Nature of Blame in Patient Safety Incident Reports: Mixed Methods Analysis of a National Database.

Science.gov (United States)

Cooper, Jennifer; Edwards, Adrian; Williams, Huw; Sheikh, Aziz; Parry, Gareth; Hibbert, Peter; Butlin, Amy; Donaldson, Liam; Carson-Stevens, Andrew

2017-09-01

A culture of blame and fear of retribution are recognized barriers to reporting patient safety incidents. The extent of blame attribution in safety incident reports, which may reflect the underlying safety culture of health care systems, is unknown. This study set out to explore the nature of blame in family practice safety incident reports. We characterized a random sample of family practice patient safety incident reports from the England and Wales National Reporting and Learning System. Reports were analyzed according to prespecified classification systems to describe the incident type, contributory factors, outcomes, and severity of harm. We developed a taxonomy of blame attribution, and we then used descriptive statistical analyses to identify the proportions of blame types and to explore associations between incident characteristics and one type of blame. Health care professionals making family practice incident reports attributed blame to a person in 45% of cases (n = 975 of 2,148; 95% CI, 43%-47%). In 36% of cases, those who reported the incidents attributed fault to another person, whereas 2% of those reporting acknowledged personal responsibility. Blame was commonly associated with incidents where a complaint was anticipated. The high frequency of blame in these safety, incident reports may reflect a health care culture that leads to blame and retribution, rather than to identifying areas for learning and improvement, and a failure to appreciate the contribution of system factors in others' behavior. Successful improvement in patient safety through the analysis of incident reports is unlikely without achieving a blame-free culture. © 2017 Annals of Family Medicine, Inc.

A mock juror investigation of blame attribution in the punishment of hate crime perpetrators.

Science.gov (United States)

Cramer, Robert J; Clark, John W; Kehn, Andre; Burks, Alixandra C; Wechsler, Hayley J

2014-01-01

We examined blame attribution as a moderator of perceptions of hate crimes against gay, African American, and transgender victims. Participants were 510 Texas jury panel members. Results of vignette-based crime scenarios showed that victim blame displayed significant negative, and perpetrator blame significant positive, effects on sentencing recommendations. Also as hypothesized, victim and perpetrator blame moderated the effect of support for hate crime legislation. Interaction patterns suggested that both types of blame attribution influence sentencing recommendations, but only for participants disagreeing with hate crime legislation. Three-way interactions with victim type also emerged, indicating that the effects of both types of blame attribution show particular influences when the victim is gay, as opposed to transgender or African American. Implications for attribution theory, hate crime policy, and jury selection are discussed. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Understanding Gender Differences in Rape Victim Blaming: The Power of Social Influence and Just World Beliefs.

Science.gov (United States)

Pinciotti, Caitlin M; Orcutt, Holly K

2017-08-01

Victims of sexual violence are frequently blamed by friends, family, or legal personnel in the aftermath of an attack, with men attributing greater blame on average than women. Victims' experiences of being blamed may generate a vicious cycle in which they are more likely to be blamed in the future. Moreover, just world beliefs (JWB) have been studied extensively as an underlying cognitive mechanism that predicts greater blame. Studies examining the influence of social support on blame have yet to examine the unique role of JWB on these attributions. The current study examined blame attribution of a fictional rape victim who received either positive, negative, or neutral support from friends and family in a sample of 383 undergraduate men and women. Individually, social support and JWB were both significant predictors of blame, and women were more influenced by social support than men; specifically, gender was a more salient predictor of blame toward the positively supported victim, suggesting that positive support received by friends and family may evoke a domino effect of support from other women. Conditional effects revealed that JWB were most influential on blame when responding to the positively supported victim. Implications and suggestions for future research are discussed.

Is Self-Blame Really Functional for the Spinal Cord Injured?

Science.gov (United States)

Sholomskas, Diane; Steil, Janice M.

