and youth affected by political violence and its sequelae, there is an urgent global need for greater mobilization of resources to support translational science and effective evidence-based action.

49 CFR 260.7 - Priority consideration.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-10-01

... 49 Transportation 4 2010-10-01 2010-10-01 false Priority consideration. 260.7 Section 260.7... REHABILITATION AND IMPROVEMENT FINANCING PROGRAM Overview § 260.7 Priority consideration. When evaluating applications, the Administrator will give priority consideration (but not necessarily in the following order...

Health access and medical care as socio-political vindications. Rethinking global health from the margins

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Néstor Nuño Martínez

2017-06-01

Full Text Available According to the exigencies of national and international institutions, non-governmental and grassroots organizations assisting waria —male-to-female transvestites— in the Indonesian city of Jogjakarta have focused all their programs in the prevention and treatment of HIV. As a result of a recent training program in social management, groups of waria have decided to establish themselves as independent institutions and initiate socio-political processes of revindication and negotiation aimed at obtaining free medical access and care. Throughout analysing the underlying causes that have motivated these practices and their consequences, this paper seeks to discuss and rethink the prevailing priorities constructed in global health —characterized by presenting the battle against HIV and Malaria as a the pressing health priorities in the Global South.

Political party affiliation, political ideology and mortality.

Science.gov (United States)

Pabayo, Roman; Kawachi, Ichiro; Muennig, Peter

2015-05-01

Ecological and cross-sectional studies have indicated that conservative political ideology is associated with better health. Longitudinal analyses of mortality are needed because subjective assessments of ideology may confound subjective assessments of health, particularly in cross-sectional analyses. Data were derived from the 2008 General Social Survey-National Death Index data set. Cox proportional analysis models were used to determine whether political party affiliation or political ideology was associated with time to death. Also, we attempted to identify whether self-reported happiness and self-rated health acted as mediators between political beliefs and time to death. In this analysis of 32,830 participants and a total follow-up time of 498,845 person-years, we find that political party affiliation and political ideology are associated with mortality. However, with the exception of independents (adjusted HR (AHR)=0.93, 95% CI 0.90 to 0.97), political party differences are explained by the participants' underlying sociodemographic characteristics. With respect to ideology, conservatives (AHR=1.06, 95% CI 1.01 to 1.12) and moderates (AHR=1.06, 95% CI 1.01 to 1.11) are at greater risk for mortality during follow-up than liberals. Political party affiliation and political ideology appear to be different predictors of mortality. Published by the BMJ Publishing Group Limited. For permission to use (where not already granted under a licence) please go to http://group.bmj.com/group/rights-licensing/permissions.

Final priority; National Institute on Disability and Rehabilitation Research--Rehabilitation Engineering Research Centers. Final priority.

Science.gov (United States)

2014-07-09

The Assistant Secretary for Special Education and Rehabilitative Services announces a priority under the Disability and Rehabilitation Research Projects and Centers Program administered by the National Institute on Disability and Rehabilitation Research (NIDRR). Specifically, we announce a priority for a Rehabilitation Engineering Research Center (RERC) on Improving the Accessibility, Usability, and Performance of Technology for Individuals who are Deaf or Hard of Hearing. The Assistant Secretary may use this priority for competitions in fiscal year (FY) 2014 and later years. We take this action to focus research attention on an area of national need. We intend the priority to contribute to improving the accessibility, usability, and performance of technology for individuals who are deaf or hard of hearing.

Definition And Realization Of The Priorities Features Of Public Prosecutor's Activity In The Sphere Of Rights And Freedoms Of The Man And Citizen Observance

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Nadezhda A. Igonina

2015-03-01

Full Text Available In the present article the notion of "priorities of the prosecution" are defined, its value for the sphere of human rights and freedoms of man and citizen are stated. The classification of priorities, which is based on the provisions of the Russian Constitution and international law are stated. According to the authors, under the primary protection are the personal rights, which are derived from a natural person's status, inherent from birth. Next in order of priority are political rights, ensuring the full participation of citizens in the political life of the country, and finally - human rights in the socio-economic and cultural spheres, to guarantee the freedom of personal development and decent standards of living. Due to the authors` opinion, prosecutors in the allocation of the most important goals and objectives of its activities are guided by objective factors such as the analysis of the state of law, connection of the situation in this sphere of legal relations with the maintenance of stability and balance in the society, human rights functions, country's leadership and guidance of the General Prosecutor of the Russian Federation. The article shows, that the choice of priorities in the public prosecutor's activity, including the field of human rights and freedoms of man and citizen is a complex multi-faceted process, which affects the international situation, the internal processes, occurring in the country, including natural and man-made emergencies and a number of other factors. Authors identify issues that, in their opinion, should be addressed to improve the effectiveness of prosecutorial activities. That is the further development of the law about the Prosecutor's Office and the consolidation of its legal position, including constitutional status. Conclusions and suggestions are based on the authors' theoretical positions, made by the Russian jurists, as well as according their own empirical researches.

Politics Backstage - Television Documentaries, Politics and Politicians

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Ib Bondebjerg

2006-09-01

Full Text Available This article deals with "the transformation of visibility" in political discourse on and representation of politics and politicians in resent Dansih television documentaries. Drawing on the theories of Habermas, Meyrowitz and John B. Thompson, it is argued that the political persona on television is moved closer to the individual citizen, creating a sort "mediated quasi-inter- action" giving mediated communication a stronger element of face-to-face interaction. Together with the more pervasive "live" coverage of politics and politicians, this expands media coverage to both the backstage of political processes and the private and personal backstage of politicians, changing the form of democracy and public debate.

Representative Bureaucracy and the Role of Expertise in Politics

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Jarle Trondal

2015-03-01

Full Text Available The vast majority of existing studies on bureaucratic representation focus on bureaucracies’ permanent and internal staff. Yet, the rising sophistication of modern democracies and the technocratization of political life are gradually inducing an increased reliance on external experts to assist in the development and implementation of policy decisions. This trend, we argue, raises the need to extend studies of bureaucratic representation to such external and non-permanent experts in governmental affairs. In this article, we take a first step in this direction using seconded national experts (SNEs in the European Commission as our empirical laboratory. Our results highlight that Commission SNEs do not appear representative of their constituent population (i.e., the EU-27 population along a number of socio-demographic dimensions. Moreover, we find that the role perception of “experts” is primarily explained by organizational affiliation, and only secondarily by demographic characteristics (except, of course, education.

Putin’s Russia: Russian Mentality and Sophisticated Imperialism in Military Policies

OpenAIRE

Szénási, Lieutenant-Colonel Endre

2016-01-01

According to my experiences, the Western world hopelessly fails to understand Russian mentality, or misinterprets it. During my analysis of the Russian way of thinking I devoted special attention to the examination of military mentality. I have connected the issue of the Russian way of thinking to the contemporary imperial policies of Putin’s Russia.  I have also attempted to prove the level of sophistication of both. I hope that a better understanding of both the Russian mentality and imperi...

Political Science and Political Geography: Neglected Areas, Areas for Development.

Science.gov (United States)

Laponce, J. A.

1983-01-01

Since at least the 1950s, political scientists have tended to ignore the possible contributions of political geography to political science because of a move away from considering spatial factors on political structure. Political scientists need to use more information from geography to enhance their understanding of political power and conflict.…

Priority actions (Environmental protection in Macedonia)

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

1997-01-01

The priority actions were based on environmental needs in the short to medium term, keeping in mind that there are severe budgetary constraints and the environmental institutions are still being developed. The private sector will be encouraged to participate, wherever possible in implementing the priority actions.Based on the evaluation of all the environmental priorities, the following are considered priority actions which should be addressed within the next five years: air quality improvement; water quality improvement; solid waste management; biodiversity conservation; renewal and preservation of forests; technical assistance. (author)

Effects of Political Knowledge on Political Tolerance

Science.gov (United States)

Hall, John Powell

2018-01-01

Sexual orientation continues to be an explosive issue in American classrooms. Increasing the political knowledge of students can reduce the volatility of this explosive issue by increasing tolerance toward the lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender community. This relationship between political knowledge and political tolerance has been…

Sophisticated Online Learning Scheme for Green Resource Allocation in 5G Heterogeneous Cloud Radio Access Networks

KAUST Repository

Alqerm, Ismail

2018-01-23

5G is the upcoming evolution for the current cellular networks that aims at satisfying the future demand for data services. Heterogeneous cloud radio access networks (H-CRANs) are envisioned as a new trend of 5G that exploits the advantages of heterogeneous and cloud radio access networks to enhance spectral and energy efficiency. Remote radio heads (RRHs) are small cells utilized to provide high data rates for users with high quality of service (QoS) requirements, while high power macro base station (BS) is deployed for coverage maintenance and low QoS users service. Inter-tier interference between macro BSs and RRHs and energy efficiency are critical challenges that accompany resource allocation in H-CRANs. Therefore, we propose an efficient resource allocation scheme using online learning, which mitigates interference and maximizes energy efficiency while maintaining QoS requirements for all users. The resource allocation includes resource blocks (RBs) and power. The proposed scheme is implemented using two approaches: centralized, where the resource allocation is processed at a controller integrated with the baseband processing unit and decentralized, where macro BSs cooperate to achieve optimal resource allocation strategy. To foster the performance of such sophisticated scheme with a model free learning, we consider users\\' priority in RB allocation and compact state representation learning methodology to improve the speed of convergence and account for the curse of dimensionality during the learning process. The proposed scheme including both approaches is implemented using software defined radios testbed. The obtained results and simulation results confirm that the proposed resource allocation solution in H-CRANs increases the energy efficiency significantly and maintains users\\' QoS.

Final priority. Rehabilitation Training: Job-Driven Vocational Rehabilitation Technical Assistance Center. Final priority.

Science.gov (United States)

2014-08-19

The Assistant Secretary for Special Education and Rehabilitative Services announces a priority under the Rehabilitation Training program to establish a Job-Driven Vocational Rehabilitation Technical Assistance Center (JDVRTAC). The Assistant Secretary may use this priority for competitions in fiscal year (FY) 2014 and later years. We take this action to focus on training in an area of national need. Specifically, this priority responds to the Presidential Memorandum to Federal agencies directing them to take action to address job-driven training for the Nation's workers. The JDVRTAC will provide technical assistance (TA) to State vocational rehabilitation (VR) agencies to help them develop for individuals with disabilities training and employment opportunities that meet the needs of today's employers.

The relation between maturity and sophistication shall be properly dealt with in nuclear power development

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Li Yongjiang

2009-01-01

The paper analyses the advantages and disadvantages of the second generation improved technologies and third generation technologies mainly developed in China in terms of safety and economy. The paper also discusses the maturity of the second generation improved technologies and the sophistication of the third generation technologies respectively. Meanwhile, the paper proposes that the advantage and disadvantage of second generation improved technologies and third generation technologies should be carefully taken into consideration and the relationship between the maturity and sophistication should be properly dealt with in the current stage. A two-step strategy shall be taken as a solution to solve the problem of insufficient capacity of nuclear power, trace and develop the third generation technologies, so as to ensure the sound and fast development of nuclear power. (authors)

Community views and public health priority setting: how do health department priorities, community views, and health indicator data compare?

Science.gov (United States)

Earle-Richardson, Giulia; Scribani, Melissa; Wyckoff, Lynae; Strogatz, David; May, John; Jenkins, Paul

2015-01-01

New York, like many other states, provides county-level health statistics for use in local priority settings but does not provide any data on public views about priority health issues. This study assessed whether health department priorities are notably different from community concerns about health, and how both groups' priorities compare with local health statistics. Data from a 2009 rural survey on community health concerns were compared to priorities named by the seven area county health departments, and to local health indicator data. Health care/insurance cost (60%), obesity (53%), and prescription cost (41%) were leading community concerns, regardless of age, education, sex, or Internet in the home. Six of seven county health departments selected access to quality health care (which includes health care/insurance cost) as a leading public health priority, but only three identified obesity. The following leading local health issues were suggested by health indicators: Physical activity and nutrition, Smoking, and Unintentional injury. Health departments diverged from community priorities, from health indicator data, and from one another in choosing priorities. Adding a question about community health priorities to existing state telephone surveys on health behavior and lifestyle would provide an important tool to local health departments. © 2014 Society for Public Health Education.

Contemporary Political Paranoia, a Case of Political Gnosticism

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Antonio Rivera García

2017-10-01

Full Text Available This article puts forward the concept of political paranoia as a useful category to understand some contemporary manifestations of the pathologies of power. For this aim an interdisciplinary approach has been used, namely, the knowledge provided by psychoanalysis, political philosophy, theology and literary or aesthetic studies. Freud’s and Lacan’s psychoanalysis allows us to understand why the paranoid subject is a megalomaniac and hyperrational subject who wants to be in control of everything. It is a sovereign subject, who has adapted not only to the Society of Control initially defined by Deleuze, but also to a conception of philosophy that aims for totality. After dealing with the close relationship between paranoia and conspiratorial political theory, the article explains the reason why contemporary political paranoia represents a case of the most radical political theology: political Gnosticism. This term stands for a conception of politics that reduces the Other to the condition of an absolute enemy that needs to be eliminated. Lastly, the article establishes a close link between the cure for political paranoia and the assumption of an ontology of incompleteness

Setting priorities for safeguards upgrades

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Al-Ayat, R.A.; Judd, B.R.; Patenaude, C.J.; Sicherman, A.

1987-01-01

This paper describes an analytic approach and a computer program for setting priorities among safeguards upgrades. The approach provides safeguards decision makers with a systematic method for allocating their limited upgrade resources. The priorities are set based on the upgrades cost and their contribution to safeguards effectiveness. Safeguards effectiveness is measured by the probability of defeat for a spectrum of potential insider and outsider adversaries. The computer program, MI$ER, can be used alone or as a companion to ET and SAVI, programs designed to evaluate safeguards effectiveness against insider and outsider threats, respectively. Setting the priority required judgments about the relative importance (threat likelihoods and consequences) of insider and outsider threats. Although these judgments are inherently subjective, MI$ER can analyze the sensitivity of the upgrade priorities to these weights and determine whether or not they are critical to the priority ranking. MI$ER produces tabular and graphical results for comparing benefits and identifying the most cost-effective upgrades for a given expenditure. This framework provides decision makers with an explicit and consistent analysis to support their upgrades decisions and to allocate the safeguards resources in a cost-effective manner

The risk to be reasonably accepted - an unreasonable demand on science, society, politics?

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Weber, B.

1986-01-01

Political ethics is a concept that is increasingly emerging in current public debate about the risks of technolgy. A risk that cannot be limited in time or in space, the risk we have got used to call the 'risk to be reasonably accepted', seems unacceptable. Energy generation and supply may not be given higher priority than life and health. It would be high time to prove courage and efficiency by opposing the 'nuclear laws of inertia', stopping nuclear technoloy, and admitting one's own feeling of insecurity. (DG) [de

Research priorities for public mental health in Europe

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Forsman, Anna K; Wahlbeck, Kristian; Aarø, Leif Edvard

2015-01-01

experts were involved in the priority setting process. RESULTS: Twenty priorities for public mental health research were identified through the consensus process. The research priorities were divided into summary principles-encompassing overall recommendations for future public mental health research...... field. METHODS: Experts were invited to compile and discuss research priorities in a series of topic-based scientific workshops. In addition, a Delphi process was carried out to reach consensus on the list of research priorities and their rank order. Three web-based surveys were conducted. Nearly 60...... in Europe-and thematic research priorities, including area-specific top priorities on research topics and methods. The priorities represent three overarching goals mirroring societal challenges, that is, to identify causes, risk and protective factors for mental health across the lifespan; to advance...

The parliamentary political agenda: a tool for policy analysis of diabetes priorities in Spain La agenda política parlamentaria: una herramienta para el análisis político sobre las prioridades sobre diabetes en España

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Andrés A. Agudelo-Suárez

2012-12-01

Full Text Available Objective: To analyze the political agenda on diabetes in Spain under democracy by considering the frequency and content of initiatives in the Spanish parliament. Methods: A systematic search of parliamentary interventions (1979-2010 reported on the Spanish Congress of Deputies' web page was carried out using the key word "diabetes". A descriptive study of the frequency of interventions was performed, followed by a content analysis, according to the priorities of the World Health Organization (WHO, the International Diabetes Federation and the Spanish Diabetes Federation. Other study variables were the year of presentation, legislature, type of initiative and whether a political decision was taken (yes/no. Results: There were 59 interventions: 22% were related to the first international initiatives and 44.1% took place in the last two legislatures in response to the WHO's program Diabetes Action Now. A total of 32.2% of the initiatives addressed educational and social programs, while 23.7% addressed access to resources and health services. Most initiatives (74.6% consisted of parliamentary questions to the government, which only required a response. Of the 15 initiatives requiring a decision to be taken, only eight were approved. Conclusions: Spanish legislators aim to comply with international standards. Nevertheless, political decision-making has sometimes been slow. Importantly, most of the political responsibilities related to health have been transferred to the autonomous regions. The updated National Diabetes Strategy in Spain will need to strengthen public health policies according to established international priorities. Monitoring parliamentary interventions has proven to be a valid tool for evaluating patterns of political debate and decisions on diabetes.Objetivo: Analizar la agenda política sobre diabetes en el periodo democrático español, considerando la frecuencia y el contenido de las iniciativas parlamentarias. M�

Defining Political Marketing

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Ormrod, Robert P.

’ and ‘narrow’ interpretations of political marketing, the nature of the political marketing exchange, political relationship marketing and how one can integrate the stakeholder concept into an understanding of political marketing. Finally, we propose a definition of political marketing that differs from......The aim of this working paper is to develop a definition of political marketing that builds on the political rather than commercial marketing literature. This aim is motivated by the need to make explicit our understanding of what political marketing is, a necessary exercise when discussing theory......, concepts and empirical methods in political marketing. We first present five existing definitions of political marketing that have been selected to represent advances in research from the origins of academic research into political marketing in the mid-1970’s to the present day. After this we discuss ‘wide...

Climate politics in the Lower Mekong Basin. National interests and transboundary cooperation on climate change

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Baadsgaard Lange, R.; Moerck Jensen, K.

2013-09-01

Climate change is expected to intensify water security concerns in international river basins. UNFCCC and DAC-donors have been important generators of political attention to the climate agenda among governments in the Mekong Basin in relation to regional cooperation, national policy-making and capacity building. However, the formal commitment to climate action is not necessarily reflected in the everyday business of development. In this paper we use a political economy approach to understand when and how climate change becomes a political priority for the governments of Laos, Thailand and Vietnam, and for transboundary cooperation. Uneven distribution of climate hazards and vulnerabilities create different national risk perceptions and commitment to climate action. Donor funding and national development strategies are also strong drivers of climate action and inaction. Climate change is sometimes used as a scapegoat for domestic policy failures and as a tool to acquire donor funding. We recommend prioritizing climate action in the context of immediate development challenges and 'no regrets' interventions that are likely to enhance adaptive capacity and governments' commitment. (Author)

Community Priority Index: utility, applicability and validation for priority setting in community-based participatory research

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Hamisu M. Salihu

2015-07-01

Full Text Available Background. Providing practitioners with an intuitive measure for priority setting that can be combined with diverse data collection methods is a necessary step to foster accountability of the decision-making process in community settings. Yet, there is a lack of easy-to-use, but methodologically robust measures, that can be feasibly implemented for reliable decision-making in community settings. To address this important gap in community based participatory research (CBPR, the purpose of this study was to demonstrate the utility, applicability, and validation of a community priority index in a community-based participatory research setting. Design and Methods. Mixed-method study that combined focus groups findings, nominal group technique with six key informants, and the generation of a Community Priority Index (CPI that integrated community importance, changeability, and target populations. Bootstrapping and simulation were performed for validation. Results. For pregnant mothers, the top three highly important and highly changeable priorities were: stress (CPI=0.85; 95%CI: 0.70, 1.00, lack of affection (CPI=0.87; 95%CI: 0.69, 1.00, and nutritional issues (CPI=0.78; 95%CI: 0.48, 1.00. For non-pregnant women, top priorities were: low health literacy (CPI=0.87; 95%CI: 0.69, 1.00, low educational attainment (CPI=0.78; 95%CI: 0.48, 1.00, and lack of self-esteem (CPI=0.72; 95%CI: 0.44, 1.00. For children and adolescents, the top three priorities were: obesity (CPI=0.88; 95%CI: 0.69, 1.00, low self-esteem (CPI=0.81; 95%CI: 0.69, 0.94, and negative attitudes toward education (CPI=0.75; 95%CI: 0.50, 0.94. Conclusions. This study demonstrates the applicability of the CPI as a simple and intuitive measure for priority setting in CBPR.

Politics and legislation related to the final disposal of radioactive wastes. Socio-juridical case study on the Konrad ore mine

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Pape, Jens

2016-01-01

The energy revolution leads not only to build more wind turbines and the much-discussed circuit line from northern to southern Germany. Instead, the now old energy form of nuclear power needs to be handled. The disposal is one of the biggest unsolved issues of our time. In the conflict between energy and environment policies, the radioactive contamination of nuclear energy must be disposed of. The book is a highly topical compendium of legal and political aspects, which are not sufficiently taken into account because of their specialty in the public discourse. Based on the case study Konrad almost all legal and political priorities are treated very understandable.

Performing Politics

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Troy R. E. Paddock

2016-01-01

Full Text Available Walter Benjamin’s observation that fascism turns politics into aesthetics is, by now, a well-worn idea. This article argues that Benjamin’s critique of politics can apply just as much to the modern democratic politics of the United States. Borrowing from Benjamin, Jürgen Habermas, and Carl Schmitt, this article suggests that modern political discourse in the United States does not follow the classical liberal ideal of rational discourse in the marketplace of ideas within the public sphere. Instead, contemporary politics has become spectacle where images and slogans replace thought and debate in a 24/7 news cycle and political infotainment programs. The result is that progressives and conservatives have their own political “ecospheres” which enable them to have their own perspective reinforced, and debate is replaced by straw man arguments and personal attacks.

"Priority of liberty" and the design of a two-tier health care system.

Science.gov (United States)

Breyer, Friedrich; Kliemt, Hartmut

2015-04-01

Libertarian views on rights tend to rule out coercive redistribution for purposes of public health care guarantees, whereas liberal conceptions support coercive funding of potentially unlimited access to medical services in the name of medical needs. Taking the "priority of liberty" seriously as supreme political value, a plausible prudential argument can avoid these extremes by providing systematic reasons for both delivering and limiting publicly financed guarantees. Given impending demographic change and rapid technical progress in medicine, only a two-tier system with explicitly limited public guarantees and optional privately financed health services seems acceptable. © The Author 2015. Published by Oxford University Press, on behalf of the Journal of Medicine and Philosophy Inc. All rights reserved. For permissions, please e-mail: journals.permissions@oup.com.

What factors in the policy-making process determine the priority given to a policy issue?

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Erisa Xhixho

2015-03-01

Full Text Available Agenda setting is the process by which problems and alternative solutions gain or lose public attention (Birkland T. (2007, p.63; Werner J. and Wegrich K. (2007, p.46.. The main factor that determine an issue that it could become a priority, drawing the attention of decision makers, the public, reaching for it to become part of the agenda are: “Window of Opportunity”, which is a strategy used by less powerful groups, which are benefiting from the fact that powerful groups in certain situations may lose control of the agenda, they manage this circumstances to make their case to the priority. Another factor are the “Focus Event” that emphasizes the fact that unexpected events that shock the public opinion, as were the cases of corruption of officials, case “Snowden” or 11 September in the USA, affecting an issue that directly lead the decision-making agenda. Advocacy coalitions, is a form that use less powerful groups by joining on the basis of certain principles, values, beliefs they have about a particular issue. This alliance of values, resources and coordination of actions helps to advance the issue becoming a priority. “Venue shop” as a factor that aims to reach groups through institutions, be heard, be able to attract the attention of decision makers, also using the media as a very important factor nowadays for sensitizing public opinion on the issue and influence in order to become a priority issue. “Policy network” has come as a need of developing a relationship between government and the private sector, thus forming a power dependency relationship mainly the exchange of resources and thereby influencing the political agenda on particular issues. Therefore in this article I will try to argue that these factors affect in various ways becoming determinant that the issue be the priority on the decision agenda. Also, I can say that after the development of the analysis, I think that the two factors have a greater influence

Politics as Culture: Contribution of Political Science to Democratic Maturity

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Ivan Padjen

2014-01-01

Full Text Available The article discusses the contribution of Croatian political science to the development of democracy in Croatia. The focus of the analysis is the concept of culture which author talks about in five steps. In the first step it is understood in the modern key, in the second step as different for nature and in the third as different from society. In the fourth step author differentiates political culture from political economy and political institutions, but in the fifth part there is an attempt to show culture as a fundamental part of politics, policy and polity. On the basis of these insights author shows that the matrix of Croatian political science is more and more devoted to scientific investigation of politics as culture as both study of political culture and as a source of development as politics as culture.

Priority Setting for Occupational Cancer Prevention

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Cheryl E. Peters

2018-06-01

Full Text Available Background: Selecting priority occupational carcinogens is important for cancer prevention efforts; however, standardized selection methods are not available. The objective of this paper was to describe the methods used by CAREX Canada in 2015 to establish priorities for preventing occupational cancer, with a focus on exposure estimation and descriptive profiles. Methods: Four criteria were used in an expert assessment process to guide carcinogen prioritization: (1 the likelihood of presence and/or use in Canadian workplaces; (2 toxicity of the substance (strength of evidence for carcinogenicity and other health effects; (3 feasibility of producing a carcinogen profile and/or an occupational estimate; and (4 special interest from the public/scientific community. Carcinogens were ranked as high, medium or low priority based on specific conditions regarding these criteria, and stakeholder input was incorporated. Priorities were set separately for the creation of new carcinogen profiles and for new occupational exposure estimates. Results: Overall, 246 agents were reviewed for inclusion in the occupational priorities list. For carcinogen profile generation, 103 were prioritized (11 high, 33 medium, and 59 low priority, and 36 carcinogens were deemed priorities for occupational exposure estimation (13 high, 17 medium, and 6 low priority. Conclusion: Prioritizing and ranking occupational carcinogens is required for a variety of purposes, including research, resource allocation at different jurisdictional levels, calculations of occupational cancer burden, and planning of CAREX-type projects in different countries. This paper outlines how this process was achieved in Canada; this may provide a model for other countries and jurisdictions as a part of occupational cancer prevention efforts. Keywords: cancer prevention, carcinogen exposure, occupational health

Optimal Priority Structure, Capital Structure, and Investment

OpenAIRE

Dirk Hackbarth; David C. Mauer

2012-01-01

We study the interaction between financing and investment decisions in a dynamic model, where the firm has multiple debt issues and equityholders choose the timing of investment. Jointly optimal capital and priority structures can virtually eliminate investment distortions because debt priority serves as a dynamically optimal contract. Examining the relative efficiency of priority rules observed in practice, we develop several predictions about how firms adjust their priority structure in res...