Bulman and Wortman's (1977) study of severe accident victims showed that victims who blamed themselves as the cause of the accident were more likely to receive higher coping ratings from a nurse or social worker, while victims who blamed others for the accident or who saw the accident as avoidable were more likely to be rated as having coped…

Rise of the Political Right in India: Hindutva-Development Mix, Modi Myth, and Dualities

OpenAIRE

Kaul, N.

2017-01-01

We are witnessing a global phenomenon of the rise of right-wing leaders who combine nationalist rhetoric with a claim to challenge the pernicious effects of neoliberalism. But, upon achieving power, they do not oppose the business elite, instead, while paying lip service to the victims of economic processes, they direct the blame for those structural problems upon the minorities and ‘Others’ within the rightwing nationalist imagination. In the Indian context, this is typified by the rise of N...

Pierre Bourdieu and transformative agency: a study of how patients in Benin negotiate blame and accountability in the context of severe obstetric events.

Science.gov (United States)

Béhague, Dominique P; Kanhonou, Lydie G; Filippi, Véronique; Lègonou, Solange; Ronsmans, Carine

2008-05-01

This paper explores the social and institutional processes that constrain and enable obstetric patients in Benin to critically evaluate quality of healthcare and to stimulate positive changes in the health system. Based on qualitative data collected as part of a hospital auditing system, the paper analyses semi-structured patient feedback interviews and their function as a primary mechanism through which critical patient evaluation can develop constructively. Using a Bourdieuan framework, we explore the dynamic social conditions that give rise to transformative agency and institutional change. Our results show that hospitals are often permeated with the habitus of employment, kinship and reproductive social fields, through which a number of social, economic and healthcare conflicts, power struggles and blame-inducing interactions emerge. These conflicts generally serve to keep patients quiescent and passive when it comes to developing critical statements of quality of care. In a subset of cases, however, these conflicts are transformed by patients and their family members into opportunities for modifying the values and practices of each habitus in new and creative ways. The active negotiation of social conflict and blame enabled a minority of patients actively to divert blame from themselves and to develop and maintain critical healthcare evaluations.

To Blame or to Forgive? Reconciling Punishment and Forgiveness in Criminal Justice.

Science.gov (United States)

Lacey, Nicola; Pickard, Hanna

2015-12-01

What do you do when faced with wrongdoing-do you blame or do you forgive? Especially when confronted with offences that lie on the more severe end of the spectrum and cause terrible psychological or physical trauma or death, nothing can feel more natural than blame. Indeed, in the UK and the USA, increasingly vehement and righteous public expressions of blame and calls for vengeance have become commonplace; correspondingly, contemporary penal philosophy has witnessed a resurgence of the retributive tradition, in the modern form usually known as the 'justice' model. On the other hand, people can and routinely do forgive others, even in cases of severe crime. Evolutionary psychologists argue that both vengeance and forgiveness are universal human adaptations that have evolved as alternative responses to exploitation, and, crucially, strategies for reducing risk of re-offending. We are naturally endowed with both capacities: to blame and retaliate, or to forgive and seek to repair relations. Which should we choose? Drawing on evolutionary psychology, we offer an account of forgiveness and argue that the choice to blame, and not to forgive, is inconsistent with the political values of a broadly liberal society and can be instrumentally counter-productive to reducing the risk of future re-offending. We then sketch the shape of penal philosophy and criminal justice policy and practice with forgiveness in place as a guiding ideal.

Plenty of Blame to Go Around: A Qualitative Approach to Attribution of Moral Responsibility

National Research Council Canada - National Science Library

Tomai, Emmett; Forbus, Ken

2007-01-01

We present a computational model of blame attribution. Recently Mao and Gratch, following Attribution theory, created a computational model that assigned blame to an agent for a negative occurrence...

Reducing exposure to trust-related risks to avoid self-blame.

Science.gov (United States)

Effron, Daniel A; Miller, Dale T

2011-02-01

Three studies demonstrated that anticipated self-blame elicits more conservative decisions about risks that require trust than about otherwise economically identical risks that do not. Participants were more reluctant to invest money in a company when it risked failure due to fraud versus low consumer demand (Study 1), and to risk points in an economic game when its outcome ostensibly depended on another participant versus chance (Studies 2 and 3). These effects were mediated by anticipated self-blame (Studies 1 and 2). Additionally, participants who actually experienced a loss felt more self-blame when the loss violated their trust and became even more conservative in subsequent risk decisions relative to participants whose loss did not violate their trust (Study 3). No support emerged for alternative explanations based on either the perceived probability of incurring a loss or an aversion to losses that profit others. The motivational power of trust violations is discussed.

Blaming Leaders for Organizational Accidents: Proxy Logic in Collective- versus Individual-Agency Cultures

Science.gov (United States)

Zemba, Yuriko; Young, Maia J.; Morris, Michael W.

2006-01-01

The current research investigates whether observers blame leaders for organizational accidents even when these managers are known to be causally uninvolved. Past research finds that the public blames managers for organizational harm if the managers are perceived to have personally played a causal role. The present research argues that East Asian…

Self-Blame and Commodification of Unemployed Young People

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Pultz, Sabina

Young people face the risk of unemployment in a labor market characterized by a drift towards precarious employment (Kalleberg, 2013). Building on poststructuralist theory this study documents how young unemployed people’s understanding of unemployment is affected by neoliberal discourses, also...... reflected in the technologies applied by the institutions in the employment area. As a result, responsibility for unemployment is increasingly placed on the individual and self-blame is promoted as the predominant explanation. This qualitative study consists of a combination of field observations made...... people experience their situation and position themselves in regards to this normative encouragement to blame themselves. Personal branding and networking are identified as strategies enforced by the employment system and can be viewed as technologies of the self encouraging young people to commodify...

Who can I Blame?

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Lippert-Rasmussen, Kasper

2013-01-01

that this practice is shaped by the view that, metaphorically speaking, a person with a beam in her own eye is in no position to complain about the mote in the eye of another. Such a complaint would involve a distinctive kind of incoherence (one that can also be found in relation to praise). This incoherence has...... received little attention from moral philosophers, but incoherent blame and praise may be inappropriate for two rather different reasons. First, they might involve the non-moral inappropriateness of incoherent applications of the standards appealed to. This form of inappropriateness can occur outside...

PISA and Global Educational Governance--A Critique of the Project, Its Uses and Implications

Science.gov (United States)

Sjøberg, Svein

2015-01-01

The PISA project has steadily increased its influence on the educational discourse and educational policies in the now 70 participating countries. The educational debate has become global, and the race to improve PISA-rankings has become high priority in many countries. For governments the PISA-test is a high-stake test. Governments are blamed for…

Rape myth attitudes in rural Kenya: toward the development of a culturally relevant attitude scale and "blame index".

Science.gov (United States)

Tavrow, Paula; Withers, Mellissa; Obbuyi, Albert; Omollo, Vidalyne; Wu, Elizabeth

2013-07-01

Rape myth attitudes (RMAs) can excuse men for rape, placing blame on female victims. This study identified and classified RMAs in rural western Kenya through 31 focus group discussions with youths and adults. We found that about half of the participants were likely to blame victims unconditionally. Stereotypes about rape victims and perpetrators were rife. Five of seven standardly used RMA categories emerged spontaneously in focus groups, along with a new category: "she owed him." Based on the data, we developed a "blame index" to assess the likelihood of community victim blaming in Kenya. To reduce victim blaming and bring about more prosecutions for rape, community education, teacher training, and reforms of rape laws are highly recommended.

Interventions Highlighting Hypocrisy Reduce Collective Blame of Muslims for Individual Acts of Violence and Assuage Anti-Muslim Hostility.