Political psychology.

Science.gov (United States)

Stone, Susanna; Johnson, Kate M; Beall, Erica; Meindl, Peter; Smith, Benjamin; Graham, Jesse

2014-07-01

Political psychology is a dynamic field of research that offers a unique blend of approaches and methods in the social and cognitive sciences. Political psychologists explore the interactions between macrolevel political structures and microlevel factors such as decision-making processes, motivations, and perceptions. In this article, we provide a broad overview of the field, beginning with a brief history of political psychology research and a summary of the primary methodological approaches in the field. We then give a more detailed account of research on ideology and social justice, two topics experiencing a resurgence of interest in current political psychology. Finally, we cover research on political persuasion and voting behavior. By summarizing these major areas of political psychology research, we hope to highlight the wide variety of theoretical and methodological approaches of cognitive scientists working at the intersection of psychology and political science. WIREs Cogn Sci 2014, 5:373-385. doi: 10.1002/wcs.1293 For further resources related to this article, please visit the WIREs website. The authors have declared no conflicts of interest for this article. © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Politics for cities, cities for the political. About possibility (and necessity of radical urban politics

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Wiktor Marzec

2010-01-01

Full Text Available Essay faces the problem of determinacy of global capitalism processes for the reality of urban political life. The city is naturally communitarian form of human life and seems to be the place where radical pro-community politics could be undertaken. Already existing and operating forms of power could fruitfully influence the city social relations. Values and norms of conduct are broadly delegated on the urban space and materiality, thus conscious shaping of city space has severe consequences for community life. If a crisis of the political partly has its roots in metamorphoses of the cities, then also remedies, rising from the urban materiality and reestablishing political subjects, could be thought. City, as most real place of political life could be either reduced to the aggregate of consumers or reestablished as a political community. Due to this is the place where undesired course of action could be stopped, hence precisely here the radical democratic politics can emerge.

Competing for the same value segments? Insight into the volatile Dutch political landscape.

Science.gov (United States)

van Herk, Hester; Schoonees, Pieter C; Groenen, Patrick J F; van Rosmalen, Joost

2018-01-01

Values are central to public debates today. Human values convey broad goals that serve as guiding principles in a person's life and value priorities differ across people in society. Groups in society holding opposing values (e.g., universalism versus security) will make different choices when voting in an election. Whereas over time, values are relatively stable, the number and type of political parties as well as the political values they communicate and disseminate have been changing. Groups of people holding the same human values may therefore vote for another (new) party in a later election. We focus on analyzing the relationship between human values and voting in elections, introducing a new methodology to analyze how value profiles relate to political support over time. We investigate the Dutch multi-party political system over five waves of the European Social Survey, spanning 2002 until 2010. Whilst previous research has focused on individual values separately and focused on voters only, we (1) distinguish groups holding a similar set of opposing and compatible values (value profile) instead of focusing on single values in the the entire population; (2) incorporate a correction for differences in scale use in our model; (3) compare voting over time; (4) include non-voters, a growing group in Dutch society. We find evidence that specific value profiles are related to voting for a specific set of political parties. We also find that specific value profiles distinguish non-voters from voters and that voters for populist parties resemble non-voters.

Competing for the same value segments? Insight into the volatile Dutch political landscape

Science.gov (United States)

Groenen, Patrick J. F.; van Rosmalen, Joost

2018-01-01

Values are central to public debates today. Human values convey broad goals that serve as guiding principles in a person’s life and value priorities differ across people in society. Groups in society holding opposing values (e.g., universalism versus security) will make different choices when voting in an election. Whereas over time, values are relatively stable, the number and type of political parties as well as the political values they communicate and disseminate have been changing. Groups of people holding the same human values may therefore vote for another (new) party in a later election. We focus on analyzing the relationship between human values and voting in elections, introducing a new methodology to analyze how value profiles relate to political support over time. We investigate the Dutch multi-party political system over five waves of the European Social Survey, spanning 2002 until 2010. Whilst previous research has focused on individual values separately and focused on voters only, we (1) distinguish groups holding a similar set of opposing and compatible values (value profile) instead of focusing on single values in the the entire population; (2) incorporate a correction for differences in scale use in our model; (3) compare voting over time; (4) include non-voters, a growing group in Dutch society. We find evidence that specific value profiles are related to voting for a specific set of political parties. We also find that specific value profiles distinguish non-voters from voters and that voters for populist parties resemble non-voters. PMID:29324764

Political Values or the Value of Politics

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Simoska, Emilija

2016-04-01

Full Text Available This essay was motivated by the gap between proclaimed democratic principles and the perceptions of politics which are exhibited by the citizens in transitional countries -more specifically in the Republic of Macedonia. It is based on research data collected in the past few decades, which illustrate that, in their political actions, the citizens are highly motivated by personal benefits and profits, rather than by their internalized values and ideologies. Non-democratic, authoritarian values prevail, while politics is perceived as a value itself, in the most materialistic meaning of the word. It creates a suitable milieu for growth of corruption, nepotism and clientelism. The authors conclude that such a circulus vitsiosus is a corner stone of the Macedonian political regime, and an enormous obstacle for the advancement of the participative, democratic political culture in reality, in spite of its formal acceptance.

A Political Philosophy Approach to Teaching American Politics.

Science.gov (United States)

Bailey, Kevin E.

1982-01-01

Suggests an alternative to the civic training, political indoctrination, and descriptive presentation approaches used to teaching American government courses. Recommends a political philosophy approach within a framework of elite theory to help students develop a critical perspective on American politics. (DMM)

Dreissenid mussel research priorities workshop

Science.gov (United States)

Sytsma, Mark; Phillips, Stephen; Counihan, Timothy D.

2015-01-01

Currently, dreissenid mussels have yet to be detected in the northwestern part of the United States and western Canada. Infestation of one of the jurisdictions within the mussel-free Pacific Northwest would likely have significant economic, soci­etal and environmental implications for the entire region. Understanding the biology and environmental tolerances of dreissenid mussels, and effectiveness of various man­agement strategies, is key to prevention.On November 4-5, 2015, the Aquatic Bioinvasion Research and Policy Institute and the Center for Lakes and Reservoirs at Portland State University, the US Geological Survey, and the Pacific States Marine Fisheries Commission, convened a Dreissenid Mussel Research Priorities Workshop funded by the Great Northern Landscape Conservation Cooperative. The purpose of the workshop was to review dreissenid research priorities in the 2010 Quagga-Zebra Mussel Action Plan for Western U.S. Waters, reassess those priorities, incorporate new information and emerging trends, and develop priorities to strategically focus research efforts on zebra and quagga mussels in the Pacific Northwest and ensure that future research is focused on the highest priorities. It is important to note that there is some repetition among dreissenid research priority categories (e.g., prevention, detection, control, monitoring, and biology).Workshop participants with research experience in dreissenid mussel biology and management were identified by a literature review. State and federal agency managers were also invited to the workshop to ensure relevancy and practicality of the work­shop outcomes. A total of 28 experts (see sidebar) in mussel biology, ecology, and management attended the workshop.

Political “genotype” as a structural element of political culture

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

N. V. Karpova

2016-01-01

Full Text Available The article is devoted to the issue of genetic foundations of political culture in the context of the socio-political system changes. The author elaborates the concept of “political genotype” as a sustainable structural element of political culture that determines its content and the possibility of permissible variation. In this paper the main forms of existence of political genotype and its functions are also investigated; and “genetic” mechanism of political culture succession is explored.

Improving district level health planning and priority setting in Tanzania through implementing accountability for reasonableness framework: Perceptions of stakeholders.

Science.gov (United States)

Maluka, Stephen; Kamuzora, Peter; San Sebastián, Miguel; Byskov, Jens; Ndawi, Benedict; Hurtig, Anna-Karin

2010-12-01

In 2006, researchers and decision-makers launched a five-year project - Response to Accountable Priority Setting for Trust in Health Systems (REACT) - to improve planning and priority-setting through implementing the Accountability for Reasonableness framework in Mbarali District, Tanzania. The objective of this paper is to explore the acceptability of Accountability for Reasonableness from the perspectives of the Council Health Management Team, local government officials, health workforce and members of user boards and committees. Individual interviews were carried out with different categories of actors and stakeholders in the district. The interview guide consisted of a series of questions, asking respondents to describe their perceptions regarding each condition of the Accountability for Reasonableness framework in terms of priority setting. Interviews were analysed using thematic framework analysis. Documentary data were used to support, verify and highlight the key issues that emerged. Almost all stakeholders viewed Accountability for Reasonableness as an important and feasible approach for improving priority-setting and health service delivery in their context. However, a few aspects of Accountability for Reasonableness were seen as too difficult to implement given the socio-political conditions and traditions in Tanzania. Respondents mentioned: budget ceilings and guidelines, low level of public awareness, unreliable and untimely funding, as well as the limited capacity of the district to generate local resources as the major contextual factors that hampered the full implementation of the framework in their context. This study was one of the first assessments of the applicability of Accountability for Reasonableness in health care priority-setting in Tanzania. The analysis, overall, suggests that the Accountability for Reasonableness framework could be an important tool for improving priority-setting processes in the contexts of resource-poor settings

[Political psychology].

Science.gov (United States)

Resch, Mária; Bella, Tamás

2013-04-21

In Hungary one can mostly find references to the psychological processes of politics in the writings of publicists, public opinion pollsters, philosophers, social psychologists, and political analysts. It would be still important if not only legal scientists focusing on political institutions or sociologist-politologists concentrating on social structures could analyse the psychological aspects of political processes; but one could also do so through the application of the methods of political psychology. The authors review the history of political psychology, its position vis-à-vis other fields of science and the essential interfaces through which this field of science, which is still to be discovered in Hungary, connects to other social sciences. As far as its methodology comprising psycho-biographical analyses, questionnaire-based queries, cognitive mapping of interviews and statements are concerned, it is identical with the psychiatric tools of medical sciences. In the next part of this paper, the focus is shifted to the essence and contents of political psychology. Group dynamics properties, voters' attitudes, leaders' personalities and the behavioural patterns demonstrated by them in different political situations, authoritativeness, games, and charisma are all essential components of political psychology, which mostly analyses psychological-psychiatric processes and also involves medical sciences by relying on cognitive and behavioural sciences. This paper describes political psychology, which is basically part of social sciences, still, being an interdisciplinary science, has several ties to medical sciences through psychological and psychiatric aspects.

The Pragmatics of Political Apology in Ghana's Contemporary Politics

African Journals Online (AJOL)

The paper discusses political apology in the 4th republic of Ghanaian contemporary politics from 2013 to 2015. It taps its data from apologetic speeches by political officials and from apologies rendered to politicians. The paper discusses the semantics and pragmatics of political apology. It examines the use of the language ...

Political News and Political Consciousness

Science.gov (United States)

Schertges, Claudia

2007-01-01

This article deals with mass media in modern democratic societies, using the example of Israeli news reports in German television (TV) news. Central to this interest are processes of mediating politics: political socialisation and education; that is to say, empowering citizens via TV news to participate in democratic processes. The article…

The political reference point: How geography shapes political identity.

Science.gov (United States)

Feinberg, Matthew; Tullett, Alexa M; Mensch, Zachary; Hart, William; Gottlieb, Sara

2017-01-01

It is commonly assumed that how individuals identify on the political spectrum-whether liberal, conservative, or moderate-has a universal meaning when it comes to policy stances and voting behavior. But, does political identity mean the same thing from place to place? Using data collected from across the U.S. we find that even when people share the same political identity, those in "bluer" locations are more likely to support left-leaning policies and vote for Democratic candidates than those in "redder" locations. Because the meaning of political identity is inconsistent across locations, individuals who share the same political identity sometimes espouse opposing policy stances. Meanwhile, those with opposing identities sometimes endorse identical policy stances. Such findings suggest that researchers, campaigners, and pollsters must use caution when extrapolating policy preferences and voting behavior from political identity, and that animosity toward the other end of the political spectrum is sometimes misplaced.

Setting research priorities for Type 1 diabetes.

Science.gov (United States)

Gadsby, R; Snow, R; Daly, A C; Crowe, S; Matyka, K; Hall, B; Petrie, J

2012-10-01

Research priorities are often set by academic researchers or the pharmaceutical industry. The interests of patients, carers and clinicians may therefore be overlooked and research questions that matter may be neglected. The aims of this study were to collect uncertainties about the treatment of Type 1 diabetes from patients, carers and health professionals, and to collate and prioritize these uncertainties to develop a top 10 list of research priorities, using a structured priority-setting partnership of patients, carers, health professionals and diabetes organizations, as described by the James Lind Alliance. A partnership of interested organizations was set up, and from this a steering committee of 10 individuals was formed. An online and paper survey was used to identify uncertainties. These were collated, and the steering group carried out an interim priority-setting exercise with partner organizations. This group of uncertainties was then voted on to give a smaller list that went forward to the final priority-setting workshop. At this meeting, a final list of the top 10 research priorities was agreed. An initial 1141 uncertainties were described. These were reduced to 88 indicative questions, 47 of which went out for voting. Twenty-four were then taken forward to a final priority-setting workshop. This workshop resulted in a list of top 10 research priorities in Type 1 diabetes. We have shown that it is possible using the James Lind Alliance process to develop an agreed top 10 list of research priorities for Type 1 diabetes from health professionals, patients and carers. © 2012 The Authors. Diabetic Medicine © 2012 Diabetes UK.

Uncovering the political in non-political young muslim immigrant identities

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Niels Nørgaard Kristensen

2011-01-01

Full Text Available The theme of this paper is political identity and participation amongMuslim migrant young people in Denmark. Political identity is analysedby examining students’ political interests and perception of themselves as participants in politics, as well as their rationalities for politics. In order to address the research question ‘What characterizes political identities among Muslim immigrant young people in schools?’ we interviewed eight Muslim students from a Danish upper secondary school and from different national origins. The students’ political orientations seemed quite contradictory, even among those who might readily have been identified as a-political. Despite moderate political interest, all students showed some inclinations to participate in elections or in particular issues. However, they emphasized that their social studies classes primarily provided them with factual knowledge experience, and some students found this knowledge useful. None of the students seemed to experience school as an arena for participation. Consequently, there is first a need to emphasize the significance of a dynamic perspective on the phenomenon of political identity, and second, we need to know how students in school should be regarded as citizens in ‘the making’ or as equal citizens in a participatory arena.

Political Culture and the Nature of Political Participation in Egypt.

Science.gov (United States)

1980-06-01

political socialization . Political-cultural values are gradually internalized within the society and political behavior is largely reflective of...the extent to which the regime used education as a means of political socialization : Socialism is articulated as a Muslim theory of socialism. The head... political socialization except for a brief period during the mobilization program of Ali Sabri. Egypt’s party system has been more relevant for

Redistributive Politics in a Political Union

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Citi, Manuele; Justesen, Mogens Kamp

One of the main functions of centralized budgets in federal and political unions is to act as an equalizing mechanism to support economic cohesion. This is also the case with the European Union’s budget, which operates as a redistributive mechanism that counteracts the cross-national and cross...... remarkably over the last decades. In this paper, we investigate how and why the net fiscal position of each member state towards the rest of the EU changes over time. Using a novel panel dataset (1979-2014), we study how some key national and EU-level political and economic variables affect the EU...... find that the political orientation of national governments does not per se influence redistributive politics with in the EU. However, when the unemployment rate is rising, right-wing governments are able to extract significantly larger budgetary benefits....

Setting Priorities Personal Values, Organizational Results

CERN Document Server

(CCL), Center for Creative Leadership

2011-01-01

To be a successful leader, you need to get results. To get results, you need to set priorities. This book can help you do a better job of setting priorities, recognizing the personal values that motivate your decision making, the probable trade-offs and consequences of your decisions, and the importance of aligning your priorities with your organization's expectations. In this way you can successfully meet organizational objectives and consistently produce results.

Close to the Clothes : Materiality and Sophisticated Archaism in Alexander van Slobbe’s Design Practices

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Baronian, M.-A.

This article looks at the work of contemporary Dutch fashion designer Alexander van Slobbe (1959) and examines how, since the 1990s, his fashion practices have consistently and consciously put forward a unique reflection on questions related to materiality, sophisticated archaism, luxury,

Close to the Clothes: Materiality and Sophisticated Archaism in Alexander van Slobbe’s Design Practices

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Baronian, M.-A.

This article looks at the work of contemporary Dutch fashion designer Alexander van Slobbe (1959) and examines how, since the 1990s, his fashion practices have consistently and consciously put forward a unique reflection on questions related to materiality, sophisticated archaism, luxury,

The political reference point: How geography shapes political identity

Science.gov (United States)

Feinberg, Matthew; Tullett, Alexa M.; Mensch, Zachary; Hart, William; Gottlieb, Sara

2017-01-01

It is commonly assumed that how individuals identify on the political spectrum–whether liberal, conservative, or moderate–has a universal meaning when it comes to policy stances and voting behavior. But, does political identity mean the same thing from place to place? Using data collected from across the U.S. we find that even when people share the same political identity, those in “bluer” locations are more likely to support left-leaning policies and vote for Democratic candidates than those in “redder” locations. Because the meaning of political identity is inconsistent across locations, individuals who share the same political identity sometimes espouse opposing policy stances. Meanwhile, those with opposing identities sometimes endorse identical policy stances. Such findings suggest that researchers, campaigners, and pollsters must use caution when extrapolating policy preferences and voting behavior from political identity, and that animosity toward the other end of the political spectrum is sometimes misplaced. PMID:28207906

The political reference point: How geography shapes political identity.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Matthew Feinberg

Full Text Available It is commonly assumed that how individuals identify on the political spectrum-whether liberal, conservative, or moderate-has a universal meaning when it comes to policy stances and voting behavior. But, does political identity mean the same thing from place to place? Using data collected from across the U.S. we find that even when people share the same political identity, those in "bluer" locations are more likely to support left-leaning policies and vote for Democratic candidates than those in "redder" locations. Because the meaning of political identity is inconsistent across locations, individuals who share the same political identity sometimes espouse opposing policy stances. Meanwhile, those with opposing identities sometimes endorse identical policy stances. Such findings suggest that researchers, campaigners, and pollsters must use caution when extrapolating policy preferences and voting behavior from political identity, and that animosity toward the other end of the political spectrum is sometimes misplaced.

Politics Backstage - Television Documentaries, Politics and Politicians

OpenAIRE

Ib Bondebjerg

2006-01-01

This article deals with "the transformation of visibility" in political discourse on and representation of politics and politicians in resent Dansih television documentaries. Drawing on the theories of Habermas, Meyrowitz and John B. Thompson, it is argued that the political persona on television is moved closer to the individual citizen, creating a sort "mediated quasi-inter- action" giving mediated communication a stronger element of face-to-face interaction. Together...

Resource Windfalls, Political Regimes, and Political Stability

OpenAIRE

Francesco Caselli; Andrea Tesei

2011-01-01

We study theoretically and empirically whether natural resource windfalls affect political regimes. We document the following regularities. Natural resource windfalls have no effect on the political system when they occur in democracies. However, windfalls have significant political consequences in autocracies. In particular, when an autocratic country receives a positive shock to its flow of resource rents it responds by becoming even more autocratic. Furthermore, there is heterogeneity in t...

Party Political Panthers: Hegemonic Tamil Politics and the Dalit Challenge

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Hugo Gorringe

2011-12-01

Full Text Available The Viduthalai Ciruthaigal Katchi (VCK, Liberation Panther Party has successfully transformed from the largest Dalit movement in Tamil Nadu into a recognised political organisation. Social movement theorists like Gamson (1990 view political recognition and engagement as one of the main aims and successes of social mobilisation. Despite the obvious achievements of the VCK, however, activists and commentators express disappointment or disillusionment with its performance. The Panthers clearly reject the caste hierarchy, but they increasingly adopt hegemonic forms of politics which can undermine their aims. This paper, thus, engages with the questions of movement institutionalisation by tracing the political trajectory of the VCK and charting its resistance to and compliance with Dravidian hegemony. It argues that institutionalisation needs to be understood within particular socio-political contexts and notes how the hegemony of Dravidian politics partly explains the disjuncture between activist and political perceptions. It portrays how the dominant political parties have set the template for what it means to ‘do’ politics in Tamil Nadu which serves as both an opportunity and a constraint for potential challengers.

Safety training priorities

Science.gov (United States)

Thompson, N. A.; Ruck, H. W.

1984-04-01

The Air Force is interested in identifying potentially hazardous tasks and prevention of accidents. This effort proposes four methods for determining safety training priorities for job tasks in three enlisted specialties. These methods can be used to design training aimed at avoiding loss of people, time, materials, and money associated with on-the-job accidents. Job tasks performed by airmen were measured using task and job factor ratings. Combining accident reports and job inventories, subject-matter experts identified tasks associated with accidents over a 3-year period. Applying correlational, multiple regression, and cost-benefit analysis, four methods were developed for ordering hazardous tasks to determine safety training priorities.

7 CFR 1775.11 - Priority.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-01-01

... management problems. (j) Cash or in kind support of project from non-federal sources. (k) Ability to... program. (a) Projects proposing to give priority for available services to rural communities having a population less than 5,500 and/or below 2,500. (b) Projects proposing to give priority for available services...

The politics and anti-politics of social movements

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Burchardt, Marian; Patterson, Amy S.; Mubanda Rasmussen, Louise

2013-01-01

's poverty. Religious HIV/AIDS activities must be analysed in a conceptual space between a civil society/politics approach and a service-provider/anti-politics framework. That is, religious mobilisation may at times seek to engage the public realm to shape policies, while at other times it may shun politics...

The politics of researching global health politics

Science.gov (United States)

Rushton, Simon

2015-01-01

In this comment, I build on Shiffman’s call for the global health community to more deeply investigate structural and productive power. I highlight two challenges we must grapple with as social scientists carrying out the types of investigation that Shiffman proposes: the politics of challenging the powerful; and the need to investigate types of expertise that have traditionally been thought of as ‘outside’ global health. In doing so, I argue that moving forward with the agenda Shiffman sets out requires social scientists interested in the global politics of health to be reflexive about our own exercise of structural and productive power and the fact that researching global health politics is itself a political undertaking. PMID:25905482

Facebook, Political Narrative, and Political Change: A Case Study of Palestinian Youth

OpenAIRE

Kenderes, Amanda

2012-01-01

In this dissertation I aim to advance political narrative theory by exploring the use of political narrative on Facebook and the possibility for Facebook to be used among Palestinian youth for political change. To examine the concepts of political narrative and political change, I developed a model for political change based on the changing political narratives which in part prompted the 2011 Egyptian revolution. The model, Political Narrative Perspectives (PNPs), identifies individual and re...

40 CFR 35.925-3 - Priority determination.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-07-01

... 40 Protection of Environment 1 2010-07-01 2010-07-01 false Priority determination. 35.925-3 Section 35.925-3 Protection of Environment ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY GRANTS AND OTHER FEDERAL... Priority determination. That such works are entitled to priority in accordance with § 35.915, and that the...

Decentralized health care priority-setting in Tanzania

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Maluka, Stephen; Kamuzora, Peter; Sebastiån, Miguel San

2010-01-01

Priority-setting has become one of the biggest challenges faced by health decision-makers worldwide. Fairness is a key goal of priority-setting and Accountability for Reasonableness has emerged as a guiding framework for fair priority-setting. This paper describes the processes of setting health...... care priorities in Mbarali district, Tanzania, and evaluates the descriptions against Accountability for Reasonableness. Key informant interviews were conducted with district health managers, local government officials and other stakeholders using a semi-structured interview guide. Relevant documents...... no formal mechanisms in place to ensure that this information reached the public. There were neither formal mechanisms for challenging decisions nor an adequate enforcement mechanism to ensure that decisions were made in a fair and equitable manner. Therefore, priority-setting in Mbarali district did...

'Grounded' Politics

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Schmidt, Garbi

2012-01-01

play within one particular neighbourhood: Nørrebro in the Danish capital, Copenhagen. The article introduces the concept of grounded politics to analyse how groups of Muslim immigrants in Nørrebro use the space, relationships and history of the neighbourhood for identity political statements....... The article further describes how national political debates over the Muslim presence in Denmark affect identity political manifestations within Nørrebro. By using Duncan Bell’s concept of mythscape (Bell, 2003), the article shows how some political actors idealize Nørrebro’s past to contest the present...... ethnic and religious diversity of the neighbourhood and, further, to frame what they see as the deterioration of genuine Danish identity....

7 CFR 632.12 - Funding priorities.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-01-01

... AGRICULTURE LONG TERM CONTRACTING RURAL ABANDONED MINE PROGRAM Qualifications § 632.12 Funding priorities. (a... extreme danger. (3) Priority 3. Restoration of the land and water resources and the environment where...

Political micro-targeting: a Manchurian candidate or just a dark horse?

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Balázs Bodó

2017-12-01

Full Text Available Political micro-targeting (PMT has become a popular topic both in academia and in the public discussions after the surprise results of the 2016 US presidential election, the UK vote on leaving the European Union, and a number of general elections in Europe in 2017. Yet, we still know little about whether PMT is a tool with such destructive potential that it requires close societal control, or if it’s “just” a new phenomenon with currently unknown capacities, but which can ultimately be incorporated into our political processes.   In this article we identify the points where we think we need to further develop our analytical capacities around PMT. We argue that we need to decouple research from the US context, and through more non-US and comparative research we need to develop a better understanding of the macro, meso, and micro level factors that affect the adoption and success of PMTs across different countries. One of the most under-researched macro-level factors is law. We argue that PMT research must develop a better understanding of law, especially in Europe, where the regulatory frameworks around platforms, personal data, political and commercial speech do shape the use and effectiveness of PMT. We point out that the incorporation of such new factors calls for the sophistication of research designs, which currently rely too much on qualitative methods, and use too little of the data that exists on PMT. And finally, we call for distancing PMT research from the hype surrounding the new PMT capabilities, and the moral panics that quickly develop around its uses.

Political entrepreneurship and bidding for political monopoly

OpenAIRE

Michael Wohlgemuth

2000-01-01

An analytical framework for dealing with political entrepreneurship and reform is proposed which is based on some new combinations of Schumpeterian political economy, an extended version of Tullock's model of democracy as franchise-bidding for natural monopoly and some basic elements of New Institutional Economics. It is shown that problems of insufficient award criteria and incomplete contracts which may arise in economic bidding schemes, also - and even more so - characterise political comp...

Pirate political parties: New democracy or political utopia

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Karanović Bojana

2012-01-01

Full Text Available Modern society is changing under the influence of IT technologies, more and more we talk about 'digital revolution', and political and economic developments are shaped by computer networks. Undeniably, the Internet has opened new possibilities for socio-political expansion, networking and mobilization. Besides the political establishment, many social movements found their chance in cyberspace recognizing the IT technology as a platform for the development and improvement of their internal and external communication. In this article we will focus on the Pirate Party, movement that has been seriously growing on the European political stage for last several years. Following the example of German Pirate Party we will try to explain the characteristics of the movement, its goals and communication strategies, and political dilemmas which it brings.