Science.gov (United States)

Bruneau, Emile; Kteily, Nour; Falk, Emily

2018-03-01

Collectively blaming groups for the actions of individuals can license vicarious retribution. Acts of terrorism by Muslim extremists against innocents, and the spikes in anti-Muslim hate crimes against innocent Muslims that follow, suggest that reciprocal bouts of collective blame can spark cycles of violence. How can this cycle be short-circuited? After establishing a link between collective blame of Muslims and anti-Muslim attitudes and behavior, we used an "interventions tournament" to identify a successful intervention (among many that failed). The "winning" intervention reduced collective blame of Muslims by highlighting hypocrisy in the ways individuals collectively blame Muslims-but not other groups (White Americans, Christians)-for individual group members' actions. After replicating the effect in an independent sample, we demonstrate that a novel interactive activity that isolates the psychological mechanism amplifies the effectiveness of the collective blame hypocrisy intervention and results in downstream reductions in anti-Muslim attitudes and anti-Muslim behavior.

From Freud to Feminism: Gendered Constructions of Blame Across Theories of Child Sexual Abuse.

Science.gov (United States)

Azzopardi, Corry; Alaggia, Ramona; Fallon, Barbara

2018-04-01

Most theories of child sexual abuse are, to some degree, gendered, with nonoffending mothers bearing the burden of blame, ideologically and legally, for the transgressions of predominantly male offenders. This article explores the social construction of blame for child sexual abuse via critical analyses of evolving theoretical perspectives on maternal culpability for the inception and maintenance of abuse dynamics. Drawing on selected conceptual and research knowledge that supports and refutes anecdotal claims, this synthesis of the literature culminates in the proposal of an evidence-informed, feminist-grounded, multitheoretical child sexual abuse framework that disrupts dominant mother-blaming discourse and guides socially just and ethically responsive policy, practice, and research.

State strategies of governance in biomedical innovation: aligning conceptual approaches for understanding 'Rising Powers' in the global context

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Faulkner Alex

2011-02-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background 'Innovation' has become a policy focus in its own right in many states as they compete to position themselves in the emerging knowledge economies. Innovation in biomedicine is a global enterprise in which 'Rising Power' states figure prominently, and which undoubtedly will re-shape health systems and health economies globally. Scientific and technological innovation processes and policies raise difficult issues in the domains of science/technology, civil society, and the economic and healthcare marketplace. The production of knowledge in these fields is complex, uncertain, inter-disciplinary and inter-institutional, and subject to a continuing political struggle for advantage. As part of this struggle, a wide variety of issues - regulation, intellectual property, ethics, scientific boundaries, healthcare market formation - are raised and policy agendas negotiated. Methods A range of social science disciplines and approaches have conceptualised such innovation processes. Against a background of concepts such as the competition state and the developmental state, and national innovation systems, we give an overview of a range of approaches that have potential for advancing understanding of governance of global life science and biomedical innovation, with special reference to the 'Rising Powers', in order to examine convergences and divergences between them. Conceptual approaches that we focus on include those drawn from political science/political economy, sociology of technology; Innovation Studies and Science & Technology Studies. The paper is part of a project supported by the UK ESRC's Rising Powers programme. Results We show convergences and complementarities between the approaches discussed, and argue that the role of the national state itself has become relatively neglected in much of the relevant theorising. Conclusions We conclude that an approach is required that enables innovation and governance to be seen as 'co

State strategies of governance in biomedical innovation: aligning conceptual approaches for understanding 'Rising Powers' in the global context

Science.gov (United States)