14 CFR 250.3 - Boarding priority rules.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-01-01

... 14 Aeronautics and Space 4 2010-01-01 2010-01-01 false Boarding priority rules. 250.3 Section 250...) ECONOMIC REGULATIONS OVERSALES § 250.3 Boarding priority rules. (a) Every carrier shall establish priority... boarding on an oversold flight in the event that an insufficient number of volunteers come forward. Such...

A Snapshot of Serial Rape: An Investigation of Criminal Sophistication and Use of Force on Victim Injury and Severity of the Assault.

Science.gov (United States)

de Heer, Brooke

2016-02-01

Prior research on rapes reported to law enforcement has identified criminal sophistication and the use of force against the victim as possible unique identifiers to serial rape versus one-time rape. This study sought to contribute to the current literature on reported serial rape by investigating how the level of criminal sophistication of the rapist and use of force used were associated with two important outcomes of rape: victim injury and overall severity of the assault. In addition, it was evaluated whether rapist and victim ethnicity affected these relationships. A nation-wide sample of serial rape cases reported to law enforcement collected by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) was analyzed (108 rapists, 543 victims). Results indicated that serial rapists typically used a limited amount of force against the victim and displayed a high degree of criminal sophistication. In addition, the more criminally sophisticated the perpetrator was, the more sexual acts he performed on his victim. Finally, rapes between a White rapist and White victim were found to exhibit higher levels of criminal sophistication and were more severe in terms of number and types of sexual acts committed. These findings provide a more in-depth understanding of serial rape that can inform both academics and practitioners in the field about contributors to victim injury and severity of the assault. © The Author(s) 2014.

POLITICAL FACTORS OF NSTITUTIONAL TRANSFORMATION OF RUSSIAN PUBLIC SERVICE

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

G. A. Borshevskiy

2018-01-01

Full Text Available We define the civil service as a political and administrative institution established to meet the needs in the professional performance of political decisions and providing the daily contact between the society and the political power. The definition of civil service in the Russian legislation is not fit the features of public institution, that is why the institutionalization of the civil service in post-Soviet Russia face difficulties.We see ways to overcome this contradiction, which include the improvement of legislation and implementation to the strategic documents the goals, objectives and performance criteria of civil service institution-building. This goals and objectives should orientate the civil servants to ensure economic growth and improving the quality of citizen’s life.The architecture of the civil service institution was offered, including the legal, institutional and human components. We identified the institutional characteristics and location of this institution in the environment of society.The algorithm of civil service institutional change was clarified, which includes elements such as institutional selection, the definition of institutional norms and institutional effects.The requirements for the assessment of institutional effectiveness were formulated. We proved the necessity to describe the driving forces of civil service development not only by external influences, but also its internal environment.The comparison of this set of statistics with indicators of internal development of the civil service allows concluding about the correlation between the civil service performance on different stages of its institutional transformation and attainment the priorities of the economy and society.

Lifelong Political Socialization, Consciousness and Political Agency in Israel Today

Science.gov (United States)

Michel, Dirk

2007-01-01

This article deals with the nexus between biographical experiences in political extraordinary times of crisis, disaster and terror and their influence on political orientations. At the centre of interest is the reconstruction of political orientations related to two different historical-political groups of Jewish Germans who had immigrated or…

Cosmopolitan Sophistry: Grounding Politics in Disorder and Uncertainty

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Jon Marshall

2011-11-01

Full Text Available Conceptions of the State, Nation and politics, which are actually in play in ‘the West’, usually descend from totalitarian models which are primarily Platonic and monotheistic in origin. They aim for unity, harmony, wholeness, legitimate authority and the rejection of conflict, however much they claim to represent multiplicity. By expressing a vision of order, such models drive an idea of planning by prophecy as opposed to divination, as if the future was certain within limits and the trajectory was smooth. Chaos theory and evolutionary ecology shows us that this conception of both society and the future is inaccurate. I will argue that it is useful to look at the pre-socratic philosophers, in particular the so-called sophists Gorgias and Protagoras and Heraclitus with their sense of ongoing flux, the truth of the moment, and the necessary power of rhetoric in the leading forth of temporary functional consensus within the flux. This ongoing oscillation of conflict provides social movement and life rather than social death.

15 CFR 700.15 - Extension of priority ratings.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-01-01

...) BUREAU OF INDUSTRY AND SECURITY, DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE NATIONAL SECURITY INDUSTRIAL BASE REGULATIONS DEFENSE PRIORITIES AND ALLOCATIONS SYSTEM Industrial Priorities § 700.15 Extension of priority ratings. (a...

Politics, Security, Theory

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Wæver, Ole

2011-01-01

theory is found to ‘act politically’ through three structural features that systematically shape the political effects of using the theory. The article further discusses – on the basis of the preceding articles in the special issue – three emerging debates around securitization theory: ethics......This article outlines three ways of analysing the ‘politics of securitization’, emphasizing an often-overlooked form of politics practised through theory design. The structure and nature of a theory can have systematic political implications. Analysis of this ‘politics of securitization......’ is distinct from both the study of political practices of securitization and explorations of competing concepts of politics among security theories. It means tracking what kinds of analysis the theory can produce and whether such analysis systematically impacts real-life political struggles. Securitization...

Consumer design priorities for upper limb prosthetics.

Science.gov (United States)

Biddiss, Elaine; Beaton, Dorcas; Chau, Tom

2007-11-01

To measure consumer satisfaction with upper limb prosthetics and provide an enumerated list of design priorities for future developments. A self-administered, anonymous survey collected information on participant demographics, history of and goals for prosthesis use, satisfaction, and design priorities. The questionnaire was available online and in paper format and was distributed through healthcare providers, community support groups, and one prosthesis manufacturer; 242 participants of all ages and levels of upper limb absence completed the survey. Rates of rejection for myoelectric hands, passive hands, and body-powered hooks were 39%, 53%, and 50%, respectively. Prosthesis wearers were generally satisfied with their devices while prosthesis rejecters were dissatisfied. Reduced prosthesis weight emerged as the highest priority design concern of consumers. Lower cost ranked within the top five design priorities for adult wearers of all device types. Life-like appearance is a priority for passive/cosmetic prostheses, while improved harness comfort, wrist movement, grip control and strength are required for body-powered devices. Glove durability, lack of sensory feedback, and poor dexterity were also identified as design priorities for electric devices. Design priorities reflect consumer goals for prosthesis use and vary depending on the type of prosthesis used and age. Future design efforts should focus on the development of more light-weight, comfortable prostheses.

The Political Parties and Political Participation in Rivers State, Nigeria

African Journals Online (AJOL)

The Political Parties and Political Participation in Rivers State, Nigeria: A Case Study of 2015 General Elections. Goddey Wilson. Abstract. The study reviewed the activities of the political parties and its impact on voters' participation in the political activities in Rivers State. In pursuit of this objective, the study generated ...

Singapore: The Politics of Inventing National Identity

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Stephan Ortmann

2009-01-01

Full Text Available This study wants to shed new light on the politics of Singapore’s national identity invention. Since independence in 1965, the Singaporean government has tried to generate a sense of national identity in Singapore. While at first, the priority was on pragmatic values to promote the economic development, this changed in the late 1980s when the government became concerned with the widespread materialism within the society. As an alternative, so-called Asian values sought to provide an ideological alternative and a new basis for a stronger national identity. At the same time, average Singaporeans have developed their own unique conceptions of the city-state’s national identity, which sometimes contradict the official nation-building efforts and thus constitute a subtle form of opposition. Many Singaporeans demand greater participation in the negotiation of their Singaporean identity, which demonstrates the difficulty of constructing a sustainable authoritarian civic national identity.

Defining Priorities for Future Research: Results of the UK Kidney Transplant Priority Setting Partnership.

Science.gov (United States)

Knight, Simon R; Metcalfe, Leanne; O'Donoghue, Katriona; Ball, Simon T; Beale, Angela; Beale, William; Hilton, Rachel; Hodkinson, Keith; Lipkin, Graham W; Loud, Fiona; Marson, Lorna P; Morris, Peter J

2016-01-01

It has been suggested that the research priorities of those funding and performing research in transplantation may differ from those of end service users such as patients, carers and healthcare professionals involved in day-to-day care. The Kidney Transplant Priority Setting Partnership (PSP) was established with the aim of involving all stakeholders in prioritising future research in the field. The PSP methodology is as outlined by the James Lind Alliance. An initial survey collected unanswered research questions from patients, carers and clinicians. Duplicate and out-of-scope topics were excluded and the existing literature searched to identify topics answered by current evidence. An interim prioritisation survey asked patients and professionals to score the importance of the remaining questions to create a ranked long-list. These were considered at a final consensus workshop using a modified nominal group technique to agree a final top ten. The initial survey identified 497 questions from 183 respondents, covering all aspects of transplantation from assessment through to long-term follow-up. These were grouped into 90 unanswered "indicative" questions. The interim prioritisation survey received 256 responses (34.8% patients/carers, 10.9% donors and 54.3% professionals), resulting in a ranked list of 25 questions that were considered during the final workshop. Participants agreed a top ten priorities for future research that included optimisation of immunosuppression (improved monitoring, choice of regimen, personalisation), prevention of sensitisation and transplanting the sensitised patient, management of antibody-mediated rejection, long-term risks to live donors, methods of organ preservation, induction of tolerance and bioengineering of organs. There was evidence that patient and carer involvement had a significant impact on shaping the final priorities. The final list of priorities relates to all stages of the transplant process, including access to

Political innovations

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Sørensen, Eva

2017-01-01

are mainly interested in assessing and promoting innovations in public service delivery, but have paid little or no attention to the need for innovations in polity, politics and policy. This article develops a research agenda for studying innovations in political institutions, in the political process...... and in policy outputs. It proposes a number of research themes related to political innovations that call for scholarly attention, and identifies push and pull factors influencing the likelihood that these themes will be addressed in future research....

Final priorities; National Institute on Disability and Rehabilitation Research--Disability and Rehabilitation Research Projects and Centers Program--Rehabilitation Engineering Research Centers. Final priorities.

Science.gov (United States)

2013-06-11

The Assistant Secretary for Special Education and Rehabilitative Services announces priorities under the Disability and Rehabilitation Research Projects and Centers Program administered by the National Institute on Disability and Rehabilitation Research (NIDRR). Specifically, we announce priorities for a Rehabilitation Engineering Research Center (RERC) on Rehabilitation Strategies, Techniques, and Interventions (Priority 1), Information and Communication Technologies Access (Priority 2), Individual Mobility and Manipulation (Priority 3), and Physical Access and Transportation (Priority 4). The Assistant Secretary may use one or more of these priorities for competitions in fiscal year (FY) 2013 and later years. We take this action to focus research attention on areas of national need. We intend these priorities to improve community living and participation, health and function, and employment outcomes of individuals with disabilities.

Putting politics first.

Science.gov (United States)

Hacker, Jacob S

2008-01-01

The greatest lesson of the failure of comprehensive health reform in the early 1990s is that politics comes first. Even the best-laid policy plans are worthless if they lack the political support to pass. Putting politics first means avoiding the overarching mistake of the Clinton reformers: envisioning a grand policy compromise rather than hammering out a real political compromise. It also means addressing the inevitable fears of those who believe that they are well protected by our eroding employment-based system. And it means formulating political strategies that are premised on the contemporary realities of the hyperpolarized U.S. political environment, rather than wistfully recalled images of the bipartisan politics of old.

Religion and Politics

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Bandak, Andreas

2018-01-01

Religion and politics provide an interesting juxtaposition. On the one hand, both may initially come across as rather self-evident categories, with religion dealing with human perceptions and what people hold as sacred, and politics addressing the control and governance of fellow human beings....... Nonetheless, such a simple opposition should only work as a starting point for an interrogation of both terms and how they have come to look and function as empirical and analytical categories. Focusing on the ways that religion is played out in relation to politics reveals different historical and cultural...... constellations and positions, which can be highlighted as variations of religion as politics, religion in politics, religion out of politics, and religion not politics....

Facebook, Political Narrative, and Political Change: A Case Study of Palestinian Youth

Science.gov (United States)

Kenderes, Amanda M.

2012-01-01

In this dissertation I aim to advance political narrative theory by exploring the use of political narrative on Facebook and the possibility for Facebook to be used among Palestinian youth for political change. To examine the concepts of political narrative and political change, I developed a model for political change based on the changing…

Political Socialization and Political Interest: The Role of School Reassessed

Science.gov (United States)

Koskimaa, Vesa; Rapeli, Lauri

2015-01-01

There is a growing concern about the lack of political interest and engagement among Western youth. This has led to a revival of political socialization studies. One recent finding is that (late) adolescence is key to understanding the development of interest for politics. This study builds on this finding by examining political interest among…

Exploring Political Alternatives

Science.gov (United States)

Denhardt, Robert B.

1975-01-01

The author distinguishes between the concepts of political socialization and political education. He argues that political socialization has come to dominate both our thinking and our teaching in the area of civic education. Suggestions for promoting political education are included. (DE)

Priority setting and health policy and systems research

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Bennett Sara C

2009-12-01

Full Text Available Abstract Health policy and systems research (HPSR has been identified as critical to scaling-up interventions to achieve the millennium development goals, but research priority setting exercises often do not address HPSR well. This paper aims to (i assess current priority setting methods and the extent to which they adequately include HPSR and (ii draw lessons regarding how HPSR priority setting can be enhanced to promote relevant HPSR, and to strengthen developing country leadership of research agendas. Priority setting processes can be distinguished by the level at which they occur, their degree of comprehensiveness in terms of the topic addressed, the balance between technical versus interpretive approaches and the stakeholders involved. When HPSR is considered through technical, disease-driven priority setting processes it is systematically under-valued. More successful approaches for considering HPSR are typically nationally-driven, interpretive and engage a range of stakeholders. There is still a need however for better defined approaches to enable research funders to determine the relative weight to assign to disease specific research versus HPSR and other forms of cross-cutting health research. While country-level research priority setting is key, there is likely to be a continued need for the identification of global research priorities for HPSR. The paper argues that such global priorities can and should be driven by country level priorities.

The Pragmatics of Political Apology in Ghana’s Contemporary Politics

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Kofi Agyekum

2015-05-01

Full Text Available The paper discusses political apology in the 4 the republic of Ghanaian contemporary politics from 2013 to 2015. It taps its data from apologetic speeches by political officials and from apologies rendered to politicians. The paper discusses the semantics and pragmatics of political apology. It examines the use of the language of apology, paying attention to expressives, commissives and persuasion, by drawing on the speech act of apology and political discourse analysis (PDA. It concludes that the obligation on the part of the offender to apologise and for the offended to accept the apology and to forgive for socio-political harmony is driven by both the social pact and the Ghanaian communalistic context.

Politics in evaluation: Politically responsive evaluation in high stakes environments.

Science.gov (United States)

Azzam, Tarek; Levine, Bret

2015-12-01

The role of politics has often been discussed in evaluation theory and practice. The political influence of the situation can have major effects on the evaluation design, approach and methods. Politics also has the potential to influence the decisions made from the evaluation findings. The current study focuses on the influence of the political context on stakeholder decision making. Utilizing a simulation scenario, this study compares stakeholder decision making in high and low stakes evaluation contexts. Findings suggest that high stakes political environments are more likely than low stakes environments to lead to reduced reliance on technically appropriate measures and increased dependence on measures better reflect the broader political environment. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

The Effects of Majoring in Political Science on Political Efficacy

Science.gov (United States)

Dominguez, Casey B. K.; Smith, Keith W.; Williams, J. Michael

2017-01-01

This study tests, and finds support, for the hypotheses that a student who majors in political science will have stronger feelings of political competence and will be more willing to engage in hypothetical political actions than two peer groups: (a) those who major in other fields and (b) those who show an interest in politics but have not studied…

Cosmopolitan political science.

Science.gov (United States)

Grande, Edgar

2006-03-01

Until recently, the term cosmopolitism could rarely be found in modern political science literature. It was only in the 1990s that the term was rediscovered by political scientists in the critical discourse on globalization. In this article, I will explore the full potential of cosmopolitism as an analytical concept for empirical political science. I will argue that the concept of cosmopolitism should not be restricted to the analysis of global politics. Indeed, cosmopolitism has much more to offer for political scientists. Properly understood, it enables--and necessitates--a re-invention of political science in the age of globalization, comparable to the behavioural revolution in political science in the 1950s. Such a paradigmatic shift should be based on a twofold transformation of existing disciplinary boundaries: A removal of the boundary between national (and comparative) and international politics on the one hand; and a re-definition of the boundaries between empirical and normative approaches on the other. As a result, cosmopolitism may serve as a new, critical theory of politics based on the integration of hitherto separated fields and sub-fields.

Global conservation priorities for marine turtles.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Bryan P Wallace

Full Text Available Where conservation resources are limited and conservation targets are diverse, robust yet flexible priority-setting frameworks are vital. Priority-setting is especially important for geographically widespread species with distinct populations subject to multiple threats that operate on different spatial and temporal scales. Marine turtles are widely distributed and exhibit intra-specific variations in population sizes and trends, as well as reproduction and morphology. However, current global extinction risk assessment frameworks do not assess conservation status of spatially and biologically distinct marine turtle Regional Management Units (RMUs, and thus do not capture variations in population trends, impacts of threats, or necessary conservation actions across individual populations. To address this issue, we developed a new assessment framework that allowed us to evaluate, compare and organize marine turtle RMUs according to status and threats criteria. Because conservation priorities can vary widely (i.e. from avoiding imminent extinction to maintaining long-term monitoring efforts we developed a "conservation priorities portfolio" system using categories of paired risk and threats scores for all RMUs (n = 58. We performed these assessments and rankings globally, by species, by ocean basin, and by recognized geopolitical bodies to identify patterns in risk, threats, and data gaps at different scales. This process resulted in characterization of risk and threats to all marine turtle RMUs, including identification of the world's 11 most endangered marine turtle RMUs based on highest risk and threats scores. This system also highlighted important gaps in available information that is crucial for accurate conservation assessments. Overall, this priority-setting framework can provide guidance for research and conservation priorities at multiple relevant scales, and should serve as a model for conservation status assessments and priority

Political Anthropology and Anthropology of Politics: An Overview

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Suresh Dhakal

2012-06-01

Full Text Available In this short review, I have tried to sketch an overview of historical development of political anthropology and its recent trends. I was enthused to prepare this review article as there does not exist any of such simplified introduction of one of the prominent sub-fields in cultural anthropology for the Nepalis readers, in particular. I believe this particular sub-field has to offer much to understand and explain the recent trends and current turmoil of the political transition in the country. Political anthropologists than any other could better explain how the politics is socially and culturally embedded and intertwined, therefore, separation of the two – politics from social and cultural processes – is not only impossible but methodologically wrong, too. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.3126/dsaj.v5i0.6365 Dhaulagiri Journal of Sociology and Anthropology Vol. 5, 2011: 217-34

Teaching gender and politics: Feminist methods in political science

OpenAIRE

Krook, Mona Lena

2009-01-01

Feminist research in political science is marked by two major contributions: (1) introducing the concept of “gender” and (2) expanding the definition of “politics.” Given its origins in feminist theory and activism, it is guided by scholarly and political aims to transform the study and the practice of politics (cf. Hawkesworth 2006). These commitments enable feminist scholars to identify new research questions, as well as to approach traditional topics in novel ways, using a variety of resea...

The political spectacle phenomenon on the political scene of Bosnia and Herzegovina

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Vučetić Vuk

2013-01-01

Full Text Available This paper will examine the phenomenon of political spectacle in BiH. Our goal is to recognize the structure of political spectacle in BiH political scene and point out the functions and objectives of this relatively new term in the media and the political sphere. In this regard, we have observed a political spectacle as a method of political communication of the rulers to the ruled. A very important element of the political spectacle is the media. With the media promotion of this method of political communication achieves its full capacity. The final outcome of the political spectacle is reflected in manipulating the public. In this way the politicians try to remain in power as long as they can.

Office Politics

Science.gov (United States)

Storm, Paula; Kelly, Robert; deVries, Susann

2008-01-01

People and organizations are inherently political. Library workplace environments have zones of tension and dynamics just like any corporation, often leading to the formation of political camps. These different cliques influence productivity and work-related issues and, at worst, give meetings the feel of the Camp David negotiations. Politics are…

Language and Politics.

Science.gov (United States)

Chimombo, Moira

1999-01-01

Surveys the interrelationship between language and politics. Touches on the context of political discourse, or political culture and ideology in new and old democracies and the reemerging manifestations of totalitarianism, censorship, and linguistic imperialism; then examines selected linguistic features of political discourse and their…

An ontology-based nurse call management system (oNCS) with probabilistic priority assessment

Science.gov (United States)

2011-01-01

Background The current, place-oriented nurse call systems are very static. A patient can only make calls with a button which is fixed to a wall of a room. Moreover, the system does not take into account various factors specific to a situation. In the future, there will be an evolution to a mobile button for each patient so that they can walk around freely and still make calls. The system would become person-oriented and the available context information should be taken into account to assign the correct nurse to a call. The aim of this research is (1) the design of a software platform that supports the transition to mobile and wireless nurse call buttons in hospitals and residential care and (2) the design of a sophisticated nurse call algorithm. This algorithm dynamically adapts to the situation at hand by taking the profile information of staff members and patients into account. Additionally, the priority of a call probabilistically depends on the risk factors, assigned to a patient. Methods The ontology-based Nurse Call System (oNCS) was developed as an extension of a Context-Aware Service Platform. An ontology is used to manage the profile information. Rules implement the novel nurse call algorithm that takes all this information into account. Probabilistic reasoning algorithms are designed to determine the priority of a call based on the risk factors of the patient. Results The oNCS system is evaluated through a prototype implementation and simulations, based on a detailed dataset obtained from Ghent University Hospital. The arrival times of nurses at the location of a call, the workload distribution of calls amongst nurses and the assignment of priorities to calls are compared for the oNCS system and the current, place-oriented nurse call system. Additionally, the performance of the system is discussed. Conclusions The execution time of the nurse call algorithm is on average 50.333 ms. Moreover, the oNCS system significantly improves the assignment of nurses

An ontology-based nurse call management system (oNCS with probabilistic priority assessment

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Verhoeve Piet

2011-02-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background The current, place-oriented nurse call systems are very static. A patient can only make calls with a button which is fixed to a wall of a room. Moreover, the system does not take into account various factors specific to a situation. In the future, there will be an evolution to a mobile button for each patient so that they can walk around freely and still make calls. The system would become person-oriented and the available context information should be taken into account to assign the correct nurse to a call. The aim of this research is (1 the design of a software platform that supports the transition to mobile and wireless nurse call buttons in hospitals and residential care and (2 the design of a sophisticated nurse call algorithm. This algorithm dynamically adapts to the situation at hand by taking the profile information of staff members and patients into account. Additionally, the priority of a call probabilistically depends on the risk factors, assigned to a patient. Methods The ontology-based Nurse Call System (oNCS was developed as an extension of a Context-Aware Service Platform. An ontology is used to manage the profile information. Rules implement the novel nurse call algorithm that takes all this information into account. Probabilistic reasoning algorithms are designed to determine the priority of a call based on the risk factors of the patient. Results The oNCS system is evaluated through a prototype implementation and simulations, based on a detailed dataset obtained from Ghent University Hospital. The arrival times of nurses at the location of a call, the workload distribution of calls amongst nurses and the assignment of priorities to calls are compared for the oNCS system and the current, place-oriented nurse call system. Additionally, the performance of the system is discussed. Conclusions The execution time of the nurse call algorithm is on average 50.333 ms. Moreover, the oNCS system significantly improves

Setting Research Priorities for Kidney Cancer.

Science.gov (United States)

Jones, Jennifer M; Bhatt, Jaimin; Avery, Jonathan; Laupacis, Andreas; Cowan, Katherine; Basappa, Naveen S; Basiuk, Joan; Canil, Christina; Al-Asaaed, Sohaib; Heng, Daniel Y C; Wood, Lori; Stacey, Dawn; Kollmannsberger, Christian; Jewett, Michael A S

2017-12-01

Defining disease-specific research priorities in cancer can facilitate better allocation of limited resources. Involving patients and caregivers as well as expert clinicians in this process is of value. We undertook this approach for kidney cancer as an example. The Kidney Cancer Research Network of Canada sponsored a collaborative consensus-based priority-setting partnership that identified ten research priorities in the management of kidney cancer. These are discussed in the context of current initiatives and gaps in knowledge. Copyright © 2017 European Association of Urology. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Political legitimacy and approval of political protest and violence among children and adolescents.

Science.gov (United States)

Funderburk, C

1975-06-01

A question of general theoretical relevance for political socialization research concerns the role played by basic political orientations in structuring specific political opinions. This report investigates the relationship between beliefs in the legitimacy of political objects and approval of political protest and violence among a sample of children and adolescents. The setting for the research was a Florida town. Four aspects of political legitimacy are defined and measured. Measures of approval of political protest and political violence are distinguished conceptually and empirically. Beliefs in political legitimacy are shown to be of considerable importance in structuring opinions about political violence but have little impact on opinions about protest.

Priority setting in clinical nursing practice: literature review.

Science.gov (United States)

Hendry, Charles; Walker, Anne

2004-08-01

Time is a valuable resource. When nurses experience demands on their services which exceed their available time, then 'rationing' must occur. In clinical practice such rationing requires practitioners to set priorities for care. The aim of this paper is establish what is currently known about priority setting in nursing, including how nurses set priorities and what factors influence this. CINAHL, Medline, ASSIA, and PsychLit databases for the years 1982-2002 were searched, using the terms (clinical decision-making or problem-solving or planning) and (setting priorities or prioriti*). The publications found were used in a selective, descriptive review. Priority setting is an important skill in nursing, and a skill deficit can have serious consequences for patients. Recent studies have suggested that it is a difficult skill for newly qualified nurses to acquire and may not be given sufficient attention in nurse education. Priority setting can be defined as the ordering of nursing problems using notions of urgency and/or importance, in order to establish a preferential order for nursing actions. A number of factors that may impact on priority setting have been identified in the literature. These include: the expertise of the nurse; the patient's condition; the availability of resources; ward organization; philosophies and models of care; the nurse-patient relationship; and the cognitive strategy used by the nurse to set priorities. However, very little empirical work has been conducted in this area. Further study of priority setting in a range of clinical practice settings is necessary. This could inform both practice and education, promote better use of limited resources and maximize patient outcomes.

Political Budget Cycles

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Aaskoven, Lasse; Lassen, David Dreyer

2017-01-01

The political budget cycle—how elections affect government fiscal policy—is one of the most studied subjects in political economy and political science. The key theoretical question is whether incumbent governments can time or structure public finances in ways that improve their chances of reelec......The political budget cycle—how elections affect government fiscal policy—is one of the most studied subjects in political economy and political science. The key theoretical question is whether incumbent governments can time or structure public finances in ways that improve their chances...... on political budget cycles have recently focused on conditions under which such cycles are likely to obtain. Much recent research focuses on subnational settings, allowing comparisons of governments in similar institutional environments, and a consensus on the presences of cycles in public finances...

[Mental Health and Political Violence. Care of Psychiatric Patient or Acknowledge of the Micropolitics of the Subject].

Science.gov (United States)

Arias López, Beatriz Elena

2013-09-01

Political violence is a global phenomenon, especially in low- to middle-income countries. This phenomenon increasingly involves civilians. This situation is a priority in collective health, as it produces multiple and complex effects on physical and mental health, and human and social ecosystems. The objective of this article is to present the main tendencies that coexist in research and practice on the understanding of the effects of political violence on mental health. The biomedical approach of psychiatric trauma and the wider perspective of social sciences, which incorporate the collective dimension of these effects, are also taken into account. Review of research determines the relationship with political violence / collective violence and mental health in international databases and national documentation centers, academics and NGOs within the last decade of the twentieth century, and the first of this century under the headings of trauma, war, armed conflict and political violence. The limitations of general explanations of psychiatric trauma in understanding the complex effects of political violence on mental health are shown. The constructs that incorporate social and collective dimensions increase this comprehension of these effects and knowledge of mental health, both conceptually as methodologically. In a political violence context it urgent to change attitudes about mental health. It is a way to overcome the biomedical, individualistic, and short term epidemiology, and to remove medication from mental health. This means acknowledging that people who experience the effects of political violence effects are not sick. They are powerful people who can transform and produce the life they dream of. Copyright © 2013 Asociación Colombiana de Psiquiatría. Publicado por Elsevier España. All rights reserved.

40 CFR 146.9 - Criteria for establishing permitting priorities.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-07-01

....9 Criteria for establishing permitting priorities. In determining priorities for setting times for... priorities. 146.9 Section 146.9 Protection of Environment ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY (CONTINUED) WATER... (a), (c), (g) or § 144.22(f), the Director shall base these priorities upon consideration of the...

The issue of political behaviour in contemporary bio-political discourse

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

A. Y. Kravets

2016-11-01

Full Text Available The main topic of the article is the political. During the study it has been found tested that political behaviour is the difficult question to analyse as in bio-politics there are a lot of discussions about genetics and social origins of political behaviour. An integration model of bio-political view of political behaviour has been suggested at the article, which includes both genetics (adaptation, domination and subordination and social factors (education, socialization, the evolution of consciousness. «Homo Politicus» is genetically related with another biological Wight and this definitely influences his behavior in social and political spheres. For instance, every human being as any social primates has genetic inclination to adaptation, domination, subjugation. In case with «Homo Sapiens» this has a form of genetic and social adaptation, political domination and subjugation. The inclination to the domination from one side and to the subjugation to another side is genetically «imprinted» into the nature of the «Homo Politicus». Particularly this two features lie is the basis of his political behavior. However, it is important to mention that, nevertheless the «Homo Sapiens» shares inclination of social primates for hierarchical social organization at the same time he has developed the following capabilities, which are unique in animal world, such as: language, culture and morale. Thus, ideas and values created by the human being have commenced changing of his behavior in social and political sphere. It is important to underline that in above mentioned dichotomy «genetic – culture/morale» such very core analysis element as human brain is absent. According to this, it is has to be mentioned that we keep in mind that the human brain participates in formation of every act or idea, what is fulfilled in the process of the political supervision of subject of management, as well as in the process of social action of management object

10 CFR 580.03 - Curtailment priorities.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-01-01

... DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY (CONTINUED) NATURAL GAS (ECONOMIC REGULATORY ADMINISTRATION) CURTAILMENT PRIORITIES FOR ESSENTIAL AGRICULTURAL USES § 580.03 Curtailment priorities. (a) Notwithstanding any provision of law other... curtailment of deliveries of natural gas for any essential agricultural use, unless: (1) Such curtailment does...

Perceived Organisational Politics, Political Behaviour and Employee ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

facing both private and public sector organisations (Nidhi & Prerna, 2015;. Gotsis & Kortezi ... These studies suggest that organisational politics often interfere with normal ..... Rawls's (1971) theory of justice provides a theoretical foundation for the relationship between ..... Ethical considerations in organisational politics: ...

Exploring Women's Understanding of Politics, Political Contestation ...

International Development Research Centre (IDRC) Digital Library (Canada)

Exploring Women's Understanding of Politics, Political Contestation and Gender Transformation in the Caribbean. IDRC's Democratic Governance, Women's Rights and Gender Equality initiative is supporting a body of comparative research on whether and how democratic processes and institutions are responding to ...

Moral politics

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Rapp, Carolin; Traunmüller, Richard; Freitag, Markus

2014-01-01

This article combines the research strands of moral politics and political behavior by focusing on the effect of individual and contextual religiosity on individual vote decisions in popular initiatives and public referenda concerning morally charged issues. We rely on a total of 13 surveys with 1...... American research on moral politics, direct democracies, and the public role of religion....

Union Underground: Political Issues. Comparing Political Experiences, Experimental Edition.

Science.gov (United States)

Gillespie, Judith A.; Lazarus, Stuart

This is the third unit to the second-semester "Comparing Political Experiences" course which focuses on a specific, controversial, political issue. The unit analyzes the concept of political maintenance by studying the United Mine Workers of America (UMWA) between 1918 and 1975 and its fight to secure mine safety standards. A documentary…

Political Culture and Covalent Bonding. A Conceptual Model of Political Culture Change

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Camelia Florela Voinea

2015-01-01

Full Text Available Our class of models aims at explaining the dynamics of political attitude change by means of the dynamic changes in values, beliefs, norms and knowledge with which it is associated. The model constructs a political culture perspective over the relationship between macro and micro levels of a society and polity. The model defines the bonding mechanism as a basic mechanism of the political culture change by taking inspiration from the valence bonding theory in Chemistry, which has inspired the elaboration of the mechanisms and processes underlying the political culture emergence and the political culture control over the relationship between macro-level political entities and the micro-level individual agents. The model introduces operational definitions of the individual agent in political culture terms. The simulation model is used for the study of emergent political culture change phenomena based on individual interactions (emergent or upward causation as well as the ways in which the macro entities and emergent phenomena influence in turn the behaviors of individual agents (downward causation. The model is used in the ongoing research concerning the quality of democracy and political participation of the citizens in the Eastern European societies after the Fall of Berlin Wall. It is particularly aimed at explaining the long-term effect of the communist legacy and of the communist polity concept and organization onto the political mentalities and behaviors of the citizens with respect to democratic institutions and political power. The model has major implications in political socialization, political involvement, political behavior, corruption and polity modeling.

Parenting and Politics: Exploring Early Moral Bases of Political Orientation

OpenAIRE

Janoff-Bulman, Ronnie; Carnes, Nate C.; Sheikh, Sana

2014-01-01

Based on Lakoff’s (2002) Strict Father and Nurturant Parent metaphors for political conservatism and liberalism respectively, two studies explored parenting styles, political ideology, and the moral orientations that might link the two. Restrictive parenting (by both mother and father) predicted political conservatism, and this path was mediated by a strong Social Order orientation (Study 1) reflecting, more broadly, an inhibition-based proscriptive morality (Study 2). Political liberalism wa...

Education and Political Development

Science.gov (United States)

Massialas, Byron G.

1977-01-01

Considers how education is related to politics with the focus on political socialization, political recruitment, i.e., the selection and training of political elites, and political integration or nation building of groups of people. (Author/RK)

40 CFR 35.2103 - Priority determination.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-07-01

... 40 Protection of Environment 1 2010-07-01 2010-07-01 false Priority determination. 35.2103 Section 35.2103 Protection of Environment ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY GRANTS AND OTHER FEDERAL ASSISTANCE STATE AND LOCAL ASSISTANCE Grants for Construction of Treatment Works § 35.2103 Priority determination...

The sophisticated control of the tram bogie on track

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Radovan DOLECEK

2015-09-01

Full Text Available The paper deals with the problems of routing control algorithms of new conception of tram vehicle bogie. The main goal of these research activities is wear reduction of rail wheels and tracks, wear reduction of traction energy losses and increasing of running comfort. The testing experimental tram vehicle with special bogie construction powered by traction battery is utilized for these purposes. This vehicle has a rotary bogie with independent rotating wheels driven by permanent magnets synchronous motors and a solid axle. The wheel forces in bogie are measured by large amounts of the various sensors placed on the testing experimental tram vehicle. Nowadays the designed control algorithms are implemented to the vehicle superset control system. The traction requirements and track characteristics have an effect to these control algorithms. This control including sophisticated routing brings other improvements which is verified and corrected according to individual traction and driving characteristics, and opens new possibilities.

Setting stroke research priorities: The consumer perspective.

Science.gov (United States)

Sangvatanakul, Pukkaporn; Hillege, Sharon; Lalor, Erin; Levi, Christopher; Hill, Kelvin; Middleton, Sandy

2010-12-01

To test a method of engaging consumers in research priority-setting using a quantitative approach and to determine consumer views on stroke research priorities for clinical practice recommendations with lower levels of evidence (Level III and Level IV) and expert consensus opinion as published in the Australian stroke clinical practice guidelines. Survey Urban community Eighteen stroke survivors (n = 12) and carers (n = 6) who were members of the "Working Aged Group - Stroke" (WAGS) consumer support group. Phase I: Participants were asked whether recommendations were "worth" researching ("yes" or "no"); and, if researched, what potential impact they likely would have on patient outcomes. Phase II: Participants were asked to rank recommendations rated by more than 75% of participants in Phase I as "worth" researching and "highly likely" or "likely" to generate research with a significant effect on patient outcomes (n = 13) in order of priority for future stroke research. All recommendations were rated by at least half (n = 9, 50%) of participants as "worth" researching. The majority (67% to 100%) rated all recommendations as "highly likely" or "likely" that research would have a significant effect on patient outcomes. Thirteen out of 20 recommendations were ranked for their research priorities. Recommendations under the topic heading Getting to hospital were ranked highest and Organization of care and Living with stroke were ranked as a lower priority for research. This study provided an example of how to involve consumers in research priority setting successfully using a quantitative approach. Stroke research priorities from the consumer perspective were different from those of health professionals, as published in the literature; thus, consumer opinion should be considered when setting research priorities. Copyright © 2010 Society for Vascular Nursing, Inc. Published by Mosby, Inc. All rights reserved.

Setting research priorities by applying the combined approach matrix.

Science.gov (United States)

Ghaffar, Abdul

2009-04-01

Priority setting in health research is a dynamic process. Different organizations and institutes have been working in the field of research priority setting for many years. In 1999 the Global Forum for Health Research presented a research priority setting tool called the Combined Approach Matrix or CAM. Since its development, the CAM has been successfully applied to set research priorities for diseases, conditions and programmes at global, regional and national levels. This paper briefly explains the CAM methodology and how it could be applied in different settings, giving examples and describing challenges encountered in the process of setting research priorities and providing recommendations for further work in this field. The construct and design of the CAM is explained along with different steps needed, including planning and organization of a priority-setting exercise and how it could be applied in different settings. The application of the CAM are described by using three examples. The first concerns setting research priorities for a global programme, the second describes application at the country level and the third setting research priorities for diseases. Effective application of the CAM in different and diverse environments proves its utility as a tool for setting research priorities. Potential challenges encountered in the process of research priority setting are discussed and some recommendations for further work in this field are provided.

On Setting Priorities among Human Rights

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Philips, Jos

2014-01-01

Should conflicts among human rights be dealt with by including general principles for priority setting at some prominent place in the practice of human rights? This essay argues that neither setting prominent and principled priorities nor a case-by-case approach are likely to be defensible as

Celebrity politics: the politics of late modernity?

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Marsh, D.; t Hart, P.; Tindall, K.

2010-01-01

The academic literature on celebrity politics is rarely systematic; more often it is superficial and anecdotal. In addition, most of the literature focuses either upon classifying different types/categories of celebrity politicians and their roles in politics, or upon the question of whether the

A trauma-like model of political extremism: psycho-political fault lines in Israel.

Science.gov (United States)

Laor, Nathaniel; Yanay-Shani, Alma; Wolmer, Leo; Khoury, Oula

2010-10-01

This study examines a trauma-like model of potentially violent political extremism among Jewish Israelis. We study the psychosocial characteristics of political extremists that may lie at the root of sociopolitical instability and assess personal (gender, stressful life events, Holocaust family background, and political activism) and psychological parameters (self- and political transcendence, perceived political threats, in/out-group identification ratio) that may predict readiness to engage in destructive political behavior. We examine the ideological zeal of various political groups, the relationship between the latter and perceived political threats, and the predictors of extreme political activism. Results showed that the extreme political poles displayed high level of ideological and morbid transcendence. Right extremists displayed higher perceived threats to physical existence and national identity. Left extremists scored highest on perceived moral integrity threat. Higher perceived threats to national identity and moral integrity, risk, and self-transcendence statistically explain morbid transcendence. When fear conjures up extremely skewed sociopolitical identifications across political boundaries, morbid transcendence may manifest itself in destructive political activity. © 2010 Association for Research in Nervous and Mental Disease.

Setting priorities for ambient air quality objectives

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

2004-10-01

Alberta has ambient air quality objectives in place for several pollutants, toxic substances and other air quality parameters. A process is in place to determine if additional air quality objectives are required or if existing objectives should be changed. In order to identify the highest priority substances that may require an ambient air quality objective to protect ecosystems and public health, a rigorous, transparent and cost effective priority setting methodology is required. This study reviewed, analyzed and assessed successful priority setting techniques used by other jurisdictions. It proposed an approach for setting ambient air quality objective priorities that integrates the concerns of stakeholders with Alberta Environment requirements. A literature and expert review were used to examine existing priority-setting techniques used by other jurisdictions. An analysis process was developed to identify the strengths and weaknesses of various techniques and their ability to take into account the complete pathway between chemical emissions and damage to human health or the environment. The key strengths and weaknesses of each technique were identified. Based on the analysis, the most promising technique was the tool for the reduction and assessment of chemical and other environmental impacts (TRACI). Several considerations for using TRACI to help set priorities for ambient air quality objectives were also presented. 26 refs, 8 tabs., 4 appendices

Phylogenetically-informed priorities for amphibian conservation.

Science.gov (United States)

Isaac, Nick J B; Redding, David W; Meredith, Helen M; Safi, Kamran

2012-01-01

The amphibian decline and extinction crisis demands urgent action to prevent further large numbers of species extinctions. Lists of priority species for conservation, based on a combination of species' threat status and unique contribution to phylogenetic diversity, are one tool for the direction and catalyzation of conservation action. We describe the construction of a near-complete species-level phylogeny of 5713 amphibian species, which we use to create a list of evolutionarily distinct and globally endangered species (EDGE list) for the entire class Amphibia. We present sensitivity analyses to test the robustness of our priority list to uncertainty in species' phylogenetic position and threat status. We find that both sources of uncertainty have only minor impacts on our 'top 100' list of priority species, indicating the robustness of the approach. By contrast, our analyses suggest that a large number of Data Deficient species are likely to be high priorities for conservation action from the perspective of their contribution to the evolutionary history.

Phylogenetically-informed priorities for amphibian conservation.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Nick J B Isaac

Full Text Available The amphibian decline and extinction crisis demands urgent action to prevent further large numbers of species extinctions. Lists of priority species for conservation, based on a combination of species' threat status and unique contribution to phylogenetic diversity, are one tool for the direction and catalyzation of conservation action. We describe the construction of a near-complete species-level phylogeny of 5713 amphibian species, which we use to create a list of evolutionarily distinct and globally endangered species (EDGE list for the entire class Amphibia. We present sensitivity analyses to test the robustness of our priority list to uncertainty in species' phylogenetic position and threat status. We find that both sources of uncertainty have only minor impacts on our 'top 100' list of priority species, indicating the robustness of the approach. By contrast, our analyses suggest that a large number of Data Deficient species are likely to be high priorities for conservation action from the perspective of their contribution to the evolutionary history.

Health promotion in Danish schools: local priorities, policies and practices.

Science.gov (United States)

Simovska, Venka; Nordin, Lone Lindegaard; Madsen, Katrine Dahl

2016-06-01

This article discusses the findings from a study mapping out the priorities, policies and practices of local authorities concerning health promotion (HP) and health education (HE) in primary and lower secondary schools in Denmark. The aim of the study was to identify the gaps, tensions and possibilities associated with the demand to increase the quality and effectiveness of HP in schools. The recent national school reform, which emphasizes the importance of health and well-being while simultaneously increasing the focus on performance and accountability in terms of subject proficiency and narrowly defined academic attainment, provides the broader political context for the study. Data were generated through a structured online survey administered to all 98 Danish municipalities. Respondents were educational consultants or others representing the administrative units responsible for the municipality's schools. The findings were discussed within the conceptual framework of Health Promoting Schools. The study points to a potential tension between the health and education sectors, despite evidence of intersectoral collaboration. While there is a strong policy focus on health and well-being in schools, it is disconnected from the utilization of the HE curriculum by the municipal consultants. The study also points to a lack of professional development opportunities for teachers in the field of HP in schools. On the basis of these findings and theoretical perspectives used, we argue that HP in schools needs to (re)connect with the core task of the school, education, and to integrate both health and education goals in local priorities, policies and practices. © The Author 2015. Published by Oxford University Press. All rights reserved. For Permissions, please email: journals.permissions@oup.com.

Spiritual Politics

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Frédéric Rambeau

2015-01-01

Full Text Available According to Foucault, the uprising of the Iranian people in the seventies reveals how much the political force of Islam is due precisely to the fact that it is not principally located in the field of politics, but in that of ethics. Religion (Shiite Islam appears as the guarantee of real change in the very mode of existence. This spiritual politics is marginalized by Marxism, where it is understood as a discontinuity in relation to proper politics, given that the latter is necessarily linked to a strategic rationalization. By indicating, at this juncture of what is intolerable, the living source and the critical impulse of the Foucauldian ethics, this spiritual politics also leads to recognize in the concept of “subjectivation” a dimension that might escape the circle of freedom as determined by a total immanence to power. This conceptual possibility is highly present in the aporias of the Foucauldian concept of the “relation to oneself”, both as a first condition of governmentality and the ultimate point of resistance against any governmentality. It thus reveals the difficulties in relating political to ethical subjectivation.

About green political parties

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Orlović Slobodan P.

2015-01-01

Full Text Available In this work the author refers to some legal and political questions in connection with green political parties. Those questions cover: the ideology of green political parties, their number and influence, both in general and in Serbia. The first part of work is generally speaking about political parties - their definition, ideology, role and action. Main thesis in this work is that green political parties, by their appearance, were something new on the political scene. But quickly, because of objective and subjective reasons, they were changing original ideas and were beginning to resemble to all other political parties. In this way, they lost their vanguard and political alternativeness.

Comparing Political Journalism

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Comparing Political Journalism is a systematic, in-depth study of the factors that shape and influence political news coverage today. Using techniques drawn from the growing field of comparative political communication, an international group of contributors analyse political news content drawn...... Comparing Political Journalism offers an unparalleled scope in assessing the implications for the ongoing transformation of Western media systems, and addresses core concepts of central importance to students and scholars of political communication world-wide....... from newspapers, television news, and news websites from 16 countries, to assess what kinds of media systems are most conducive to producing quality journalism. Underpinned by key conceptual themes, such as the role that the media are expected to play in democracies and quality of coverage...

Priority for sustainability. Study of the effects on investment climate

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

2007-12-01

The Dutch cabinet has been asked to make sure that sustainable electricity plants can be connected to the grid with high priority. By request of the Dutch Ministry of Economic Affairs, the effects on the investment climate have been examined (both for sustainable and conventional) if priority (with regard to connection and transport) is given to sustainable generated electricity. Five models for priority for sustainable have been defined, i.e. (1) Sustainable is only given priority on the waiting list for connection; (2) Connect sustainable immediately, but no priority for transport; (3) Connect sustainable immediately and priority granted in transport; (4) Connect sustainable and conventional immediately, no priority for transport; (5) Connect sustainable and conventional immediately and give priority in transport to sustainable. [mk] [nl

Usage of marketing in politics

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Marić Ivana

2014-01-01

Full Text Available Multi-party political system led to competition between political parties which caused the need for marketing in politics that improves political reputation. Politics, based on rich experience of political practice, used existing, developed methods and techniques of commercial marketing. Political marketing openly admits that politics and politicians are simply goods that are being sold on a political market. Political marketing is a whole way of operation by political parties which ask these questions: how do the voters choose; what affects their preference and how that preference can be influenced. Usage of political marketing in Bosnia and Herzegovina is still not on a satisfactory level but the knowledge about the importance of political marketing is increasing.

(Miscommunication across the Borders: Politics, Media and Public Opinion in Turkey

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Banu Baybars-Hawks

2015-08-01

Full Text Available The American sociologist Charles Horton Cooley defined public opinion "as a process of interaction and mutual influence rather than a state of broad agreement" in 1918. On the other hand, according to the American political scientist V.O. Key, public opinion was "opinions held by private persons which governments find it prudent to heed," in 1961. During the 1990s, advances in statistical and demographic analysis helped the development of an understanding of public opinion as the collective view of a defined population, such as a particular demographic or ethnic group. In this view, the influence of public opinion is not restricted to politics and elections. Public opinion is considered a powerful force in many other spheres, such as culture, fashion, literature and the arts, consumer spending, and marketing and public relations.1 Attitudes and values play a crucial role in the development of public opinion. Different variables embedded in the political, social and media structure of the country also have potential to make an impact on public opinion. These dynamics vary from the economics to the judicial system and democratic principles functioning in that country. On the other hand, public opinion has a power to shape politics and media's priorities in reporting. The interaction among politics, public opinion and media of one country can be better analyzed with the findings of public opinion research administered regularly. In Turkey, the research on and analysis of public opinion are most frequent during the election times. Therefore, it seems necessary to measure the public opinion more regularly to test the relationships among political, public and media agendas. Accordingly, the current study seeks to fill this gap. It is argued that in the absence of timely feedback from public surveys, decisions and policies for improving different services and institutions functioning in the country might not achieve their expected goal. The findings of

MAPPING CHILDREN'S POLITICS: SPATIAL STORIES, DIALOGIC RELATIONS AND POLITICAL FORMATION.

Science.gov (United States)

Elwood, Sarah; Mitchell, Katharyne

2012-03-01

This article confronts a persistent challenge in research on children's geographies and politics: the difficulty of recognizing forms of political agency and practice that by definition fall outside of existing political theory. Children are effectively "always already" positioned outside most of the structures and ideals of modernist democratic theory, such as the public sphere and abstracted notions of communicative action or "rational" speech. Recent emphases on embodied tactics of everyday life have offered important ways to recognize children's political agency and practice. However, we argue here that a focus on spatial practices and critical knowledge alone cannot capture the full range of children's politics, and show how representational and dialogic practices remain a critical element of their politics in everyday life. Drawing on de Certeau's notion of spatial stories, and Bakhtin's concept of dialogic relations, we argue that children's representations and dialogues comprise a significant space of their political agency and formation, in which they can make and negotiate social meanings, subjectivities, and relationships. We develop these arguments with evidence from an after-school activity programme we conducted with 10-13 year olds in Seattle, Washington, in which participants explored, mapped, wrote and spoke about the spaces and experiences of their everyday lives. Within these practices, children negotiate autonomy and self-determination, and forward ideas, representations, and expressions of agreement or disagreement that are critical to their formation as political actors.

Public sphere of politics: between classical grounds and new political actuality

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

O. A. Tretyak

2016-10-01

Full Text Available The public sphere of politics as a theoretical concept of modern political science has been discussed in the article. The reasons of the increasing interest to the public sphere is a dominating subject. Studied The phenomenon of the public sphere being a tool of theoretical and methodological definition of the political world’s boundaries has been studied. The value aspects of media activity in the contemporary politics has been investigated. An attempt has been made to establish the potential of political publicity for the qualitative understanding of participatory democracy. The potential of the public sphere in the development of civil society and social capital has been described. The distinction between the public sphere of politics and political communication in the specific conditions of modern transformational societies has been reasonably grounded. The importance of the presence of state power in all spheres of life of the transformational society has been stressed. Such transformation has not been stoped after the liberal market reforms, which had to ensure the existence of a formal representative democracy. The influence of the elite and expert groups being the reason of the absence of really functioning future civil society has been considered. The features of the formation of civil and social activities as a precondition for the democratic political class’ functioning have been studied. The specifics of public political activity being the prerogative of the competent entities’ political broadcasting have been analyzed. The gradual formation of cyber public sphere and its political branch segment has been revealed. Thorough attention has been given to the processes of the public sphere’s politicization which are usual for primarily authoritarian and closed societies.

Ranking the adaptive capacity of nations to climate change when socio-political goals are explicit

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Haddad, B.M.

2005-01-01

The typical categories for measuring national adaptive capacity to climate change include a nation's wealth, technology, education, information, skills, infrastructure, access to resources, and management capabilities. Resulting rankings predictably mirror more general rankings of economic development, such as the Human Development Index. This approach is incomplete since it does not consider the normative or motivational context of adaptation. For what purpose or toward what goal does a nation aspire, and in that context, what is its adaptive capacity? This paper posits 11 possible national socio-political goals that fall into the three categories of teleological legitimacy, procedural legitimacy, and norm-based decision rules. A model that sorts nations in terms of adaptive capacity based on national socio-political aspirations is presented. While the aspiration of maximizing summed utility matches typical existing rankings, alternative aspirations, including contractarian liberalism, technocratic management, and dictatorial/religious rule alter the rankings. An example describes how this research can potentially inform how priorities are set for international assistance for climate change adaptation. (author)

Priority Queues Resilient to Memory Faults

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Jørgensen, Allan Grønlund; Moruz, Gabriel; Mølhave, Thomas

2007-01-01

In the faulty-memory RAM model, the content of memory cells can get corrupted at any time during the execution of an algorithm, and a constant number of uncorruptible registers are available. A resilient data structure in this model works correctly on the set of uncorrupted values. In this paper we...... introduce a resilient priority queue. The deletemin operation of a resilient priority queue returns either the minimum uncorrupted element or some corrupted element. Our resilient priority queue uses $O(n)$ space to store $n$ elements. Both insert and deletemin operations are performed in $O(\\log n...... queues storing only structural information in the uncorruptible registers between operations....

Youth Work in Turkey: A Sector Newly Emerging and Marked by Political Competition

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Demet Lüküslü

2018-02-01

Full Text Available Youth work is a very recent field in Turkey and the evolution of the field has been very much influenced by the European institutions, especially with the European Union candidacy process of Turkey. Youth work in Turkey can be analyzed in three different layers since the central government, local government (municipalities and civil society organization all have youth work activities. During our Horizon 2020 PARTISPACE research project, we conducted ethnographic research to shed light on the local characteristics of youth work in a central Anatolian city in Turkey. The cases we discuss in the scope of this paper based on our ethnographic research includes two youth centers, one run by a central government agency, the Ministry of Youth and Sports, the other by a local municipality run by the party of opposition. The study reveals the influence of local dynamics and political competition in the development of youth policy and youth work. Our research demonstrates that, even if youth work is not a priority in the public policy agenda, it has become an object of political competition in Turkey.