2011-01-01

Background 'Innovation' has become a policy focus in its own right in many states as they compete to position themselves in the emerging knowledge economies. Innovation in biomedicine is a global enterprise in which 'Rising Power' states figure prominently, and which undoubtedly will re-shape health systems and health economies globally. Scientific and technological innovation processes and policies raise difficult issues in the domains of science/technology, civil society, and the economic and healthcare marketplace. The production of knowledge in these fields is complex, uncertain, inter-disciplinary and inter-institutional, and subject to a continuing political struggle for advantage. As part of this struggle, a wide variety of issues - regulation, intellectual property, ethics, scientific boundaries, healthcare market formation - are raised and policy agendas negotiated. Methods A range of social science disciplines and approaches have conceptualised such innovation processes. Against a background of concepts such as the competition state and the developmental state, and national innovation systems, we give an overview of a range of approaches that have potential for advancing understanding of governance of global life science and biomedical innovation, with special reference to the 'Rising Powers', in order to examine convergences and divergences between them. Conceptual approaches that we focus on include those drawn from political science/political economy, sociology of technology; Innovation Studies and Science & Technology Studies. The paper is part of a project supported by the UK ESRC's Rising Powers programme. Results We show convergences and complementarities between the approaches discussed, and argue that the role of the national state itself has become relatively neglected in much of the relevant theorising. Conclusions We conclude that an approach is required that enables innovation and governance to be seen as 'co-producing' each other in a multi

Sudden Death in Young People--Heart Problems Often Blamed

Science.gov (United States)

Sudden death in young people: Heart problems often blamed Sudden death in young people is rare, but those at ... causes and treatments. By Mayo Clinic Staff Sudden death in people younger than 35, often due to ...

Sexual revictimization during women's first year of college: self-blame and sexual refusal assertiveness as possible mechanisms.

Science.gov (United States)

Katz, Jennifer; May, Pamela; Sörensen, Silvia; DelTosta, Jill

2010-11-01

Although sexual victimization during adolescence increases risk for later revictimization, mechanisms for increased risk among new college students have not been identified. Female undergraduates (N = 87) were assessed at the start and end of their first academic year. Those who reported initial sexual victimization at Time 1 were more likely than other women to report later college victimization at Time 2. Path analyses showed that self-blame and decreased sexual refusal assertiveness (SRA) explained this effect. Specifically, initial victimization was associated with increased self-blame; in turn, self-blame indirectly predicted later college victimization via decreased sexual refusal assertiveness. Prevention efforts focused on self-blame and other barriers to SRA may reduce risk for revictimization during women's transition to college.

Country of residence, gender equality and victim blaming attitudes about partner violence: a multilevel analysis in EU.

Science.gov (United States)

Ivert, Anna-Karin; Merlo, Juan; Gracia, Enrique

2017-09-27

Intimate partner violence against women (IPVAW) is a global and preventable public health problem. Public attitudes, such as victim-blaming, are important for our understanding of differences in the occurrence of IPVAW, as they contribute to its justification. In this paper, we focus on victim-blaming attitudes regarding IPVAW within the EU and we apply multilevel analyses to identify contextual determinants of victim-blaming attitudes. We investigate both the general contextual effect of the country and the specific association between country level of gender equality and individual victim-blaming attitudes, as well as to what extend a possible general contextual effect was explained by county level gender equality. We analyzed data from 26 800 respondents from 27 member states of the European Union who responded to a survey on public perceptions of domestic violence. We applied multilevel logistic regression analysis and measures of variance (intra-class correlation (ICC)) were calculated, as well as the discriminatory accuracy by calculating the area under the receiver operator characteristic curve. Over and above individual characteristics, about 15% of the individual variance in the propensity for having victim-blaming attitudes was found at the country level, and country level of gender equality did not affect the general contextual effect (i.e. ICC) of the country on individual victim-blaming attitudes. The present study shows that there are important between-country differences in victim-blaming attitudes that cannot be explained by differences in individual-level demographics or in gender equality at the country level. More research on attitudes towards IPVAW is needed. © The Author 2017. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the European Public Health Association. All rights reserved.