Triggering Earthquakes in Science, Politics and Chinese Hydropower

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Gorm Hansen, Louise Lyngfeldt

This thesis conducts a controversy study focusing on the intermingling of political considerations and emerging science in a controversy over whether or not the Zipingpu dam in China’s Sichuan Province caused the magnitude 7.9 Wenchuan earthquake on May 12th 2008. The 2008 Wenchuan earthquake...... was one of the deadliest, costliest and biggest earthquakes in China in three decades. Over 90,000 people died, went missing or were presumed dead, and economic damage was estimated at over 100 billion US dollars in 2013. For scientists to suggest that such an unfathomable disaster could have been man......-made was controversial to say the least. Not only because the root cause of the earthquake pointed to was a dam, and dam projects are inherently rife with conflict, but also because the Zipingpu dam was itself a high priority project for the Chinese central government and the Sichuan Province....

Old and New Criteria for the Governance of Political and Economic Structures on the Basis of the Bible and the Quran

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Varga Norbert

2017-12-01

Full Text Available This study presents a sociological analysis of the Holy Books of two world religions (the Bible and the Quran since, according to prognoses and risk analyses, a political, economic, cultural, and religious confrontation between the world religions will be unavoidable. Special economic and political aspects also contribute to the up-to-datedness of the topic in the democratic world; in fact: the economic crisis at the beginning of the 21st century, the difficulties of managing the crisis with traditional micro- and macroeconomic tools as well as the Europe-wide issue of migration processes. These challenges have directed our attention to alternative economic solutions and policy options, including theories on ethical basis. Modern academic discourse has recently started to direct research at leadership skills as acknowledged forms of talent. The priority of moral talent is never disputed in the Bible and the Quran, more so by certain leaders holding political or economic positions.

Turkish Political Market and the Perception of Political Parties

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Cihat Polat

2015-06-01

Full Text Available This study attempts to describe the Turkish political market and determine where and how Turkish political parties are perceived by voters. The study uses a two-dimensional map to determine the voter perceptions of the parties in the Turkish political market based on a survey questionnaire applied to 400 young voters. It also investigates whether there are any major differences in the perception of parties in the political space based on voter ideologies. The study finds that young voters have clear perceptions of the positions of Turkish parties. It also finds that voter perceptions of parties vary based on voters’ ideological positions.

Political Campaigns

OpenAIRE

Lilleker, Darren

2017-01-01

Political campaigns are orchestrated attempts by political organizations to garner public support through persuasive communication in order to influence public policy in their favor. This broad definition encapsulates all forms of campaigns from those of neighborhood organizations seeking to influence local politicians to the campaigns of political parties and candidates who seek election to office in order to shape policy themselves. In pluralist democracies, campaigns are crucial for repres...

Final priority; Technical Assistance on State Data Collection--IDEA Data Management Center. Final priority.

Science.gov (United States)

2014-08-05

The Assistant Secretary for the Office of Special Education and Rehabilitative Services (OSERS) announces a priority under the Technical Assistance on State Data Collection program. The Assistant Secretary may use this priority for competitions in fiscal year (FY) 2014 and later years. We take this action to fund a cooperative agreement to establish and operate an IDEA Data Management Center (Center) that will provide technical assistance (TA) to improve the capacity of States to meet the data collection requirements of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA).

Leadership and priority setting: the perspective of hospital CEOs.

Science.gov (United States)

Reeleder, David; Goel, Vivek; Singer, Peter A; Martin, Douglas K

2006-11-01

The role of leadership in health care priority setting remains largely unexplored. While the management leadership literature has grown rapidly, the growing literature on priority setting in health care has looked in other directions to improve priority setting practices--to health economics and ethical approaches. Consequently, potential for improvement in hospital priority setting practices may be overlooked. A qualitative study involving interviews with 46 Ontario hospital CEOs was done to describe the role of leadership in priority setting through the perspective of hospital leaders. For the first time, we report a framework of leadership domains including vision, alignment, relationships, values and process to facilitate priority setting practices in health services' organizations. We believe this fledgling framework forms the basis for the sharing of good leadership practices for health reform. It also provides a leadership guide for decision makers to improve the quality of their leadership, and in so doing, we believe, the fairness of their priority setting.

10 CFR 216.7 - Conflict in priority orders.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-01-01

... 10 Energy 3 2010-01-01 2010-01-01 false Conflict in priority orders. 216.7 Section 216.7 Energy... DOMESTIC ENERGY SUPPLIES § 216.7 Conflict in priority orders. If it appears that the use of assistance pursuant to DPA section 101(c) creates or threatens to create a conflict with priorities and allocation...

Practicing Politics: Female Political Scientists as Candidates for Elective Office

Science.gov (United States)

Burrell, Barbara

2012-01-01

In 2007, University of Oklahoma political science professor Cindy Simon Rosenthal was elected mayor of Norman, Oklahoma, after having served as a member of its city council. Was her activity unique within the political science profession among female political scientists? Her election stimulated the curiosity of some of us in the…

The priorities for ANSTO

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Garnett, H.M.

1999-01-01

As Australia's major centre of expertise in nuclear science, technology and its applications, ANSTO's priorities take account of the stated strategic and tactical needs of its various stakeholders, which in turn are considered as the Government (as owner), industry - including the health sector, the academic and research community and the public at large. Its priorities also take account of the opportunities perceived by its own staff in the light of the organisation's strengths, the activities of the international scientific, technology and industry community and a rapidly changing socioeconomic environment where environmental management and social accountability are becoming as important as fiscal responsibility and accountability

Comparing Political Communication

OpenAIRE

Pfetsch, Barbara; Esser, Frank

2012-01-01

This chapter describes the maturation of comparative political communications as a sub-discipline and defines its conceptual core. It then lays out the concept of “political communication system”. At the macro-level, this model captures the patterns of interaction between media and politics as social systems; at the micro-level it captures the interactions between media and political actors as individuals or organizations. Comparative research in this tradition focuses on the structure of pol...

Gas priority users consultation : government response

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

2007-01-01

This consultation document presents the results of an updated analysis of gas priority users comments on the UK government's proposals for updating the current priority lists, amending the eligibility criteria for priority user status, and simplifying the administration of the scheme. The extension of Category C priority users to include sites where interruption of gas supplies would lead to damage exceeding fifty million pounds to a plant at another site is discussed. It is acknowledged that there is a preference for a reduction of gas demand as opposed to a cessation in the case of an emergency gas supply deficit and details are given of a Task Group set up to examine options for reducing demand rather than cessation for large industrial gas users. The role of the Network Emergency Co-ordinator, support for a more flexible approach, pre-agreed rota interruption, a long-duration emergency, demand reduction, and the establishment of a Government/Industry Gas/Electricity Task Group are discussed, and the raising of the load shedding threshold of 25,000 therms/yr is considered

Political Market Orientation: A Framework for Understanding Relationship Structures in Political Parties

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Ormrod, Robert P.; Savigny, Heather

2012-01-01

This article is motivated by the growing need to integrate the current political science and marketing literature in order to provide a deeper understanding of the behaviour of political actors and their relationships with relevant stakeholder groups. In our article, we demonstrate how Ormrod...... strive for contextual sensitivity. By adopting this approach it is hoped that the fears noted by political scientists that political marketing is solely concerned with applying standard management models to political parties with the resulting emphasis on communication tactics at election time, together......’s conceptual model of political market orientation complements political science models of party organization by drawing attention to the competing interests of stakeholders in shaping party strategy and organizational structure. We treat parties as a multitude of actors rather than as monolithic entities...

Building Political Participation: The Role of Family Policy and Political Science Courses

Science.gov (United States)

Parrott, Emily

2017-01-01

This mixed-methods study examined the long-term associations between two kinds of politics courses--required political science courses and required family policy courses--and the political participation, knowledge, skill, efficacy, and politically engaged identity of child and family studies alumni. Two special cases were examined: those who…

Political Consciousness but Not Political Engagement: Results from a Service-Learning Study

Science.gov (United States)

Harker, Dave

2016-01-01

How does participation in a service-learning program impact the way students think about politics and political engagement? There are reasons to expect that service-learning can contribute to the development of a political consciousness and the skills necessary for political participation. The author uses participant observation, in-depth…

Hidden consequences of political efficacy: Testing an efficacy-apathy model of political mobilization.

Science.gov (United States)

Osborne, Danny; Yogeeswaran, Kumar; Sibley, Chris G

2015-10-01

Political efficacy-the belief that one can influence politics-is a key predictor of people's involvement in social movements. Political institutions that are open to change should, however, be seen as just. Thus, political efficacy may ironically undermine minority group members' support for collective action by simultaneously increasing their belief in the fairness of the system. The current study aims to examine this possibility in a national sample of Māori-New Zealand's indigenous minority population. Participants (N = 399) were Māori (Mage = 44.22; SD = 13.30) women (n = 272) and men (n = 115; unreported = 12) who completed a survey assessing their levels of (a) political efficacy, (b) system justification, and (c) support for the political mobilization of their group, as well as relevant demographic covariates. Consistent with past research, political efficacy had a positive direct effect on participants' support for the political mobilization of Māori. Nevertheless, political efficacy also had a negative indirect effect on political mobilization support via increases in system justification. These results held after controlling for participants' ethnic identification, self-efficacy, and conservatism. Our findings uncover a hidden consequence of political efficacy and show that, while believing that the political system is receptive to change predicts political mobilization, it can also undermine minorities' support for the mobilization of their group. Thus, our results uncover a previously unknown process that maintains inequality between ethnic minority and majority group members. (c) 2015 APA, all rights reserved).

The global financial and economic crisis and the main priorities of the European Union for 2020

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Constantinescu, A.

2013-06-01

Full Text Available This study focuses on the global financial-economic crisis and the main priorities of the European Union for 2020. The duration of a financial economic crisis depends on the macroeconomic factors taken into account, because their representation can have multiple nuances, generated by subjective and political influences. The financial and economic crisis had a significant impact on public finances, business, jobs and families. At all levels, the decision makers in public policy will have to find ways of triggering economic dynamism, while the margin of manoeuvre in what concerns the budget is limited. As the recorded deficit in the public sector will be again under control, public expenditure will be such organized that the targets for 2020 are met.

Political learning among youth

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Solhaug, Trond; Kristensen, Niels Nørgaard

2014-01-01

This article focuses on students’ first political learning and explores the research question, what dynamic patterns of political learning can be explored among a selection of young, diverse Danish students’ first political interests? The authors use theories of learning in their analytical......, but are active constructors of their political life. Their emotions and social environment are highly important for their political orientation. It is recommended that further research focus on dynamic learning and on arenas for political learning rather than on “single agent studies.” Recommendations...

Political Intersectionality and Democratic Politics in the European Public Sphere

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Siim, Birte

2015-01-01

Public Sphere (EPS). It is inspired by results and reflections from the European Gender Project (EGP) , where intersectionality was used as an approach for analysing negotiations between gender and ethno-national diversity in selected European countries and in relation to the European Public Sphere....... The aim of the essay is to further deepen the theoretical and empirical understanding of intersectionality by reflecting on the relations between political intersectionality and democratic politics from a particular European perspective. It thus confronts theory and research findings concerning...... intersections of gender and ethnic diversity in political life at the national and transnational levels across Europe. In this context, political intersectionality refers to the framing of gender and ethnic diversity by major political actors as well as by activities of women’s and anti-racist organisations...

Parenting and Politics: Exploring Early Moral Bases of Political Orientation

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ronnie Janoff-Bulman

2014-03-01

Full Text Available Based on Lakoff’s (2002 Strict Father and Nurturant Parent metaphors for political conservatism and liberalism respectively, two studies explored parenting styles, political ideology, and the moral orientations that might link the two. Restrictive parenting (by both mother and father predicted political conservatism, and this path was mediated by a strong Social Order orientation (Study 1 reflecting, more broadly, an inhibition-based proscriptive morality (Study 2. Political liberalism was associated with a Social Justice orientation, but was not predicted by nurturant parenting in either study. Study 1 included mothers’ reports of their own parenting, and these were correlated with the students’ responses. Findings support a restrictive moral underpinning for conservatism, but raise questions about the assumed unique association between parental nurturance and political liberalism, which is addressed in the discussion.

The influence of power and actor relations on priority setting and resource allocation practices at the hospital level in Kenya: a case study.

Science.gov (United States)

Barasa, Edwine W; Cleary, Susan; English, Mike; Molyneux, Sassy

2016-09-30

Priority setting and resource allocation in healthcare organizations often involves the balancing of competing interests and values in the context of hierarchical and politically complex settings with multiple interacting actor relationships. Despite this, few studies have examined the influence of actor and power dynamics on priority setting practices in healthcare organizations. This paper examines the influence of power relations among different actors on the implementation of priority setting and resource allocation processes in public hospitals in Kenya. We used a qualitative case study approach to examine priority setting and resource allocation practices in two public hospitals in coastal Kenya. We collected data by a combination of in-depth interviews of national level policy makers, hospital managers, and frontline practitioners in the case study hospitals (n = 72), review of documents such as hospital plans and budgets, minutes of meetings and accounting records, and non-participant observations in case study hospitals over a period of 7 months. We applied a combination of two frameworks, Norman Long's actor interface analysis and VeneKlasen and Miller's expressions of power framework to examine and interpret our findings RESULTS: The interactions of actors in the case study hospitals resulted in socially constructed interfaces between: 1) senior managers and middle level managers 2) non-clinical managers and clinicians, and 3) hospital managers and the community. Power imbalances resulted in the exclusion of middle level managers (in one of the hospitals) and clinicians and the community (in both hospitals) from decision making processes. This resulted in, amongst others, perceptions of unfairness, and reduced motivation in hospital staff. It also puts to question the legitimacy of priority setting processes in these hospitals. Designing hospital decision making structures to strengthen participation and inclusion of relevant stakeholders could

Economics and Security: Resourcing National Priorities

Science.gov (United States)

2010-05-21

Papers Number 5 N um ber 5 Econom ics and Security: R esourcing N ational Priorities http://www.usnwc.edu Report Documentation Page Form ApprovedOMB No...2010 William B. Ruger Chair of National Security Economics Papers Number 5 N um ber 5 Econom ics and Security: R esourcing N ational Priorities http://www.usnwc.edu

Priority setting partnership to identify the top 10 research priorities for the management of Parkinson's disease.

Science.gov (United States)

Deane, Katherine H O; Flaherty, Helen; Daley, David J; Pascoe, Roland; Penhale, Bridget; Clarke, Carl E; Sackley, Catherine; Storey, Stacey

2014-12-14

This priority setting partnership was commissioned by Parkinson's UK to encourage people with direct and personal experience of the condition to work together to identify and prioritise the top 10 evidential uncertainties that impact on everyday clinical practice for the management of Parkinson's disease (PD). The UK. Anyone with experience of PD including: people with Parkinson's (PwP), carers, family and friends, healthcare and social care professionals. Non-clinical researchers and employees of pharmaceutical or medical devices companies were excluded. 1000 participants (60% PwP) provided ideas on research uncertainties, 475 (72% PwP) initially prioritised them and 27 (37% PwP) stakeholders agreed a final top 10. Using a modified nominal group technique, participants were surveyed to identify what issues for the management of PD needed research. Unique research questions unanswered by current evidence were identified and participants were asked to identify their top 10 research priorities from this list. The top 26 uncertainties were presented to a consensus meeting with key stakeholders to agree the top 10 research priorities. 1000 participants provided 4100 responses, which contained 94 unique unanswered research questions that were initially prioritised by 475 participants. A consensus meeting with 27 stakeholders agreed the top 10 research priorities. The overarching research aspiration was an effective cure for PD. The top 10 research priorities for PD management included the need to address motor symptoms (balance and falls, and fine motor control), non-motor symptoms (sleep and urinary dysfunction), mental health issues (stress and anxiety, dementia and mild cognitive impairments), side effects of medications (dyskinesia) and the need to develop interventions specific to the phenotypes of PD and better monitoring methods. These research priorities identify crucial gaps in the existing evidence to address everyday practicalities in the management of the

The Politics of Budgetary Expenses - Essential Element within the Macroeconomic Politics

OpenAIRE

Cibotariu Irina-ªtefana,; Iancu Eugenia,

2013-01-01

The budgetary politics, regarded as an assembly of state intervention instruments, generated by the forming processes, by taxes and duties, of the budgetary incomes, of budgetary expenses allotment, as well as on ensuring the budgetary equilibriums represent the budgetary politics of the state, directed towards the goals accomplishment, more or less delimited. In this way, the budgetary politics has been dissociated on more components where one of them, meaning the allotment politics or the b...

Political regimes, political ideology, and self-rated health in Europe: a multilevel analysis.

Science.gov (United States)

Huijts, Tim; Perkins, Jessica M; Subramanian, S V

2010-07-22

Studies on political ideology and health have found associations between individual ideology and health as well as between ecological measures of political ideology and health. Individual ideology and aggregate measures such as political regimes, however, were never examined simultaneously. Using adjusted logistic multilevel models to analyze data on individuals from 29 European countries and Israel, we found that individual ideology and political regime are independently associated with self-rated health. Individuals with rightwing ideologies report better health than leftwing individuals. Respondents from Eastern Europe and former Soviet republics report poorer health than individuals from social democratic, liberal, Christian conservative, and former Mediterranean dictatorship countries. In contrast to individual ideology and political regimes, country level aggregations of individual ideology are not related to reporting poor health. This study shows that although both individual political ideology and contextual political regime are independently associated with individuals' self-rated health, individual political ideology appears to be more strongly associated with self-rated health than political regime.

Anthroposphere theses of social and political ecology (for project of Kazakstan's agenda conception on the 21 century)

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Vasilenko, V.N.

1996-01-01

The main problems, priorities and principles are considered for environmental safety and sustainable development in Kazakstan under the condition of transition period from standpoint of anthroposphere examination of problems of environment and socio-nature interaction. Complex problems include the common methodical aspects of management and required environmental safety and sustainable development aspects: natural and scientific (theses on bio spheric natural history); scientific and technical (theses on engineering ecology); human (theses of human ecology); social (theses of social, political, legal and economical ecology); theses on environmental safety, environmental management and marketing, and others. (author)

The kidney cancer research priority-setting partnership: Identifying the top 10 research priorities as defined by patients, caregivers, and expert clinicians.

Science.gov (United States)

Jones, Jennifer; Bhatt, Jaimin; Avery, Jonathan; Laupacis, Andreas; Cowan, Katherine; Basappa, Naveen; Basiuk, Joan; Canil, Christina; Al-Asaaed, Sohaib; Heng, Daniel; Wood, Lori; Stacey, Dawn; Kollmannsberger, Christian; Jewett, Michael A S

2017-12-01

It is critically important to define disease-specific research priorities to better allocate limited resources. There is growing recognition of the value of involving patients and caregivers, as well as expert clinicians in this process. To our knowledge, this has not been done this way for kidney cancer. Using the transparent and inclusive process established by the James Lind Alliance, the Kidney Cancer Research Network of Canada (KCRNC) sponsored a collaborative consensus-based priority-setting partnership (PSP) to identify research priorities in the management of kidney cancer. The final result was identification of 10 research priorities for kidney cancer, which are discussed in the context of current initiatives and gaps in knowledge. This process provided a systematic and effective way to collaboratively establish research priorities with patients, caregivers, and clinicians, and provides a valuable resource for researchers and funding agencies.

Polling, production & priorities

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Winands, E.M.M.

2007-01-01

Polling, Production & Priorities The present monograph focuses on the so-called stochastic economic lot scheduling problem (SELSP), which deals with the make-to-stock production of multiple standardized products on a single machine with limited capacity under random demands, possibly random setup

Optimal purely functional priority queues

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Brodal, Gerth Stølting; Okasaki, Chris

1996-01-01

Brodal recently introduced the first implementation of imperative priority queues to support findMin, insert and meld in O(1) worst-case time, and deleteMin in O(log n) worst-case time. These bounds are asymptotically optimal among all comparison-based priority queues. In this paper, we adapt...... Brodal's data structure to a purely functional setting. In doing so, we both simplify the data structure and clarify its relationship to the binomial queues of Vuillemin, which support all four operations in O(log n) time. Specifically, we derive our implementation from binomial queues in three steps......: first, we reduce the running time of insert to O(1) by eliminating the possibility of cascading links; second, we reduce the running time of findMin to O(1) by adding a global root to hold the minimum element; and finally, we reduce the running time of meld to O(1) by allowing priority queues to contain...

Value system of Chinese youth: the comparative analysis of metropolitan and regional students' priorities

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

- Li Wuyi

2009-12-01

Full Text Available The results of the survey of students in Guangzhou which ranks third among major cities in China in terms of social, economic and demographic indicators are presented in the article. The aim of the research was not only to reveal Chinese youth priorities in the sphere of education, private life, work, social activity and morality, but also to provide characteristics of value system of the students of the major regional centre versus the corresponding answers of the respondents in Beijing. The comparative analysis of the value system of students in metropolitan and regional institutions of higher education was carried out in the framework of the following theme-based modules: the total level of political and social involvement and activity, the choice of achievement criteria, educational and professional strategies, family and marriage relations, etc.

Political CSR

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Jeppesen, Søren; Morsing, Mette

We engage a discussion of political CSR in SMEs in an African context. Based on critical observations on Western MNC CSR action in emerging economies that holds counterproductive implications for social development, political economists have argued that business profit far more than society...... development in local African communities. Our findings extend political CSR research by directing attention to how the corporate influence in developing economies does not only emerge from MNCs but is also established and retained by SMEs CSR work....

Politics of Inclusion and Empowerment

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Andersen, John; Siim, Birte

2004-01-01

identities. Politics of empowerment has to do with the agency and mobilisation dimension of social and political change. The title of the book "Politics of Inclusion and Empowerment" address the leitmotiv: namely to discuss plussumgame between politics of inclusion and politics of empowerment......The objective of the book is to analyse different politics of inclusion and empowerment and the different paradigms of inclusion/exclusion in order to underline the close link between politics of scoial equality and politics of recognition of ciultural difference. Politics of inclusion is thus...... theproductive/innovative linkage of politics of redistributuin and politics og resognition, whnich over a longer time span creates sustainable paths of democratic and social development, which increases the capacity to handle both conflicts about economic resources and life-chances and conflicts about...

Political orientations do not cancel out, and politics is not about truth.

Science.gov (United States)

Pfister, Hans-Rüdiger; Böhm, Gisela

2015-01-01

Duarte et al. propose that divergent political biases cancel each other out such that increasing political diversity will improve scientific validity. We argue that this idea is misguided. Their recommendations for improving political diversity in academia bear the danger of imposing political interests on science. Scientific scrutiny and criticism are the only viable remedies for bad science.

A Mathematical Analysis of Air Traffic Priority Rules

Science.gov (United States)

Nakawicz, Anthony J.; Munoz, Cesar A.; Maddalon, Jeffrey M.

2012-01-01

This paper analyzes priority rules, such as those in Part 91.113 of the Federal Aviation Regulations. Such rules determine which of two aircraft should maneuver in a given conflict scenario. While the rules in 91.113 are well accepted, other concepts of operation for NextGen, such as self separation, may allow for different priority rules. A mathematical framework is presented that can be used to analyze a general set of priority rules and enables proofs of important properties. Specific properties considered in this paper include safety, effectiveness, and stability. A set of rules is said to be safe if it ensures that it is never the case that both aircraft have priority. They are effective if exactly one aircraft has priority in every situation. Finally, a set of rules is called stable if it produces compatible results even under small changes to input data.

Understanding political behavior: Essays in experimental political economy

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Gago Guerreiro de Brito Robalo, P.M.

2014-01-01

Explaining individual political behavior is one of the big challenges in the social sciences. The work contained in this thesis uses the tools of experimental economics, game theory and decision theory to shed light on political choices. Relaxing the neoclassical assumptions of self-interested

Low Level RF Including a Sophisticated Phase Control System for CTF3

CERN Document Server

Mourier, J; Nonglaton, J M; Syratchev, I V; Tanner, L

2004-01-01

CTF3 (CLIC Test Facility 3), currently under construction at CERN, is a test facility designed to demonstrate the key feasibility issues of the CLIC (Compact LInear Collider) two-beam scheme. When completed, this facility will consist of a 150 MeV linac followed by two rings for bunch-interleaving, and a test stand where 30 GHz power will be generated. In this paper, the work that has been carried out on the linac's low power RF system is described. This includes, in particular, a sophisticated phase control system for the RF pulse compressor to produce a flat-top rectangular pulse over 1.4 µs.

Interplay Between Politics and Sport in Political Science Theories

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Simona Kustec Lipicer

2010-01-01

Full Text Available Times when relations between politics and sports did not exist – be it in everyday practices or within scientific research – is definitely long gone, if they ever even existed. Nevertheless, it seems today that, especially within scientific research, these relations do not receive appropriate attention in the territories of former socialist sports superpowers, being a priori denied and considered as unimportant. That is why the key motive of this article is to initiate a discussion about the relevance of knowledge and research of the relations between politics and sport from two perspectives – the existing world-wide political science research experiences gained so far and already conducted researches in the territory of former Yugoslavia. In doing so, we first theoretically define the context of sports and politics, and then with the use of the literature review method analyse their mutual connectivity in the world and, more narrowly, within the work of the scientific community in the region of former Yugoslavia. Based on the gained conclusions which confirm a tight and constant, but also often abstract and flat-rate understood interplay between both analysed phenomena, a special typology for their in-depth and political-science-focused study is delivered. It is believed that distinctions between political, polity and policy approaches to sport decisively influence the mode of their future interplay.

Priority setting in general practice: health priorities of older patients differ from treatment priorities of their physicians.

Science.gov (United States)

Voigt, Isabel; Wrede, Jennifer; Diederichs-Egidi, Heike; Dierks, Marie-Luise; Junius-Walker, Ulrike

2010-12-01

To ascertain health priorities of older patients and treatment priorities of their general practitioners (GP) on the basis of a geriatric assessment and to determine the agreement between these priorities. The study included a sample of 9 general practitioners in Hannover, Germany, and a stratified sample of 35 patients (2-5 patients per practice, 18 female, average age 77.7 years). Patients were given a geriatric assessment using the Standardized Assessment for Elderly Patients in Primary Care (STEP) to gain an overview of their health and everyday problems. On the basis of these results, patients and their physicians independently rated the importance of each problem disclosed by the assessment. Whereas patients assessed the importance for their everyday lives, physicians assessed the importance for patients' medical care and patients' everyday lives. Each patient had a mean ± standard deviation of 18 ± 9.2 health problems. Thirty five patients disclosed a total of 634 problems; 537 (85%) were rated by patients and physicians. Of these 537 problems, 332 (62%) were rated by patients and 334 (62%) by physicians as important for patients' everyday lives. In addition, 294 (55%) were rated by physicians as important for patients' medical care. Although these proportions of important problems were similar between patients and physicians, there was little overlap in the specific problems that each group considered important. The chance-corrected agreement (Cohen κ) between patients and physicians on the importance of problems for patients' lives was low (κ=0.23). Likewise, patients and physicians disagreed on the problems that physicians considered important for patients' medical care (κ=0.18, Ppriorities between patients and physicians necessitates better communication between the two parties to strengthen mutual understanding.

Top ten research priorities for spinal cord injury: the methodology and results of a British priority setting partnership.

Science.gov (United States)

van Middendorp, J J; Allison, H C; Ahuja, S; Bracher, D; Dyson, C; Fairbank, J; Gall, A; Glover, A; Gray, L; Masri, W El; Uttridge, A; Cowan, K

2016-05-01

This is a mixed-method consensus development project. The objective of this study was to identify a top ten list of priorities for future research into spinal cord injury (SCI). The British Spinal Cord Injury Priority Setting Partnership was established in 2013 and completed in 2014. Stakeholders included consumer organisations, healthcare professional societies and caregivers. This partnership involved the following four key stages: (i) gathering of research questions, (ii) checking of existing research evidence, (iii) interim prioritisation and (iv) a final consensus meeting to reach agreement on the top ten research priorities. Adult individuals with spinal cord dysfunction because of trauma or non-traumatic causes, including transverse myelitis, and individuals with a cauda equina syndrome (henceforth grouped and referred to as SCI) were invited to participate in this priority setting partnership. We collected 784 questions from 403 survey respondents (290 individuals with SCI), which, after merging duplicate questions and checking systematic reviews for evidence, were reduced to 109 unique unanswered research questions. A total of 293 people (211 individuals with SCI) participated in the interim prioritisation process, leading to the identification of 25 priorities. At a final consensus meeting, a representative group of individuals with SCI, caregivers and health professionals agreed on their top ten research priorities. Following a comprehensive, rigorous and inclusive process, with participation from individuals with SCI, caregivers and health professionals, the SCI research agenda has been defined by people to whom it matters most and should inform the scope and future activities of funders and researchers for the years to come. The NIHR Oxford Biomedical Research Centre provided core funding for this project.

Political Regimes, Political Ideology, and Self-Rated Health in Europe: A Multilevel Analysis

Science.gov (United States)

Huijts, Tim; Perkins, Jessica M.; Subramanian, S. V.

2010-01-01

Background Studies on political ideology and health have found associations between individual ideology and health as well as between ecological measures of political ideology and health. Individual ideology and aggregate measures such as political regimes, however, were never examined simultaneously. Methodology/Principal Findings Using adjusted logistic multilevel models to analyze data on individuals from 29 European countries and Israel, we found that individual ideology and political regime are independently associated with self-rated health. Individuals with rightwing ideologies report better health than leftwing individuals. Respondents from Eastern Europe and former Soviet republics report poorer health than individuals from social democratic, liberal, Christian conservative, and former Mediterranean dictatorship countries. In contrast to individual ideology and political regimes, country level aggregations of individual ideology are not related to reporting poor health. Conclusions/Significance This study shows that although both individual political ideology and contextual political regime are independently associated with individuals' self-rated health, individual political ideology appears to be more strongly associated with self-rated health than political regime. PMID:20661433

Private political archives

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Waldemar Chorążyczewski

2010-12-01

Full Text Available "Private political archives" are understood by me as all acts collected intently by a private person. These acts are connected with the person's participation in political life and gathered in order to be used in public activity as the source of argumentation and information about factors and mechanisms of political processes. Private political archives of the first half of the XVI century were mainly created by royal servants, often with reference to their job duties. These duties could inspire to collect political acts for private purposes. During the reign of Sigismund Augustus, archives of gentry activists were developed to small extent and they mainly focused on parliamentary life. Private political archives were created outside the executionist movement, namely in the community gathered around the royal court. After 1572, Crown and Lithuanian magnates greatly influenced the creation of political archives. Archives of lesser gentry, scarce and poor, did not disappear completely. However, they became difficult for identification. Therefore, developmental process concerned exclusively documentary "treasure troves" created by magnates. They had the financial means and possibilities to create truly valuable political archives. The same as in the previous period the dynamisms of executionist movement was reflected in political archival documentation, now the creation of patronage system and clientele, or traditionally understood magnate oligarchy, (depending on the point of view corresponded best to archives development. The heritage of previous generations was the treasure trove of patterns and solutions. However, this trove was used selectively, on one hand giving up patterns and rights that were uncomfortable, and, on the other, giving the value of precedence to unexpected acts that gained more importance or even new content in changed political conditions. The application of interpretation principle raised interest in old acts and patterns

Global Priorities for Marine Biodiversity Conservation

Science.gov (United States)

Selig, Elizabeth R.; Turner, Will R.; Troëng, Sebastian; Wallace, Bryan P.; Halpern, Benjamin S.; Kaschner, Kristin; Lascelles, Ben G.; Carpenter, Kent E.; Mittermeier, Russell A.

2014-01-01

In recent decades, many marine populations have experienced major declines in abundance, but we still know little about where management interventions may help protect the highest levels of marine biodiversity. We used modeled spatial distribution data for nearly 12,500 species to quantify global patterns of species richness and two measures of endemism. By combining these data with spatial information on cumulative human impacts, we identified priority areas where marine biodiversity is most and least impacted by human activities, both within Exclusive Economic Zones (EEZs) and Areas Beyond National Jurisdiction (ABNJ). Our analyses highlighted places that are both accepted priorities for marine conservation like the Coral Triangle, as well as less well-known locations in the southwest Indian Ocean, western Pacific Ocean, Arctic and Antarctic Oceans, and within semi-enclosed seas like the Mediterranean and Baltic Seas. Within highly impacted priority areas, climate and fishing were the biggest stressors. Although new priorities may arise as we continue to improve marine species range datasets, results from this work are an essential first step in guiding limited resources to regions where investment could best sustain marine biodiversity. PMID:24416151

Global priorities for marine biodiversity conservation.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Elizabeth R Selig

Full Text Available In recent decades, many marine populations have experienced major declines in abundance, but we still know little about where management interventions may help protect the highest levels of marine biodiversity. We used modeled spatial distribution data for nearly 12,500 species to quantify global patterns of species richness and two measures of endemism. By combining these data with spatial information on cumulative human impacts, we identified priority areas where marine biodiversity is most and least impacted by human activities, both within Exclusive Economic Zones (EEZs and Areas Beyond National Jurisdiction (ABNJ. Our analyses highlighted places that are both accepted priorities for marine conservation like the Coral Triangle, as well as less well-known locations in the southwest Indian Ocean, western Pacific Ocean, Arctic and Antarctic Oceans, and within semi-enclosed seas like the Mediterranean and Baltic Seas. Within highly impacted priority areas, climate and fishing were the biggest stressors. Although new priorities may arise as we continue to improve marine species range datasets, results from this work are an essential first step in guiding limited resources to regions where investment could best sustain marine biodiversity.

Spiritual Politics, Political Religion, and Religious Freedom in Burma

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Gravers, Mikael

2013-01-01

A state of the art artcle on academic work on religion, politics, and religious freedom in Burma......A state of the art artcle on academic work on religion, politics, and religious freedom in Burma...

Building community in international politics: A study of political press conferences

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Aditi Bhatia

2011-04-01

Full Text Available In today’s increasingly globalised yet disconnected world, especially in the contemporary context of a turbulent political landscape, there has been an increasing effort made by socio-political leaders at solidifying alliances and drawing support from different corners of the world in order to neutralize policies. Drawing on a multidimensional framework, in particular, critical discourse analysis and membership categorization analysis, this paper explores the various strategies employed by political leaders, attempting to reconcile disparate perspectives in the face of increasing socio-economic inter-connection and political dependence. More often than not, it was discovered, political leaders drew upon the somewhat “illusory” notion of “international community”, turning it into a tool of persuasion and membership category. In doing so, this paper aims to illustrate how the creation of illusive categories and perceptions are intended as a means of drawing support from diverse political leaders and projecting a united front before scrutinizing press and public.

Appraisal of Priority Sector Lending by Commercial Banks in India

OpenAIRE

C Bhujanga Rao

2014-01-01

This report provides an overview of the performance of priority sector lending by commercial banks in India. The review captures the changing contours of Reserve Bank of India policy on priority sector advances. The paper analyses the trends in priority sector lending for the period 1995-2011, the burden of non-performing assets of commercial bank in priority sector lending and the extent to which priority sector targets are achieved by individual banks. It is observed that the scheduled comm...

The political economy of emissions trading; L'economie politique des marches de permis d'emissions negociables

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Hanoteau, J

2004-06-15

This thesis is a positive analysis of emissions trading systems' implementation. We explain why allowances are generally granted for free even though normative economic analysis recommends their sale. We show empirically that free tradable permits, source of windfall profit, motivate rent seeking behaviours. The study focuses on the US market for SO{sub 2} emissions allowances. The initial allocation rule resulted from parliamentary discussions that looked like a zero sum game. We formalize it as an endogenous sharing rule, function of lobbying effort, and we test it using political (money) contributions.We analyse theoretically the behaviour of an influenced regulator that has chosen to organize a market for permits and that must still decide on two policy variables: the whole quantity of permits and the way to allocate them initially. We formalize this decisions making process with the common agency model of politics.We show that the choice of an initial allocation rule is not neutral in presence of political market failures (lobbying). The decision to sell the permits or to grant them for free modifies the shareholders' incentive, in a polluting industry, to pressure for or against the reduction of legal emissions.Then, we analyse the public arbitration between the two policy variables when several industrial lobbies play a partially cooperative game for the free permits. The regulator chooses in priority to grant the rights for free rather than to manipulate their quantity, and this constitutes an efficient answer to the political influence. (author)

Astronomy and Politics

Science.gov (United States)

Steele, John M.

The relationship between astronomy and politics is a complex but important part of understanding the practice of astronomy throughout history. This chapter explores some of the ways that astronomy, astrology, and politics have interacted, placing particular focus on the way that astronomy and astrology have been used for political purposes by both people in power and people who wish to influence a ruler's policy. Also discussed are the effects that politics has had on the development of astronomy and, in particular, upon the recording and preservation of astronomical knowledge.

Defining political community

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Sladeček Michal M.

2002-01-01

Full Text Available This paper considers the concept of political community, its constitution and value. The starting point is that the concept of community is not sufficiently recognized in modern political theories, as well as in contemporary liberal theory. In the last two decades communitarian and republican political theory attempted to revitalize this notion. The first part of the paper elaborates on the polemics between these three theoretical orientations. The concluding part examines the possibilities and prospect for stable political community in conditions of pluralism of particular social communities and ethnocultural heterogeneity.

Priority to organ donors: Personal responsibility, equal access and the priority rule in organ procurement

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Albertsen, Andreas

2017-01-01

recently and the preliminary reports indicate increased donation rates. How should we evaluate such initiatives from an ethical perspective? Luck egalitarianism, a responsibility-sensitive approach to distributive justice, provides one possible justification: Those who decide against being organ donors...... limit the health care resources available to others. As such, a priority rule can be justified by a luck egalitarian approach to distributive justice. Furthermore, a priority rule inspired by luck egalitarianism is well equipped to avoid prominent criticisms of such a procurement system. Luck...

Phylogenetic relatedness predicts priority effects in nectar yeast communities

Science.gov (United States)

Peay, Kabir G.; Belisle, Melinda; Fukami, Tadashi

2012-01-01

Priority effects, in which the outcome of species interactions depends on the order of their arrival, are a key component of many models of community assembly. Yet, much remains unknown about how priority effects vary in strength among species in a community and what factors explain this variation. We experimented with a model natural community in laboratory microcosms that allowed us to quantify the strength of priority effects for most of the yeast species found in the floral nectar of a hummingbird-pollinated shrub at a biological preserve in northern California. We found that priority effects were widespread, with late-arriving species experiencing strong negative effects from early-arriving species. However, the magnitude of priority effects varied across species pairs. This variation was phylogenetically non-random, with priority effects stronger between closer relatives. Analysis of carbon and amino acid consumption profiles indicated that competition between closer relatives was more intense owing to higher ecological similarity, consistent with Darwin's naturalization hypothesis. These results suggest that phylogenetic relatedness between potential colonists may explain the strength of priority effects and, as a consequence, the degree to which community assembly is historically contingent. PMID:21775330

Engaging Adolescents in Politics: The Longitudinal Effect of Political Socialization Agents

Science.gov (United States)

Quintelier, Ellen

2015-01-01

Starting from a political socialization perspective, this study examined the development of political participation during adolescence and early adulthood. We explore the effect of parents, peers, school media, and voluntary associations on political participation. Self-reported data were collected from 3,025 Belgian adolescents at three points in…

Priority setting for existing chemicals : automated data selection routine

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Haelst, A.G. van; Hansen, B.G.

2000-01-01

One of the four steps within Council Regulation 793/93/EEC on the evaluation and control of existing chemicals is the priority setting step. The priority setting step is concerned with selecting high-priority substances from a large number of substances, initially starting with 2,474

Political participation of registered nurses.

Science.gov (United States)

Vandenhouten, Christine L; Malakar, Crystalmichelle L; Kubsch, Sylvia; Block, Derryl E; Gallagher-Lepak, Susan

2011-08-01

Level of political participation and factors contributing to participation were measured among Midwest RNs (n = 468) via an online survey (Cronbach's α = .95). Respondents reported engaging in primarily "low cost" activities (e.g., voting, discussing politics, and contacting elected officials), with fewer reporting speaking at public gatherings, participating in demonstrations, and membership in nursing organizations. Psychological engagement was most predictive (p political participation with the dimensions of political interest, political efficacy, and political information/knowledge highly significant (p political participation (p political content and did not prepare them for political participation. Findings showed that nurse educators and leaders of professional nursing organizations need to model and cultivate greater psychological engagement among students and nurses.

Speaking Politely, Kindly, and Beautifully: Ideologies of Politeness in Japanese Business Etiquette Training

Science.gov (United States)

Dunn, Cynthia Dickel

2013-01-01

In recent years, politeness theory has increasingly focused on speakers' own conceptualizations of polite behavior, viewing politeness concepts as a type of language ideology. This article examines the construction of Japanese politeness concepts in the business etiquette training provided for new employees in Japanese companies. Drawing on…

NRPC ServCat priorities

Data.gov (United States)

Department of the Interior — This document lists the Natural Resource Program Center’s priority ServCat documents. It is recommended that these documents- which include annual narrative reports,...

School of Political Science

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

A. D. Voskresensky

2014-01-01

Full Text Available Out of all the departments of political sciences in Russia - the Department at MGIMO-University is probably the oldest one. In fact it is very young. While MGIMO-University is celebrating its 70th anniversary the Department of Political Sciences turns 15. Despite the fact that political analyst is a relatively new profession in Russia, it acquired a legal standing only in the 1990s, the political science school at MGIMO-University is almost as old as the university itself. Unlike many other universities, focused on the training teachers of political science or campaign managers MGIMO-University has developed its own unique political science school of "full cycle", where students grow into political sciences from a zero level up to the highest qualifications as teachers and researchers, and campaign managers, consultants and practitioners. The uniqueness of the school of political science at MGIMO-University allows its institutional incarnation -the Department of Political Science - to offer prospective studentsa training in a wide range of popular specialties and specializations, while ensuring a deep theoretical and practical basis of the training. Studying at MGIMO-University traditionally includes enhanced linguistic component (at least two foreign languages. For students of international relations and political science learning foreign languages is particularly important.It allows not only to communicate, but also to produce expertise and knowledge in foreign languages.

Priority Systems

OpenAIRE

Gössler , Gregor; Sifakis , Joseph

2004-01-01

Projet POP_ART; We present a framework for the incremental construction of deadlock-free systems meeting given safety properties. The framework borrows concepts and basic results from the controller synthesis paradigm by considering a step in the construction process as a controller synthesis problem. We show that priorities are expressive enough to represent restrictions induced by deadlock-free controllers preserving safety properties. We define a correspondence between such restrictions an...

Sophisticated Approval Voting, Ignorance Priors, and Plurality Heuristics: A Behavioral Social Choice Analysis in a Thurstonian Framework

Science.gov (United States)

Regenwetter, Michel; Ho, Moon-Ho R.; Tsetlin, Ilia

2007-01-01

This project reconciles historically distinct paradigms at the interface between individual and social choice theory, as well as between rational and behavioral decision theory. The authors combine a utility-maximizing prescriptive rule for sophisticated approval voting with the ignorance prior heuristic from behavioral decision research and two…

The Study of LGBT Politics and Its Contributions to Political Science

Science.gov (United States)

Mucciaroni, Gary

2011-01-01

Although the study of LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender) politics appears to be widely accepted within political science, a recent survey of political scientists reported some skepticism about its legitimacy and scholarly worth (Novkov and Barclay 2010). This article examines potential concerns about LGBT studies and draws attention to the…

MAPPING CHILDREN’S POLITICS: SPATIAL STORIES, DIALOGIC RELATIONS AND POLITICAL FORMATION

Science.gov (United States)

Elwood, Sarah; Mitchell, Katharyne

2015-01-01

This article confronts a persistent challenge in research on children’s geographies and politics: the difficulty of recognizing forms of political agency and practice that by definition fall outside of existing political theory. Children are effectively “always already” positioned outside most of the structures and ideals of modernist democratic theory, such as the public sphere and abstracted notions of communicative action or “rational” speech. Recent emphases on embodied tactics of everyday life have offered important ways to recognize children’s political agency and practice. However, we argue here that a focus on spatial practices and critical knowledge alone cannot capture the full range of children’s politics, and show how representational and dialogic practices remain a critical element of their politics in everyday life. Drawing on de Certeau’s notion of spatial stories, and Bakhtin’s concept of dialogic relations, we argue that children’s representations and dialogues comprise a significant space of their political agency and formation, in which they can make and negotiate social meanings, subjectivities, and relationships. We develop these arguments with evidence from an after-school activity programme we conducted with 10–13 year olds in Seattle, Washington, in which participants explored, mapped, wrote and spoke about the spaces and experiences of their everyday lives. Within these practices, children negotiate autonomy and self-determination, and forward ideas, representations, and expressions of agreement or disagreement that are critical to their formation as political actors. PMID:25642017

Gateway Political Behaviors: The Frequency and Consequences of Low-Cost Political Engagement on Social Media

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Leticia Bode

2017-11-01

Full Text Available The purpose of this article is to determine to what extent engagement in easy political behaviors on social media occurs across the range of political interest, what predicts such engagement, and what effect such engagement may have on other political behaviors. It pits the idea that social media may activate the politically uninterested against the idea that social media is just another outlet for the politically interested to demonstrate their engagement. Analyzing survey data collected by the Pew Research Center, it concludes that many people, including the politically uninterested, do engage in easy political behaviors like liking and commenting on political content on social media. When they do, it can lead to greater political activity offline. However, those most likely to engage in easy political behaviors are also those who engage in harder political behaviors, offering support for both the interest and activation hypotheses.

MAKING FEDERALISM WORK? THE POLITICS OF INTERGOVERNMENTAL COLLABORATION AND THE PPACA.

Science.gov (United States)

Rocco, Philip

2015-01-01

The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA) is a complex piece of legislation that requires a high level of collaboration between actors at multiple levels of government, federal and state, to successfully implement its provisions. However, the polarized political environment in which the law was passed has created roadblocks for implementation, with Republican governors claiming that they will not negotiate with federal agencies over many of the law's key details. Though the decisions of governors and of state legislatures are critical for policy implementation, much of the effort will require administrators at multiple levels of government, and often with different preferences, to collaborate with one another to set policy priorities and oversee the operation of key features of the law. This paper reports on the results of a recent in-depth survey of state-level administrators that examines the extent of state-federal collaboration to implement health reform. Using qualitative and quantitative indicators, I find that state administrators' engagement in collaborative activity is generally robust. Even so, state administrators' perceptions of their relationship with federal agents appear to vary by the partisan compositions of their respective states, suggesting that political conflict over the reform may pose some dilemmas for future implementation efforts.

New directions in research priority-setting

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Nielsen, Morten Velsing

2017-01-01

The way governments set priorities for research and innovation in Europe is changing. The new focus on responsible research and innovation (RRI) emphasises broader inclusion, increased dialogue, and a focus on societal challenges. The case of RESEARCH2015 in Denmark is one of the first European...... priority-setting processes to incorporate such criteria. This paper develops a theoretical model to explore how RESEARCH2015 contributes to mutual responsiveness among actors, a main objective of RRI. Studying mutual responsiveness means going beyond the often-stated focus on policy impact to look...... at the creation of trust, interdependence and mutual understanding among participants. The study finds that mutual responsiveness is an important precondition for priority-setting, but that the process's contribution to mutual responsiveness is limited, due to the limited attention to social impacts. Still...

(Not) getting political: indigenous women and preventing mother-to-child transmission of HIV in West Papua.

Science.gov (United States)

Munro, Jenny; McIntyre, Lynn

2016-01-01

This paper builds on critiques that call for a more nuanced and contextualised understanding of conditions that affect HIV prevention by looking at West Papuan women's experiences of prevention of mother-to-child transmission services. Drawing on qualitative, ethnographic research with indigenous women and health workers, the paper demonstrates that women experience poor-quality HIV education and counselling, and that indigenous practices and concerns are largely not addressed by HIV services. We attribute this to a combination of national anti-indigenous and anti-separatist political concerns with donor-led interventions that result in limited localisation and reduced effectiveness of HIV prevention measures. In West Papua, services are needed that enhance cooperation and shared commitment, and that acknowledge and work to overcome existing inequalities, ethnic tensions and discrimination in the health system. Beyond Indonesia, donor-led HIV programmes and interventions need to balance avoidance of politically sensitive issues with complicity in perpetuating health inequalities. Translating global health interventions and donor priorities into locally compelling HIV prevention activities involves more than navigating local cultural and religious beliefs. Programme development and implementation strategies that entail confronting structural questions as well as social hierarchies, cleavages and silences are needed to render more effective services; strategies that are inherently political.

Shared research priorities for pessary use in women with prolapse: results from a James Lind Alliance Priority Setting Partnership.

Science.gov (United States)

Lough, Kate; Hagen, Suzanne; McClurg, Doreen; Pollock, Alex

2018-04-28

To identify the shared priorities for future research of women affected by and clinicians involved with pessary use for the management of prolapse. A priority setting project using a consensus method. A James Lind Alliance Pessary use for prolapse Priority Setting Partnership (JLA Pessary PSP) conducted from May 2016 to September 2017 in the UK. The PSP was run by a Steering Group of three women with experience of pessary use, three experienced clinicians involved with management of prolapse, two researchers with relevant experience, a JLA adviser and a PSP leader. Two surveys were conducted in 2016 and 2017. The first gathered questions about pessaries, and the second asked respondents to prioritise a list of questions. A final workshop was held on 8 September 2017 involving 10 women and 13 clinician representatives with prolapse and pessary experience. A top 10 list of priorities for future research in pessary use for prolapse was agreed by consensus. Women with experience of pessary use and clinicians involved with prolapse management have worked together to determine shared priorities for future research. Aligning the top 10 results with existing research findings will highlight the gaps in current evidence and signpost future research to areas of priority. Effective dissemination of the results will enable research funding bodies to focus on gathering the evidence to answer the questions that matter most to those who will be affected. © Article author(s) (or their employer(s) unless otherwise stated in the text of the article) 2018. All rights reserved. No commercial use is permitted unless otherwise expressly granted.

Political scandal and the politics of exposure : from Watergate to Lewinsky and beyond.

OpenAIRE

Welch, S. E.

2007-01-01

The paper advances an interpretation of political scandal and its place in democratic politics, taking the scandals of the ‘Watergate era’ in American politics as its evidential basis. The interpretation focuses on an aspect of political scandal that has been neglected in existing treatments, namely the politically constructed rather than epistemologically simple nature of scandalous ‘exposure’. The career of the ‘smoking gun’ in the Watergate era provides illustration. The paper goes on to r...

15 CFR 700.20 - Use of priority ratings.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-01-01

...) BUREAU OF INDUSTRY AND SECURITY, DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE NATIONAL SECURITY INDUSTRIAL BASE REGULATIONS DEFENSE PRIORITIES AND ALLOCATIONS SYSTEM Industrial Priorities for Energy Programs § 700.20 Use of...

Occupational health research priorities in Malaysia: a Delphi study.

Science.gov (United States)

Sadhra, S; Beach, J R; Aw, T C; Sheikh-Ahmed, K

2001-07-01

As part of a consultancy project on occupational health, the Delphi method was used to identify research priorities in occupational health in Malaysia. Participation was sought from government ministries, industry, and professional organisations, and university departments with an interest in occupational and public health. Two rounds of questionnaires resulted in a final list of priorities, with noticeable differences between participants depending on whether they worked in industry or were from government organisations. The participation rate of 71% (55 of 78) was obtained for the first questionnaire and 76% (72 of 95) for the second questionnaire. The participants identified occupational health problems for specific groups and industries as the top research priority area (ranked as top priority by 25% of participants). Ministry of Health participants placed emphasis on healthcare workers (52% ranking it as top priority), whereas those from industry identified construction and plantation workers as groups, which should be accorded the highest priority. Evaluation of research and services was given a low priority. The priorities for occupational health determined with the Delphi approach showed differences between Malaysia, a developing country, and findings from similar European studies. This may be expected, as differences exist in stages of economic development, types of industries, occupational activities, and cultural attitudes to occupational health and safety. Chemical poisonings and workplace accidents were accorded a high priority. By contrast with findings from western countries, workplace psychosocial problems and musculoskeletal injuries were deemed less important. There also seemed to be greater emphasis on adopting interventions for identified problems based on experience in other countries rather than the need to evaluate local occupational health provisions.

Languages and Politics: A Political Football or a Tool for Empowerment?

Science.gov (United States)

Broady, Elspeth

2006-01-01

In this review, the author explores various perspectives on language issues in political contexts, not least because languages have been prominent recently on the political agenda both in the UK and the US. She reviews articles that highlight different ways in which political pressures and contexts influence language teaching, learning and use.…

What are the macro-social health research priorities?

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Narges Tabrizchi

2016-10-01

Full Text Available   Background: Setting research priorities is a scientific process to allocate resources to the best use. In low- and middle-income countries, allocation of limited resources to fundamental issues is more important. So, the present study was conducted to determine social health research priorities.  Methods: In the first step, important issues and research topics of social health were extracted from documents and studies conducted at the national level.In qualitative phase, reciprocating questionnaires were sent and interviews were conducted with experts and stakeholders, social health issues (as members of Delphi. In the next step, the research topics extracted were discussed in small groups (suggested by Council on Health Research for Development to score the proposed priority topics by Delphi members. Finally, the list of priorities (titles that acquired more than 80% of the total score was sent to Delphi members for final approval.  Results: During the study, 220 topics were obtained in four research domains: “description of the problem and its consequences”, “cause finding”, “intervention to eliminate or reduce problems”, and “Management-Policymaking”. Finally, 30 of these topics remained as priority topics. High priority research topics in social health were equity, happiness, economics, and ethics, respectively.  Conclusion: The findings provide a list of research priorities that help researchers carrying out studies that will have the greatest social health impact. Some targeting areas such as happiness and ethics were identified as less attended subjects that need more investment in research policies, management, and governance.