Disruptive Behaviors and Maternal Responsibility: A Complex Portrait of Stigma, Self-Blame, and Other Reactions

Science.gov (United States)

Fernandez, Maria C.; Arcia, Emily

2004-01-01

Feelings of stigma and self-blame were studied among 62 Cuban, Dominican, and Puerto Rican mothers of 4- to 10-year-old children with disruptive behaviors. Data were collected and analyzed both qualitatively and quantitatively. Results indicated that 42% blamed themselves for their children's behaviors, and 39% felt stigmatized by others.…

Family Stress: Dealing with Blame. Help for Farm Families in Crisis. [Student Text] and Leader's Guide and Lesson Plan.

Science.gov (United States)

Molgaard, Virginia

These two documents address the issue of dealing with blame for farm families in crisis. The first document, for the adult student, discusses how and why people blame each other, with emphasis on the current farm financial crisis. It is noted that blaming occurs primarily at the anger and depression stages of the loss cycle and that, when losing…

Rise and Fall of the First Financial Futures Market in China: The Case of Chinese Government Bond Futures

Institute of Scientific and Technical Information of China (English)

Chao Chen; Zhongguo Zhou

2009-01-01

This paper studies the rise and fall of the first financial futures market in China. We cmpare the characteristics in the Chinese Government bond futures market with those in the US T-bond futures market. They differ in market design and structure, market governance, margin requirements, position limits, delivery process, and the way in which the settlement price is calculated. Furthermore, with a unique dataset, we shaw that prior to maturities of govermnent bond futures, traders begun to accumulate significant amounts of long positions for several selected contracts without the intention to offset, forcing short position holders to either purchase deliverable bonds or offset futures at highly inflated prices, causing higher market volatility and price disequilibrium in both spot and futures markets. Arbitrage opportunity arises and the market eventually collapses. The lessons learned from the suspension of the Chinese Government bond futures market offer an invaluable learning experience.

Government Policy and the Banking Crisis: Vindicated, Misled or Flying Blind?

OpenAIRE

Tobin, Damian; TASC

2010-01-01

Almost three years after the onset of Ireland's banking criris public disenchantment continues to increase, aggravated in part by the government's failure to provide a transparent examination for the crisis and an endless stream of revelations on the increasing cost of stabilising the banking system. The government claimed that it acted on the "best available advice" and as a consequence has been able to pin the blame for the crisis on events beyond its control. This think piece argues that t...

Understanding self-Blame as a risk for unemployed young people

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Pultz, Sabina

and make sense of it and how they position themselves in regards to this normative demand to blame themselves. Personal branding and networking are identified as strategies enforced by the employment system and can be viewed as technologies of the self (Rose, 1996) encouraging young people to modulate......Young people face the risk of unemployment in a labor market characterized by a drift towards precarious employment (Kalleberg, 2013). Building on governmentality perspectives this study documents how understanding of unemployment is affected by neoliberal discourses reflected in the technologies...... applied by the institutions in the employment area. As a result, responsibility for unemployment is increasingly placed on the individual and self-blame is promoted as the predominant explanation, revitalizing attributional theory in a new way. This qualitative study consists of a combination of ten field...

The challenge of achieving interprofessional collaboration: should we blame Nightingale?

Science.gov (United States)

MacMillan, Kathleen M

2012-09-01

The goal of implementing true interprofessional collaboration within the health care system seems to be elusive. The historical role of medicine as primary clinical leader and decision maker is particularly entrenched in the Western health care system. Florence Nightingale, the acknowledged founder of modern, Western nursing, is often blamed for the subservient role of nursing and other female-dominated health and social care professions. Is it fair to lay the blame on Nightingale? This paper seeks to place Nightingale in context and to revisit her own words to explore the Victorian world in which she worked as a social reformer. It argues that Nightingale made pragmatic compromises to gain acceptance for the new profession of nursing; that these compromises had unanticipated consequences that persist - but are not unchangeable.

Re-racialization of Addiction and the Redistribution of Blame in the White Opioid Epidemic.