Worst-case efficient external-memory priority queues

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Brodal, Gerth Stølting; Katajainen, Jyrki

1998-01-01

A priority queue Q is a data structure that maintains a collection of elements, each element having an associated priority drawn from a totally ordered universe, under the operations Insert, which inserts an element into Q, and DeleteMin, which deletes an element with the minimum priority from Q....... In this paper a priority-queue implementation is given which is efficient with respect to the number of block transfers or I/Os performed between the internal and external memories of a computer. Let B and M denote the respective capacity of a block and the internal memory measured in elements. The developed...... data structure handles any intermixed sequence of Insert and DeleteMin operations such that in every disjoint interval of B consecutive priorityqueue operations at most clogM/B N/M I/Os are performed, for some positive constant c. These I/Os are divided evenly among the operations: if B ≥ clogM/B N...

Political Market Orientation and Strategic Party Postures in Danish Political Parties

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Ormrod, Robert P.; Henneberg, Stephan

2011-01-01

Purpose – This paper investigates the relationship between the strategic postures and political market orientation profile of two Danish parties. Profile stability at the organisational level is used as a control variable. Design/methodology/approach – The strategic political postures of two Danish...... are used to control for organisational stability. Findings – The self-typing study revealed that Party A was perceived to follow a Relationship Builder posture, and Party B a Convinced Ideologist posture. However, both market orientation profiles resembled the organisational structures of a Convinced...... in the political sphere. More specifically it empirically links political market orientation as an issue of political marketing implementation on the one hand, and strategic postures of parties as a strategic issue on the other, following a configuration theory logic. Research limitations...

Research Priorities in Spasmodic Dysphonia

Science.gov (United States)

Ludlow, Christy L.; Adler, Charles H.; Berke, Gerald S.; Bielamowicz, Steven A.; Blitzer, Andrew; Bressman, Susan B.; Hallett, Mark; Jinnah, H. A.; Juergens, Uwe; Martin, Sandra B.; Perlmutter, Joel S.; Sapienza, Christine; Singleton, Andrew; Tanner, Caroline M.; Woodson, Gayle E.

2009-01-01

OBJECTIVE To identify research priorities for increasing understanding of the pathogenesis, diagnosis and improved treatment of spasmodic dysphonia. STUDY DESIGN AND SETTING A multidisciplinary working group was formed including both scientists and clinicians from multiple disciplines, otolaryngology, neurology, speech pathology, genetics and neuroscience, to review currently available information on spasmodic dysphonia and to identify research priorities. RESULTS Operational definitions for spasmodic dysphonia at different levels of certainty were recommended for diagnosis and recommendations made for a multi-center multidisciplinary validation study. CONCLUSIONS The highest priority is to characterize the disorder and identify risk factors that may contribute to its onset. Future research should compare and contrast spasmodic dysphonia with other forms of focal dystonia. Development of animal models is recommended to explore hypotheses related to pathogenesis. Improved understanding of the pathophysiology of SD should provide the basis for developing new treatment options and exploratory clinical trials. SIGNIFICANCE This document should foster future research to improve the care of patients with this chronic debilitating voice and speech disorder by otolaryngology, neurology, and speech pathology. PMID:18922334

Introduction: “Local” Politics in Jakarta: Anomaly from Indonesia’s Local Politics?

OpenAIRE

Masaaki Okamoto; Jun Honna

2014-01-01

This special issue attempts to go beyond short essays and conduct a deeper analysis of Jakarta’s local politics. Some of the contributions show the peculiarities of Jakartan politics, while others identify similarities with other local politics in Indonesia.

Using repair priorities in systems with redundacies

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Sleptchenko, A.V.; Adan, I.J.B.F.; Van Houtum, G.-J.

2014-01-01

In this paper, we present and analyze a mathematical model for the computation of the system availability for a system of parallel machines with redundancies and repair priorities. Using the presented models, we show that the repair priorities have a strong effect on the performance of the system.

Scientists’ perspectives on global ocean research priorities

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Murray Alan Rudd

2014-08-01

Full Text Available Diverse natural and social science research is needed to support policies to recover and sustain healthy oceans. While a wide variety of expert-led prioritization initiatives have identified research themes and priorities at national and regional scale, over the past several years there has also been a surge in the number of scanning exercises that have identified important environmental research questions and issues ‘from the bottom-up’. From those questions, winnowed from thousands of contributions by scientists and policy-makers around the world who participated in terrestrial, aquatic and domain-specific horizon scanning and big question exercises, I identified 657 research questions potentially important for informing decisions regarding ocean governance and sustainability. These were distilled to a short list of 67 distinctive research questions that, in an internet survey, were ranked by 2179 scientists from 94 countries. Five of the top 10 research priorities were shared by respondents globally. Despite significant differences between physical and ecological scientists’ priorities regarding specific research questions, they shared seven common priorities among their top 10. Social scientists’ priorities were, however, much different, highlighting their research focus on managerial solutions to ocean challenges and questions regarding the role of human behavior and values in attaining ocean sustainability. The results from this survey provide a comprehensive and timely assessment of current ocean research priorities among research-active scientists but highlight potential challenges in stimulating crossdisciplinary research. As ocean and coastal research necessarily becomes more transdisciplinary to address complex ocean challenges, it will be critical for scientists and research funders to understand how scientists from different disciplines and regions might collaborate and strengthen the overall evidence base for ocean

Multiprocessor Priority Ceiling Emulation for Safety-Critical Java

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Strøm, Torur Biskopstø; Schoeberl, Martin

2015-01-01

Priority ceiling emulation has preferable properties on uniprocessor systems, such as avoiding priority inversion and being deadlock free. This has made it a popular locking protocol. According to the safety-critical Java specication, priority ceiling emulation is a requirement for implementations....... However, implementing the protocol for multiprocessor systemsis more complex so implementations might perform worse than non-preemptive implementations. In this paper we compare two multiprocessor lock implementations with hardware support for the Java optimized processor: non-preemptive locking...

Emotion strengthens high-priority memory traces but weakens low-priority memory traces.

Science.gov (United States)

Sakaki, Michiko; Fryer, Kellie; Mather, Mara

2014-02-01

When people encounter emotional events, their memory for those events is typically enhanced. But it has been unclear how emotionally arousing events influence memory for preceding information. Does emotional arousal induce retrograde amnesia or retrograde enhancement? The current study revealed that this depends on the top-down goal relevance of the preceding information. Across three studies, we found that emotional arousal induced by one image facilitated memory for the preceding neutral item when people prioritized that neutral item. In contrast, an emotionally arousing image impaired memory for the preceding neutral item when people did not prioritize that neutral item. Emotional arousal elicited by both negative and positive pictures showed this pattern of enhancing or impairing memory for the preceding stimulus depending on its priority. These results indicate that emotional arousal amplifies the effects of top-down priority in memory formation.

Establishing Political Deliberation Systems

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Rose, Jeremy; Sæbø, Øystein

2008-01-01

The extension and transformation of political participation is dependent on widespread deliberation supported by information and communication technologies.  The most commonly found examples of these eParticipation systems are political discussion forums.  Though much of the discussion...... of these technologies is conducted in the eGovernment and (particularly) the eDemocracy literature, political discussion forums present a distinct set of design and management challenges which relate directly to IS concerns. In this article we analyze problems in establishing political deliberation systems under five...... headings: stakeholder engagement, web platform design, web platform management, political process re-shaping and evaluation and improvement. We review the existing literature and present a longitudinal case study of a political discussion forum: the Norwegian DemokratiTorget (Democracy Square).  We define...

Setting priorities for space research: An experiment in methodology

Science.gov (United States)

1995-01-01

In 1989, the Space Studies Board created the Task Group on Priorities in Space Research to determine whether scientists should take a role in recommending priorities for long-term space research initiatives and, if so, to analyze the priority-setting problem in this context and develop a method by which such priorities could be established. After answering the first question in the affirmative in a previous report, the task group set out to accomplish the second task. The basic assumption in developing a priority-setting process is that a reasoned and structured approach for ordering competing initiatives will yield better results than other ways of proceeding. The task group proceeded from the principle that the central criterion for evaluating a research initiative must be its scientific merit -- the value of the initiative to the proposing discipline and to science generally. The group developed a two-stage methodology for priority setting and constructed a procedure and format to support the methodology. The first of two instruments developed was a standard format for structuring proposals for space research initiatives. The second instrument was a formal, semiquantitative appraisal procedure for evaluating competing proposals. This report makes available complete templates for the methodology, including the advocacy statement and evaluation forms, as well as an 11-step schema for a priority-setting process. From the beginning of its work, the task group was mindful that the issue of priority setting increasingly pervades all of federally supported science and that its work would have implications extending beyond space research. Thus, although the present report makes no recommendations for action by NASA or other government agencies, it provides the results of the task group's work for the use of others who may study priority-setting procedures or take up the challenge of implementing them in the future.

THE MECHANISMS OF FORMATION OF STRATEGIC SOCIO-ECONOMIC PRIORITIES

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Klimanov V. V.

2016-12-01

Full Text Available The article is devoted to definition of methods and techniques to identify priorities of socioeconomic development, applicable at the Federal level. The initial data for the study was strategic planning documents, as well as the decrees, resolutions and orders of the Executive authorities of the Russian Federation and of constituent entities of the Russian Federation, defining the strategic priorities of socio-economic development in the 20-year period. The article presents the defining the term ‘priorities of economic and development’ and the approaches to their formation, which are represented at Russia’s normative acts and other federal documents. The content analysis of priorities in the strategic planning documents has allowed drawing the typology of economic and social development priorities of the Russian Federation. The authors determined the mechanism of creating the priorities under the influence of main endogenous (foreign trade, foreign policy, macro, etc. and exogenous (the interests of business, communities, regional authorities factors which could be recommended for consideration at the strategy developing process at federal level.

The Specific of Political Fundraising

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Евгений Викторович Смолянинов

2010-06-01

Full Text Available The following study is dedicated to the process of political fundraising as a subject of political science. Through the article one can find the definition of political fundraising and American political scientists' approaches to the analysis of this process. Comparative analysis of political fundraising in the U.S.A. and Russian Federation demonstrates that its' transparency has an important impact on public's control of lobby groups and other shadow political entities.

Regulating a Monopoly Offering Priority Service

OpenAIRE

Matsukawa, Isamu

2006-01-01

This paper investigates the effects of alternative forms of regulation on the market penetration and capacity, which are determined by a profit-maximizing monopolist providing priority service to consumers. For continuous priority service, a minimum reliability standard, price cap and rate of return regulation lead to larger capacity than in the absence of regulation. A minimum reliability standard reduces the market penetration while price cap and rate of return regulation increase it. T...

Ranking the adaptive capacity of nations to climate change when socio-political goals are explicit

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Haddad, B.M. [University of California, Santa Cruz, CA (United States)

2005-07-01

The typical categories for measuring national adaptive capacity to climate change include a nation's wealth, technology, education, information, skills, infrastructure, access to resources, and management capabilities. Resulting rankings predictably mirror more general rankings of economic development, such as the Human Development Index. This approach is incomplete since it does not consider the normative or motivational context of adaptation. For what purpose or toward what goal does a nation aspire, and in that context, what is its adaptive capacity? This paper posits 11 possible national socio-political goals that fall into the three categories of teleological legitimacy, procedural legitimacy, and norm-based decision rules. A model that sorts nations in terms of adaptive capacity based on national socio-political aspirations is presented. While the aspiration of maximizing summed utility matches typical existing rankings, alternative aspirations, including contractarian liberalism, technocratic management, and dictatorial/religious rule alter the rankings. An example describes how this research can potentially inform how priorities are set for international assistance for climate change adaptation. (author)

The Features of Political Crowdfunding in the Russian Political Practice

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Александр Владимирович Соколов

2014-12-01

Full Text Available The article discusses the process сrowdfunding’s formation in modern Russia. The authors highlighted the reasons for the appearance of this phenomenon. They justified choice of Russian politicians of mechanism for collecting funds in political campaigns. The article characterizes trends in political fundraising and сrowdfunding in Russia. The study highlighted their advantages and disadvantages for application in political activity. The authors give examples of successful сrowdfunding campaigns in modern Russia.

Developing the Innovative Personality Type as the Priority Direction of Political Modernization in Russia

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Chernykh Natalya Sergeevna

2014-09-01

Full Text Available This article attempts to explain the necessity to modernize the Russian political system and to implement the national innovative strategy. The need to strengthen and to develop the fundamentals of innovative-typed society – human potential and social capital – is analyzed on the basis of national empirical research. Today, humanity has entered the innovative information stage of development, where creative and active potential of a nation signifies one of the primary resources for achieving the status of a competitive state. The following characteristics become of the utmost value in such a society: independent and critical thinking, responsibility for the decisions, leadership and mobility. Unfortunately, the conditions for transitioning to the innovative type of society are not so favorable in Russia. Low birth rate, high mortality rate, underdeveloped state institutions, bureaucratization of goverment apparatus, brain drain from the periphery to the centre and abroad, weak legal culture and other social problems hinder the development of the innovative characteristics among Russian citizens. Russia needs to strengthen the fundamentals of the innovative-typed society, as there are positive impulses for its development (energy and raw material resources, high scientific potential, recognition by the most active part of society that the systemic transformations are necessary. The article presents the statistical data, which points to the need to invest in the development of the innovative personality characteristics, and the necessity to implement structural modernization of the specific areas of human capital.

Ecological and political issues surrounding decommissioning of offshore oil facilities in the Southern California Bight

Science.gov (United States)

Schroeder, Donna M.; Love, Milton S.

2004-01-01

To aid legislators, resource managers, and the general public, this paper summarizes and clarifies some of the issues and options that the federal government and the state of California face in decommissioning offshore oil and gas production platforms, particularly as these relate to platform ecology. Both local marine ecology and political climate play a role in decommissioning offshore oil production platforms. Compared to the relatively supportive political climate in the Gulf of Mexico for “rigs-to-reefs” programs, conflicting social values among stakeholders in Southern California increases the need for understanding ecological impacts of various decommissioning alternatives (which range from total removal to allowing some or all of platform structure to remain in the ocean). Additional scientific needs in the decommissioning process include further assessment of platform habitat quality, estimation of regional impacts of decommissioning alternatives to marine populations, and determination of biological effects of any residual contaminants. The principal management need is a ranking of environmental priorities (e.g. species-of-interest and marine habitats). Because considerable numbers of economically important species reside near oil platforms, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Fisheries should consider the consequences of decommissioning alternatives in their overall management plans. Management strategies could include designating reefed platforms as marine protected areas. The overarching conclusion from both ecological and political perspectives is that decommissioning decisions should be made on a case-by-case basis.

Maintaining Identity Political Culture In Indonesia

Science.gov (United States)

Fauzi, AM; Sudrajat, A.; Affandi, A.; Raditya, A.

2018-01-01

This study investigates the portrayal of traditional political cultures in West Kalimantan Province, a growing of election process. Results showed that Political life in Indonesia leads to modern political culture after experiencing a change of paradigm of political life. Political life in Indonesia leads to modern political culture after experiencing a change of paradigm of political life. Beginning Indonesia’s independence in the Old Order Phase, the politics used using the ideological paradigm, subsequent to the New Order Period used the political paradigm of unification and simplification of political parties but in practice it became the strategy of the State’s rulers to facilitate subjugating its citizens. After entering the reform era, several phenomena of political culture are displayed, some are using modern paradigm by giving women the widest possible role in political parties, and so on. Besides that there is the opposite of displaying and practicing traditional political culture, this is as it runs in West Borneo Province. The change of political culture in the modern direction is different from the political culture of the citizens in terms of who will be chosen, most West Borneo Province residents determine their political choice by using traditional patterns.

[The Danish Debate on Priority Setting in Medicine--An Update].

Science.gov (United States)

Pornak, S C; Raspe, H

2015-09-01

In the last years, the Danish debate about priority setting in medicine has gained new strength. This paper shows the main focuses of the current discussion based on a research of Danish primary literature. For the first time since the 1990s the Danish Council of Ethics has been involved with priority setting in medicine in a project running from 2011 to 2013. The Council emphasises the importance of legitimate processes and calls for visible values and criteria. A focus of the debate is how to deal with new expensive drugs. Politicians, physicians, health economists and the Council of Ethics have called for a national institution for priority setting in medicine. They have mainly looked to the Norwegian National Council for Priority Setting in Health Care and the British National Institute for Health and Care Excellence for inspiration. The Danish Government considered establishing a national institute for priority setting, but the plans were not put into practice. In the year 2012 a new national project was launched to create clinical guidelines. Danish doctors welcome the guidelines as a good basis for priority setting. Just like in earlier Danish priority setting debates, a coordinating institution is lacking to bundle the discussion and keep it going. The debate seems to have come to an end once again. The fact that it was seriously considered to establish an institute for priority setting is a new development. It can be expected that the discussion will be resumed in the near future, possibly the idea of an institute for priority setting will be readopted. The general conditions for priority setting in health care have improved. © Georg Thieme Verlag KG Stuttgart · New York.

Social, economic, and political processes that create built environment inequities: perspectives from urban African Americans in Atlanta.

Science.gov (United States)

Redwood, Yanique; Schulz, Amy J; Israel, Barbara A; Yoshihama, Mieko; Wang, Caroline C; Kreuter, Marshall

2010-01-01

Growing evidence suggests that the built environment features found in many high-poverty urban areas contribute to negative health outcomes. Both built environment hazards and negative health outcomes disproportionately affect poor people of color. We used community-based participatory research and Photovoice in inner-city Atlanta to elicit African Americans' perspectives on their health priorities. The built environment emerged as a critical factor, impacting physical and mental health outcomes. We offer a conceptual model, informed by residents' perspectives, linking social, economic, and political processes to built environment and health inequities. Research, practice, and policy implications are discussed within an environmental justice framework.

International Contexts for Political Education.

Science.gov (United States)

Harber, Clive

1991-01-01

Uses international examples of the ways in which political learning takes place--indoctrination, political socialization, and political education--to suggest that open and democratic political education is not common, even in democracies. (SK)

Understanding the political economy and key drivers of energy access in addressing national energy access priorities and policies

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Rehman, I.H.; Kar, Abhishek; Banerjee, Manjushree; Kumar, Preeth; Shardul, Martand; Mohanty, Jeevan; Hossain, Ijaz

2012-01-01

Globally, 1.5 billion people lack access to electricity and nearly 3 billion lack access to modern cooking energy options. Of the world’s “energy poor”, 95% are in Asia and Sub-Saharan Africa. Within Asia, almost 80% of electricity-deprived and 86% of biomass-dependent populations are in the “Big 5” countries: Bangladesh, China, India, Indonesia, and Pakistan. In this paper, we discuss the broad contours of the political economy of energy access in these countries. The political economy is assessed through an examination of three sustainability objectives: accessibility of physical infrastructure; energy service delivery; and conformance to social goals. The key areas of concern include emphasis on supply-driven grid electricity; vested power dynamics favouring affluent and urban areas; unreliability of energy service provision; and misdirected and misappropriated subsidies. The above-mentioned issues are responsible for limiting accelerated achievement of universal energy access in the “Big 5” countries and need to be addressed through innovative approaches. The paper emphasizes the need for firm commitments, policy convergence, and the implementation of 'pro-poor' equitable energy policies through a broad-based energy framework of bench-marked, technology-neutral energy provisioning that ensures reliability and equity. It highlights the need for reorienting of the subsidy regime and incorporating energy service delivery indicators in monitoring and reporting mechanisms. - Highlights: ► Limited emphasis on improved cooking programmes relative to electrification schemes. ► Strong disparity between rural and urban electrification and LPG access. ► Grid extension and subsidy on cooking fuels has limited success. ► Electricity access does not indicate transition to better cooking options. ► Technology neutrality in choosing suitable alternatives may led to improved access. ► There is need to re-orient energy subsidies and incentives. �

Political institutions as substitute for democracy: a political economy analysis of economic growth

OpenAIRE

Pereira, Carlos; Teles, Vladimir Kühl

2009-01-01

This manuscript empirically assesses the effects of political institutions on economic growth. It analyzes how political institutions affect economic growth in different stages of democratization and economic development by means of dynamic panel estimation with interaction terms. The new empirical results obtained show that political institutions work as a substitute for democracy promoting economic growth. In other words, political institutions are important for increasing economic growth, ...

Political regimes, political ideology, and self-rated health in Europe: a multilevel analysis

OpenAIRE

Huijts, T.; Perkins, J.M; Subramanian, S.V.

2010-01-01

Background: Studies on political ideology and health have found associations between individual ideology and health as well as between ecological measures of political ideology and health. Individual ideology and aggregate measures such as political regimes, however, were never examined simultaneously. Methodology/Principal Findings: Using adjusted logistic multilevel models to analyze data on individuals from 29 European countries and Israel, we found that individual ideology and political r...

Purification through Emotions: The Role of Shame in Plato's "Sophist" 230B4-E5

Science.gov (United States)

Candiotto, Laura

2018-01-01

This article proposes an analysis of Plato's "Sophist" (230b4--e5) that underlines the bond between the logical and the emotional components of the Socratic "elenchus", with the aim of depicting the social valence of this philosophical practice. The use of emotions characterizing the 'elenctic' method described by Plato is…

Political theology: Possibility of comparison of the usage of death in theology and politics

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Kuljić Todor

2014-01-01

Full Text Available This paper considers the epistemological value of the concept of political theology in thanatopolitics. The concept can be useful if one wants to interpret political usage of death. In addition to blurred boundaries between politics and theology, there is a more general and deeper socially integrative affinity between the two. In addition, there have been various politicizations of salvation in the past and in the present. Every political theology accentuates obedience as an immanent condition of salvation, although interpretation of death in political theology has a different function than in secular ideologies. In the centre of politically theological ideas one can find crosscutting of the divisions between public friend and public enemy from political world with similar divisions from religious world. Finally, beside the theological influence on politics, this paper considers some analogies between theology and the secular judiciary. [Projekat Ministarstva nauke Republike Srbije, br. 149005: Društveni akteri i društvene promene u Srbiji 1990-2010

Legitimacy, Political Disaffection and Discontent with (Democratic) Politics in the Czech Republic

Czech Academy of Sciences Publication Activity Database

Linek, Lukáš

2016-01-01

Roč. 8, č. 2 (2016), s. 51-73 E-ISSN 1803-8220 R&D Projects: GA ČR GA13-29032S Institutional support: RVO:68378025 Keywords : Czech politics * political disaffection * regime legitimacy Subject RIV: AD - Politology ; Political Sciences http://acpo.vedeckecasopisy.cz/publicFiles/001208.pdf

5 CFR 734.408 - Participation in political management and political campaigning; prohibitions.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-01-01

... management or in a political campaign, except as permitted by subpart D of this part. [61 FR 35102, July 5... 5 Administrative Personnel 2 2010-01-01 2010-01-01 false Participation in political management and political campaigning; prohibitions. 734.408 Section 734.408 Administrative Personnel OFFICE OF PERSONNEL...

NEW MULTIANUAL FINANCIAL FRAMEWORK: PRIORITIES FOR THE EUROPEAN UNION, PRIORITIES FOR ROMANIA

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

ROXANA-DANIELA PĂUN

2013-05-01

Full Text Available This article proposes a brief foray into the situation of the European economy, but especially of the banking system of the Member States affected differently by the current world economic crisis, or recession, but especially for a detailed analysis of the New Multiannual Financial Framework for the period 2014-2020, with the priorities which appear to be distinct for the EU and for Romania. After a comparative analysis of European regulations on the agreements of the previous financial negotiated for the period 2014-2020, and Delors I (1988-1992, Delors II (1993-1999, the Agenda 2000 (2000-2006 and multiannual financial framework (2007- 2013 and ultimately the provisions of the Treaty of Lisbon (which convert multiannual financial framework in an essential act from a legal point of view; express personal opinions on Romania’s priorities and on the challenges and perspectives in the actual European and global context.

Enhancing Political Participation in Jamaica

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Lloyd George Waller

2013-04-01

Full Text Available Youth participation through political talk appears to be shifting to the online public sphere in many parts of the world. Many attribute this shift to online social networks such as Facebook. Emerging research seem to suggest that this may be a cure for the problem of political apathy among the youth. This study explores such a possibility in Jamaica. In all, 752 youth ages 15 to 24 were surveyed to ascertain whether Facebook encourages political talk among this age cohort, and what if any are the primary factors that discourage this practice. The findings suggest that (a Facebook is an extension of offline political talk among the civically engaged and politically charged youth of Jamaica; (b Facebook does not substantively encourage political talk among the politically apathetic Jamaican youth; and (c fear of political victimization is the primary factor that discourages many Jamaican youth to engage in political talk on Facebook.

A surgical intervention for the body politic: Generation Squeeze applies the Advocacy Coalition Framework to social determinants of health knowledge translation.

Science.gov (United States)

Kershaw, Paul; Swanson, Eric; Stucchi, Andrea

2017-06-16

The World Health Organization Commission on the Social Determinants of Health (SDoH) observes that building political will is central to all its recommendations, because governments respond to those who organize and show up. Since younger Canadians are less likely to vote or to organize in between elections, they are less effective at building political will than their older counterparts. This results in an age gap between SDoH research and government budget priorities. Whereas Global AgeWatch ranks Canada among the top countries for aging, UNICEF ranks Canada among the least generous OECD (Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development) countries for the generations raising young children. A surgical intervention into the body politic. Guided by the "health political science" literature, the intervention builds a non-profit coalition to perform science-based, non-partisan democratic engagement to increase incentives for policy-makers to translate SDoH research about younger generations into government budget investments. All four national parties integrated policy recommendations from the intervention into their 2015 election platforms. Three referred to, or consulted with, the intervention during the election. The intervention coincided with all parties committing to the single largest annual increase in spending on families with children in over a decade. Since many population-level decisions are made in political venues, the concept of population health interventions should be broadened to include activities designed to mobilize SDoH science in the world of politics. Such interventions must engage with the power dynamics, values, interests and institutional factors that mediate the path by which science shapes government budgets.

The Politics of Inclusion and Empowerment

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Andersen, John; Siim, Birte

The objective of the book is to analyse different politics of inclusion and empowerment and the different paradigms of inclusion/exclusion in order to underline the close link between politics of scoial equality and politics of recognition of ciultural difference. Politics of inclusion is thus...... identities. Politics of empowerment has to do with the agency and mobilisation dimension of social and political change. The title of the book "Politics of Inclusion and Empowerment" address the leitmotiv: namely to discuss plussumgame between politics of inclusion and politics of empowerment...