Science.gov (United States)

Mendoza, Sonia; Rivera, Allyssa Stephanie; Hansen, Helena Bjerring

2018-04-27

New York City has the largest number of opioid dependent people of U.S. cities, and within New York, Whites have the highest rate of prescription opioid and heroin overdose deaths. The rise of opioid abuse among Whites has resulted in popular narratives of victimization by prescribers, framing of addiction as a biological disease, and the promise of pharmaceutical treatments that differ from the criminalizing narratives that have historically described urban Latino and black narcotic use. Through an analysis of popular media press and interviews with opioid prescribers and community pharmacists in Staten Island-the epicenter of opioid overdose in New York City and the most suburban and white of its boroughs-we found that narratives of white opioid users disrupted notions of the addict as "other," producing alternative logics of blame that focus on prescribers and the encroachment of dealers from outside of white neighborhoods. © 2018 by the American Anthropological Association.

Ducking for cover in the 'blame game': news framing of the findings of two reports into the 2010-11 Queensland floods.

Science.gov (United States)

Ewart, Jacqui; McLean, Hamish

2015-01-01

After a disaster, the media typically focus on who is to blame. However, relatively little is known about how the narrative of blame plays out in media coverage of the release of official disaster reports. This paper examines coverage by two Australian newspapers (The Courier-Mail and The Australian) of the release of the Queensland Floods Commission of Inquiry's Interim Report and its Final Report to identify whether and how the news frame of blame was used. Given the absence of blame in the Final Report, the newspapers resorted to the frame of 'failure' in news and feature articles, while continuing to raise questions in editorials and opinion pieces about who was to blame. This study argues that situating coverage of the report within the news frame of failure and questioning who was to blame for the disaster limited the media's ability to facilitate a discussion about the prevention of similar disasters in the future. © 2014 The Author(s). Disasters © Overseas Development Institute, 2014.

Derogating obese individuals: The role of blame, contempt, and disgust

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Wirtz, C.; van der Pligt, J.; Doosje, B.

2015-01-01

Weight stigma is pervasive and has profound negative consequences for obese individuals. The attribution-emotion approach of stigmatization holds that blame attributions relate to derogation stigmatized groups indirectly through anger and pity. Other research suggests that disgust is related to

Attributions of blame to battered women when they are perceived as feminists or as "difficult to deal with".

Science.gov (United States)

Vidal-Fernández, Ana; Megías, Jesús L

2014-01-01

This study aimed to analyze the influence of victim-related and observer-related factors in victim blaming of battered women. Two hundred and forty six college students participated. They were asked to read a scenario describing a hypothetical case of physical violence perpetrated by a man against his partner. Depending on the experimental condition, the victim was described either as a feminist and/or as exhibiting difficulties in her relationship with others or not. A hierarchical regression analysis was performed with victim blaming as dependent variable. Participants' hostile sexism positively predicted victim blaming when the victim was described as a feminist and as a "difficult to deal with" woman (p feminist woman (p < .001). These results underscore the importance of victim-related and observer-related factors, and of their interaction, in blaming the victim of gender-based violence.

The relation between abuse and violent delinquency: the conversion of shame to blame in juvenile offenders.

Science.gov (United States)