Teaching American Politics through Student Projects: Electoral Reform Issues and Political Change.

Science.gov (United States)

Alper, Donald K.; Hogan, Eugene

1979-01-01

Describes two projects which involve college students in political science courses on American politics in doing research and giving class reports on proposals for reforming the electoral college and the electoral process. Findings indicate that students participating in the projects become more aware of political realities and learn how to use…

Research priorities in medical education: A national study.

Science.gov (United States)

Tootoonchi, Mina; Yamani, Nikoo; Changiz, Tahereh; Yousefy, Alireza

2012-01-01

One preliminary step to strengthen medical education research would be determining the research priorities. The aim of this study was to determine the research priorities of medical education in Iran in 2007-2008. This descriptive study was carried out in two phases. Phase one was performed in 3 stages and used Delphi technique among academic staffs of Isfahan University of Medical Sciences. The three stages included a brainstorming workshop for 140 faculty members and educational experts resulting in a list of research priorities, then, in the second and third stages 99 and 76 questionnaires were distributed among faculty members. In the second phase, the final questionnaires were mailed to educational research center managers of universities type I, II and III, and were distributed among 311 academic members and educational experts to rate the items on a numerical scale ranging from 1 to 10. The most important research priorities included faculty members' development methods, faculty members' motives, satisfaction and welfare, criteria and procedures of faculty members' promotion, teaching methods and learning techniques, job descriptions and professional skills of graduates, quality management in education, second language, clinical education, science production in medicine, faculty evaluation and information technology. This study shows the medial education research priorities in national level and in different types of medical universities in Iran. It is recommended that faculty members and research administrators consider the needs and requirements of education and plan the researches in education according to these priorities.

Utilization Bound of Non-preemptive Fixed Priority Schedulers

Science.gov (United States)

Park, Moonju; Chae, Jinseok

It is known that the schedulability of a non-preemptive task set with fixed priority can be determined in pseudo-polynomial time. However, since Rate Monotonic scheduling is not optimal for non-preemptive scheduling, the applicability of existing polynomial time tests that provide sufficient schedulability conditions, such as Liu and Layland's bound, is limited. This letter proposes a new sufficient condition for non-preemptive fixed priority scheduling that can be used for any fixed priority assignment scheme. It is also shown that the proposed schedulability test has a tighter utilization bound than existing test methods.

VT Priority Stream/River

Data.gov (United States)

Vermont Center for Geographic Information — Vermont List of Priority Surface Waters outside CWA Section 303(d) is divided in to 4 parts; Parts B, D, E and F. The four-part list has managed by the Vermont...

VT Priority Lake/Pond

Data.gov (United States)

Vermont Center for Geographic Information — Vermont List of Priority Surface Waters outside CWA Section 303(d) is divided in to 4 parts; Parts B, D, E and F. The four-part list has managed by the Vermont...

Corruption as a Problem of Political Theory and Political Practice

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Anna V. Shashkova

2015-01-01

Full Text Available The present article is dedicated to the analysis of "corruption" from point of view of political practice and political theory. The present article studies historical examples of corruption: corruption during the era of Alexander the Great, Carthage, Roman Republic. The article gives the evolution of the term "corruption", pointing out current aspects of the term. The article provides positive and negative results of corruption, gives resume. The present article analyses corruption results: economical, political and social. Most important economical consequences of corruption are the following: increase of shadow economy, decrease of tax payments, weakening of the state budget, breach of market competition, decrease of market effectiveness, destabilization of the idea of market economy. Most important social consequences of corruption are the following: great distinction between the declared and real values, which creates a "double standard" of the moral and behavior, distraction of great sums from public and humanitarian development, increase of property disproportion, increase of social tension. The present article names most important political consequences of corruption: shift of ideas from public development to the security of power of oligarchy, decrease of trust to the state, decrease of image of the country at the international arena, increase of its economical and political isolation, decrease of political competition. The present article gives one of the resumes that the globalization process increases corruption. Together with globalization most important role is given to corporations and corporate corruption comes to the front raw.

Political institutions since 1820

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Foldvari, Peter; Buzasi, Katalin

2014-01-01

Political institutions determine the degree of freedom people enjoy and their capacity to influence their social and political environment. This chapter provides historical evidence on the evolution of political institutions drawing upon two major research projects: the PolityIV dataset and the

Online politics: a cross-national explanatory analysis of political websites

NARCIS (Netherlands)

van Noort, G.; Kruikemeier, S.; Aparaschivei, A.; Boomgaarden, H.; Vliegenthart, R.

2013-01-01

This study provides a systematic investigation of party and candidate websites in five European countries: Germany, Romania, Hungary, The Netherlands and Great Britain. It examines three features of online political communication that are presented on political websites (interactivity,

Extending RTA/Linux with fixed-priority scheduling with deferred preemption

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Bergsma, M.; Holenderski, M.J.; Bril, R.J.; Lukkien, J.J.; Petters, S.M.; Zijlstra, P.

2009-01-01

Fixed-Priority Scheduling with Deferred Preemption (FPDS) is a middle ground between Fixed-Priority Pre-emptive Scheduling and Fixed-Priority Non-preemptive Scheduling, and offers advantages with respect to context switch overhead and resource access control. In this paper we present our work on

Political regimes, political ideology, and self-rated health in Europe: A multilevel analysis

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Huijts, T.H.M.; Perkins, J.M.; Subramanian, S.V.

2010-01-01

Background Studies on political ideology and health have found associations between individual ideology and health as well as between ecological measures of political ideology and health. Individual ideology and aggregate measures such as political regimes, however, were never examined

Political regimes, political ideology, and self-rated health in Europe : a multilevel analysis

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Huijts, T.; Perkins, J.M; Subramanian, S.V.

2010-01-01

Background: Studies on political ideology and health have found associations between individual ideology and health as well as between ecological measures of political ideology and health. Individual ideology and aggregate measures such as political regimes, however, were never examined

Political ecology

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Strohm, H.

1979-01-01

Using facts and examples, this didactically structures textbook gives an insight into the extent and consequences of the damage to the environment, with the subjects - fundamentals of ecology; - population and food problems; - the energy problem; - economic growth; scarcity of resources, recycling; - ground, water, and air pollution, - city and traffic problems; - work protection and medical care; - political alternatives and 'soft technologies'. The analysis of the political and economic reasons is combined with social and technical alternatives from which demands to be made and measures to be taken can be derived for individuals, citizens' interest groups, political groups and trade unions. Teaching models intend to help teachers to work on specific problems of ecology. (orig.) [de

Politics of inclusion and empowerment

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Andersen, John; Siim, Birte

The book examines the political and academic debates about the interplay between political, civil and social citizenship in US and Europe......The book examines the political and academic debates about the interplay between political, civil and social citizenship in US and Europe...

European Union: Gender and politics

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Žunić Natalija

2014-01-01

Full Text Available Political representation is the central issue in contemporary debates on the level of democracy in political institutions and processes in the European Union. Underrepresentation of particular groups in political institutions, decision-making and policy-making processes is perceived as the problem of justice, legitimacy and effectiveness in democratic societies. In this paper, the author analyzes the gender aspects of democratic decision-making processes and political representation of women in the EU member states. The social, historical and political dimension of women's efforts to obtain and promote their civil status and political rights have been the framework for developing the principle of gender equality as one of the founding EU principles. In the past hundred years, one of the most significant trends in politics has been the expansion of formal political representation of women. Yet, even though it has been more than a hundered years since women won their political rights in the 19th and the 20th century (the right to vote and the right to be voted, gender differences in political rights are still a substantial part of debate. Today, women's political representation is still inadequate and their political capacity and power have not been exercised to a sufficient extent (or proportionally through their actual representation in parliament. In March 2012, the European Commisision published a report on gender equality in different areas of social life; the Eurobarometer survey shows that women are generally underrepresented in politics. In national parliaments, only one out of four MPs is a woman. In the European Parliament, three out of ten parliamentarians are women. The statistics shows a huge discrepancy among the EU Member States in terms of women's representation in parliament (44.7% in Sweden as contrasted to 13.3% in Romania. The prevailing view in many studies is that post-industrial democracies are deficient as they have failed

The politics of socioeconomic status: how socioeconomic status may influence political attitudes and engagement.

Science.gov (United States)

Brown-Iannuzzi, Jazmin L; Lundberg, Kristjen B; McKee, Stephanie

2017-12-01

Socioeconomic status is hypothesized to be one factor informing political attitudes and actions. Presumably, this relationship is rooted in economic self-interest, with individuals preferring policies that would benefit them financially. In addition, these economic policy preferences are assumed to translate into political action. However, the relationships between socioeconomic status and political attitudes and behavior, as well as the psychological mechanisms associated with those relationships, are not straightforward. Here, we briefly review the current state of knowledge on the relationships between socioeconomic status and political attitudes and behavior. Overall, the research suggests that while socioeconomic status informs political attitudes toward economic policies, these attitudes may not correlate with complementary political behavior. Copyright © 2017. Published by Elsevier Ltd.

Analyzing Political Television Advertisements.

Science.gov (United States)

Burson, George

1992-01-01

Presents a lesson plan to help students understand that political advertisements often mislead, lie, or appeal to emotion. Suggests that the lesson will enable students to examine political advertisements analytically. Includes a worksheet to be used by students to analyze individual political advertisements. (DK)

Political Education in School

Science.gov (United States)

Dag, Nilgun; Sozer, Mehmet Akif; Sel, Burcu

2015-01-01

Political education is a term with negative associations and triggering prejudiced approaches and discourses--maybe some paranoid thoughts--like "keep politics away from education!" in the minds of several people. This article deals with "political education" phenomenon almost never discussed and made subject to scientific…

What is Political Psychology?

Science.gov (United States)

Deutsch, Morton

1983-01-01

Political psychology is the study of the bidirectional interaction of political and psychological processes. This academic discipline was founded after the First World War by Harold D. Lasswell. The content of political psychology is discussed and illustrative studies of the field are briefly summarized. (CS)

The Politics of Purchasing: Ethical Consumerism, Civic Engagement, and Political Participation in the United States

OpenAIRE

Katz, Meredith Ann

2011-01-01

Although the United States is the worldâ s leading consumer nation, limited empirical research exists on the relationship between consumer choices and political participation. This study provides the first quantitative analysis of the demographic characteristics, motivations, and political activities of political and ethical consumers in the United States. Ethical consumers are broadly defined as socially responsible consumers including the subset of political consumers. Political consumers,...

Comprehensive framework for preventive maintenance priority of medical equipment.

Science.gov (United States)

Saleh, Neven; Balestra, Gabriella

2015-08-01

Throughout the medical equipment life cycle, preventive maintenance is considered one of the most important stages that should be managed properly. However, the need for better management and control by giving a reasonable prioritization for preventive maintenance becomes essential. The purpose of this study is to develop a comprehensive framework for preventive maintenance priority of medical equipment using Quality Function Deployment (QFD) and Fuzzy Logic (FL). The quality function deployment is proposed in order to identify the most important criteria that could impact preventive maintenance priority decision; meanwhile the role of the fuzzy logic is to generate a priority index of the list of equipment considering those criteria. The model validation was carried out on 140 pieces of medical equipment belonging to two hospitals. In application, we propose to classify the priority index into five classes. The results indicate that the strong correlation existence between risk-based criteria and preventive maintenance priority decision.

The badness of death and priorities in health.

Science.gov (United States)

Solberg, Carl Tollef; Gamlund, Espen

2016-04-14

The state of the world is one with scarce medical resources where longevity is not equally distributed. Given such facts, setting priorities in health entails making difficult yet unavoidable decisions about which lives to save. The business of saving lives works on the assumption that longevity is valuable and that an early death is worse than a late death. There is a vast literature on health priorities and badness of death, separately. Surprisingly, there has been little cross-fertilisation between the academic fields of priority setting and badness of death. Our aim is to connect philosophical discussions on the badness of death to contemporary debates in health priorities. Two questions regarding death are especially relevant to health priorities. The first question is why death is bad. Death is clearly bad for others, such as family, friends and society. Many philosophers also argue that death can be bad for those who die. This distinction is important for health priorities, because it concerns our fundamental reasons for saving lives. The second question is, 'When is the worst time to die?' A premature death is commonly considered worse than a late death. Thus, the number of good life years lost seems to matter to the badness of death. Concerning young individuals, some think the death of infants is worse than the death of adolescents, while others have contrary intuitions. Our claim is that to prioritise between age groups, we must consider the question of when it is worst to die. Deprivationism provides a more plausible approach to health priorities than Epicureanism. If Deprivationism is accepted, we will have a firmer basis for claiming that individuals, in addition to having a health loss caused by morbidity, will have a loss of good life years due to mortality. Additionally, Deprivationism highlights the importance of age and values for health priorities. Regarding age, both variants of Deprivationism imply that stillbirths are included in the Global

Near-optimal downlink precoding for two-tier priority-based wireless networks

KAUST Repository

Park, Kihong; Alouini, Mohamed-Slim

2015-01-01

In this paper, we study a two-tier priority-based wireless cellular network in which the primary base station (BS) has multiple antennas and the other terminals have a single antenna. We assume that we have two classes of users: high priority users and low priority users. We consider a rate maximization problem of the low priority users under signal-to-interference-plus-noise-ratio constraints on the high priority user to guarantee a certain quality-of-service for the high priority user. Since the interference due to the low priority users which communicate with each other via direct transmission may severely degrade the performance of the high priority user, we propose a BS-aided two-way relaying approach in which the BS helps relay the low priority users' signals instead of allowing them to communicate with each other via a direct path between them. In addition, an algorithm to find a near-optimal beamforming solution at the BS is proposed. The asymptotic results in the high power regime are derived to verify the average sum rate performance in the proposed scheme. Finally, based on some selected numerical results, we show that the proposed scheme outperforms the direct transmission scheme over a wide transmit power range.

Near-optimal downlink precoding for two-tier priority-based wireless networks

KAUST Repository

Park, Kihong

2015-02-01

In this paper, we study a two-tier priority-based wireless cellular network in which the primary base station (BS) has multiple antennas and the other terminals have a single antenna. We assume that we have two classes of users: high priority users and low priority users. We consider a rate maximization problem of the low priority users under signal-to-interference-plus-noise-ratio constraints on the high priority user to guarantee a certain quality-of-service for the high priority user. Since the interference due to the low priority users which communicate with each other via direct transmission may severely degrade the performance of the high priority user, we propose a BS-aided two-way relaying approach in which the BS helps relay the low priority users\\' signals instead of allowing them to communicate with each other via a direct path between them. In addition, an algorithm to find a near-optimal beamforming solution at the BS is proposed. The asymptotic results in the high power regime are derived to verify the average sum rate performance in the proposed scheme. Finally, based on some selected numerical results, we show that the proposed scheme outperforms the direct transmission scheme over a wide transmit power range.

Hypertension management research priorities from patients, caregivers, and healthcare providers: A report from the Hypertension Canada Priority Setting Partnership Group.

Science.gov (United States)

Khan, Nadia; Bacon, Simon L; Khan, Samia; Perlmutter, Sara; Gerlinsky, Carline; Dermer, Mark; Johnson, Lonni; Alves, Finderson; McLean, Donna; Laupacis, Andreas; Pui, Mandy; Berg, Angelique; Flowitt, Felicia

2017-11-01

Patient- and stakeholder-oriented research is vital to improving the relevance of research. The authors aimed to identify the 10 most important research priorities of patients, caregivers, and healthcare providers (family physicians, nurses, nurse practitioners, pharmacists, and dietitians) for hypertension management. Using the James Lind Alliance approach, a national web-based survey asked patients, caregivers, and care providers to submit their unanswered questions on hypertension management. Questions already answered from randomized controlled trial evidence were removed. A priority setting process of patient, caregiver, and healthcare providers then ranked the final top 10 research priorities in an in-person meeting. There were 386 respondents who submitted 598 questions after exclusions. Of the respondents, 78% were patients or caregivers, 29% lived in rural areas, 78% were aged 50 to 80 years, and 75% were women. The 598 questions were distilled to 42 unique questions and from this list, the top 10 research questions prioritized included determining the combinations of healthy lifestyle modifications to reduce the need for antihypertensive medications, stress management interventions, evaluating treatment strategies based on out-of-office blood pressure compared with conventional (office) blood pressure, education tools and technologies to improve patient motivation and health behavior change, management strategies for ethnic groups, evaluating natural and alternative treatments, and the optimal role of different healthcare providers and caregivers in supporting patients with hypertension. These priorities can be used to guide clinicians, researchers, and funding bodies on areas that are a high priority for hypertension management research for patients, caregivers, and healthcare providers. This also highlights priority areas for improved knowledge translation and delivering patient-centered care. ©2017 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

The political economy of emissions trading; L'economie politique des marches de permis d'emissions negociables

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Hanoteau, J

2004-06-15

This thesis is a positive analysis of emissions trading systems' implementation. We explain why allowances are generally granted for free even though normative economic analysis recommends their sale. We show empirically that free tradable permits, source of windfall profit, motivate rent seeking behaviours. The study focuses on the US market for SO{sub 2} emissions allowances. The initial allocation rule resulted from parliamentary discussions that looked like a zero sum game. We formalize it as an endogenous sharing rule, function of lobbying effort, and we test it using political (money) contributions.We analyse theoretically the behaviour of an influenced regulator that has chosen to organize a market for permits and that must still decide on two policy variables: the whole quantity of permits and the way to allocate them initially. We formalize this decisions making process with the common agency model of politics.We show that the choice of an initial allocation rule is not neutral in presence of political market failures (lobbying). The decision to sell the permits or to grant them for free modifies the shareholders' incentive, in a polluting industry, to pressure for or against the reduction of legal emissions.Then, we analyse the public arbitration between the two policy variables when several industrial lobbies play a partially cooperative game for the free permits. The regulator chooses in priority to grant the rights for free rather than to manipulate their quantity, and this constitutes an efficient answer to the political influence. (author)

A unifying property for distribution-sensitive priority queues

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Elmasry, Amr Ahmed Abd Elmoneim; Farzan, Arash; Iacono, John

2011-01-01

, before) the last access of x and are still in the priority queue at the time when the corresponding operation is performed. Our priority queue then has both the working-set and the queueish properties; and, more strongly, it satisfies these properties in the worst-case sense. We also argue...... that these bounds are the best possible with respect to the considered measures. Moreover, we modify our priority queue to satisfy a new unifying property - the time-finger property - which encapsulates both the working-set and the queueish properties. In addition, we prove that the working-set bound......We present a priority queue that supports the operations: insert in worst-case constant time, and delete, delete-min, find-min and decrease-key on an element x in worst-case O(lg(min{wx, qx} + 2)) time, where wx (respectively, qx) is the number of elements that were accessed after (respectively...

Setting priorities in health care organizations: criteria, processes, and parameters of success.

Science.gov (United States)

Gibson, Jennifer L; Martin, Douglas K; Singer, Peter A

2004-09-08

Hospitals and regional health authorities must set priorities in the face of resource constraints. Decision-makers seek practical ways to set priorities fairly in strategic planning, but find limited guidance from the literature. Very little has been reported from the perspective of Board members and senior managers about what criteria, processes and parameters of success they would use to set priorities fairly. We facilitated workshops for board members and senior leadership at three health care organizations to assist them in developing a strategy for fair priority setting. Workshop participants identified 8 priority setting criteria, 10 key priority setting process elements, and 6 parameters of success that they would use to set priorities in their organizations. Decision-makers in other organizations can draw lessons from these findings to enhance the fairness of their priority setting decision-making. Lessons learned in three workshops fill an important gap in the literature about what criteria, processes, and parameters of success Board members and senior managers would use to set priorities fairly.

Research priorities in medical education: A national study

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Mina Tootoonchi

2012-01-01

Full Text Available Background: One preliminary step to strengthen medical education research would be determining the research prior-ities. The aim of this study was to determine the research priorities of medical education in Iran in 2007-2008. Methods: This descriptive study was carried out in two phases. Phase one was performed in 3 stages and used Delphi technique among academic staffs of Isfahan University of Medical Sciences. The three stages included a brainstorming workshop for 140 faculty members and educational experts resulting in a list of research priorities, then, in the second and third stages 99 and 76 questionnaires were distributed among faculty members. In the second phase, the final ques-tionnaires were mailed to educational research center managers of universities type I, II and III, and were distributed among 311 academic members and educational experts to rate the items on a numerical scale ranging from 1 to 10. Results: The most important research priorities included faculty members′ development methods, faculty members′ motives, satisfaction and welfare, criteria and procedures of faculty members′ promotion, teaching methods and learning techniques, job descriptions and professional skills of graduates, quality management in education, second language, clinical education, science production in medicine, faculty evaluation and information technology. Conclusions: This study shows the medial education research priorities in national level and in different types of medical universities in Iran. It is recommended that faculty members and research administrators consider the needs and requirements of education and plan the researches in education according to these priorities.

[The decline in the population growth rate--a priority issue in international politics].

Science.gov (United States)

Rhein, E

1994-08-25

The Third International UN Conference on Population and Development took place in Cairo in early September 1994 with the participation of 200 governments and 1000 nongovernmental organizations to discuss ways of stabilizing world population at the possible lowest level and how industrialized countries could contribute to this effort. As a consequence of the advances in reproductive medicine the use of contraceptives skyrocketed: in 1994 more than half of men and women were using contraception compared to only 5% in 1950. However, the demographic momentum would still increase world population for another 100 years, even if fertility would drop to 2.2 children per couple (compared to 4 children in 1990). Nevertheless, the present generation could be instrumental in deciding whether the world's population will remain around 8 billion or reach 12 billion between 2050 and 2150. Poor countries can no longer afford an annual growth rate of 2-4% while also trying to improve living standards; this would require an economic growth rate of 6-8%. For the control of population growth both a sustainable environmental policy in the North, with rapid transition to renewable energy and recycling, and a more effective population policy in the South are needed. Family planning (FP) is the precondition of stabilization. The global FP outlays are envisioned to double from the 1994 figure of $5 billion to over $10 billion in the year 2000, with donor contributions to increase from 20% to 40% of the total. The US contribution is to double from $500 million by 2000, while the European Commission decided to boost expenditures for FP from DM 30 million in 1994 to DM 600 million by 2000. Japan is also expending $3 billion during this period. Recent promising developments have emerged: national pronatalist policies have diminished sharply and the pronatalist influence of religions has also declined. Political commitment at the highest level is central to a successful population policy as

Political frictions and public policy outcomes

OpenAIRE

Grechyna, Daryna

2016-01-01

We study the role of political frictions in public policy outcomes. We propose a simple model of fiscal policy that combines a lack of commitment by the government, political turnover, and another political friction that can be interpreted either as political polarization or as public rent-seeking. We show that political turnover increases public debt levels, while political polarization or public rent-seeking leads to higher public spending. We evaluate the importance of different political ...

Transparency, political polarization, and political budget cycles in OECD countries

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Alt, James E.; Lassen, David Dreyer

2006-01-01

We investigate the effects of fiscal transparency and political polarization on the prevalence of electoral cycles in fiscal balance. While some recent political economy literature on electoral cycles identifies such cycles mainly in weak and recent democracies, in contrast we show, conditioning ...

Priority Setting, Cost-Effectiveness, and the Affordable Care Act.

Science.gov (United States)

Persad, Govind

2015-01-01

The Affordable Care Act (ACA) may be the most important health law statute in American history, yet much of the most prominent legal scholarship examining it has focused on the merits of the court challenges it has faced rather than delving into the details of its priority-setting provisions. In addition to providing an overview of the ACA's provisions concerning priority setting and their developing interpretations, this Article attempts to defend three substantive propositions. First, I argue that the ACA is neither uniformly hostile nor uniformly friendly to efforts to set priorities in ways that promote cost and quality. Second, I argue that the ACA does not take a single, unified approach to priority setting; rather, its guidance varies depending on the aspect of the healthcare system at issue (Patient Centered Outcomes Research Institute, Medicare, essential health benefits) and the factors being excluded from priority setting (age, disability, life expectancy). Third, I argue that cost-effectiveness can be achieved within the ACA's constraints, but that doing so will require adopting new approaches to cost-effectiveness and priority setting. By limiting the use of standard cost-effectiveness analysis, the ACA makes the need for workable rivals to cost-effectiveness analysis a pressing practical concern rather than a mere theoretical worry.

Differences between patients' and clinicians' research priorities from the Anaesthesia and Peri-operative Care Priority Setting Partnership.

Science.gov (United States)

Boney, O; Nathanson, M H; Grocott, M P W; Metcalf, L

2017-09-01

The James Lind Alliance Anaesthesia and Peri-operative Care Priority Setting Partnership was a recent collaborative venture bringing approximately 2000 patients, carers and clinicians together to agree priorities for future research into anaesthesia and critical care. This secondary analysis compares the research priorities of 303 service users, 1068 clinicians and 325 clinicians with experience as service users. All three groups prioritised research to improve patient safety. Service users prioritised research about improving patient experience, whereas clinicians prioritised research about clinical effectiveness. Clinicians who had experience as service users consistently prioritised research more like clinicians than like service users. Individual research questions about patient experience were more popular with patients and carers than with clinicians in all but one case. We conclude that patients, carers and clinicians prioritise research questions differently. All groups prioritise research into patient safety, but service users also favour research into patient experience, whereas clinicians favour research into clinical effectiveness. © 2017 The Association of Anaesthetists of Great Britain and Ireland.

Political Market Orientation and Strategic Party Postures in Danish Political Parties

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Ormrod, Robert P.; Henneberg, Stephan

2011-01-01

Purpose – This paper investigates the relationship between the strategic postures and political market orientation profile of two Danish parties. Profile stability at the organisational level is used as a control variable. Design/methodology/approach – The strategic political postures of two Danish...... parties are derived using a self-typing study. Based on configuration theory, ideal organisational profiles to implement these studies are juxtaposed with the actual political market orientation profile for each party, gained from two datasets analysed using Partial Least Squares. Member activity levels...... Ideologist. Thus, Party A exhibits a mismatch between strategic orientation and implemented organisational profile, based on configuration theory. The results were generally stable across political activity levels. Originality/value – The study contributes to understanding the concept of market orientation...

Spaces of Open-source Politics

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Husted, Emil; Plesner, Ursula

2017-01-01

. Inspired by the literature on organizational space, the analysis explores how different organizational spaces configure the party’s process of policy development, thereby adding to our understanding of the relationship between organizational space and political organization. We analyze three different....... Curiously, it seems that physical spaces open up the political process, while digital spaces close it down by fixing meaning. Accordingly, we argue that open-source politics should not be equated with online politics but may be highly dependent on physical spaces. Furthermore, digital spaces may provide......The recent proliferation of Web 2.0 applications and their role in contemporary political life have inspired the coining of the term ‘open-source politics’. This article analyzes how open-source politics is organized in the case of a radical political party in Denmark called The Alternative...