Gold, Jason; Sullivan, Margaret Wolan; Lewis, Michael

2011-07-01

While the relationship between abusive parenting and violent delinquency has been well established, the cognitive and emotional processes by which this occurs remain relatively unidentified. The objective of this work is to apply a conceptual model linking abusive parenting to the conversion of shame into blaming others and therefore to violent delinquency. A retrospective study of 112 adolescents (90 male; 22 female; ages 12-19 years; M=15.6; SD=1.4) who were incarcerated in a juvenile detention facility pending criminal charges, completed measures of exposure to abusive and nonabusive discipline, expressed and converted shame, and violent delinquency. Findings tend to confirm the conceptual model. Subjects who converted shame (i.e., low expressed shame, high blaming others) tended to have more exposure to abusive parenting and showed more violent delinquent behavior than their peers who showed expressed shame. Subjects who showed expressed shame (i.e., high expressed shame, low blaming others) showed less violent delinquency than those who showed converted shame. Abusive parenting impacts delinquency directly and indirectly through the effects of shame that is converted. Abusive parenting leads to the conversion of shame to blaming others, which in turn leads to violent delinquent behavior. For juvenile offenders, the conversion of shame into blaming others appears to contribute to pathological outcomes in relation to trauma. Translation of this work into clinical practice is recommended. Copyright © 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Contributions of Child Sexual Abuse, Self-Blame, Posttraumatic Stress Symptoms, and Alcohol Use to Women's Risk for Forcible and Substance-Facilitated Sexual Assault.

Science.gov (United States)

Mokma, Taylor R; Eshelman, Lee R; Messman-Moore, Terri L

2016-01-01

Child sexual abuse and adult sexual assault have been linked to increased self-blame, posttraumatic stress symptoms, and alcohol use. The current study aims to examine (a) whether these constructs explain women's risk for later adult sexual assault and revictimization, (b) whether such factors differentially confer risk for specific types of adult sexual assault (i.e., substance-facilitated and forcible), and (c) if self-blame confers risk indirectly through other risk factors. Multiple types of self-blame, posttraumatic stress, and alcohol use were examined among 929 female college students as serial mediators of the relationship between child sexual abuse and adult sexual assault and as risk factors for sexual revictimization among child sexual abuse survivors. In the model predicting risk for substance-facilitated adult sexual assault, child sexual abuse indirectly predicted greater risk for substance-facilitated adult sexual assault mediated through two separate paths: global blame-to-posttraumatic-stress and global blame-to-alcohol use. In the model predicting risk for forcible adult sexual assault, child sexual abuse directly predicted greater risk for forcible adult sexual assault, and this relation was mediated by the global blame-to-posttraumatic-stress path. Among child sexual abuse survivors, child sexual abuse specific characterological and behavioral self-blame directly predicted greater risk for forcible and substance-facilitated revictimization, but the pathways were not mediated by posttraumatic stress or alcohol use. Results emphasize the importance of assessing different types of self-blame in predicting posttraumatic stress symptoms as well as examining risk for sexual victimization and revictimization. Findings did not support hypotheses that increased posttraumatic stress would predict increased alcohol use but did indicate that heightened self-blame is consistently associated with heightened posttraumatic stress and that heightened global self-blame

Experimentalist governance

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Sabel, C.F.; Zeitlin, J.; Levi-Faur, D.

2012-01-01

A secular rise in volatility and uncertainty is overwhelming the capacities of conventional hierarchical governance and ‘command-and-control’ regulation in many settings. One significant response is the emergence of a novel, ‘experimentalist’ form of governance that establishes deliberately

"You Blame Me, Therefore I Blame Me": The Importance of First Disclosure Partner Responses on Trauma-Related Cognitions and Distress.

Science.gov (United States)

Bonnan-White, Jess; Hetzel-Riggin, Melanie D; Diamond-Welch, Bridget K; Tollini, Craig

2018-04-01

Trauma recovery processes may be understood within a socioecological model. Individual factors (such as sex of the survivor) and microsystem factors (including trauma characteristics) have been studied extensively. However, there is a paucity of research examining the effects of macrosystem factors on the impact of trauma-especially examining how the response of the first person to whom the survivor disclosed affects trauma-related cognitions and distress. Sixty-three college student participants reported a history of disclosing at least one traumatic event in an online, anonymous survey. Participants also provided information on the first person they told about the trauma, the social reactions of that person, general social reactions to trauma disclosure, the participants' trauma-related cognitions and psychological distress (PTSD, other mental health issues), details about the traumatic event, and basic demographic information. Paired sample t tests showed that participants experienced the responses of the first person they told about their trauma as more favorable than the responses of the all of the people to whom they told about the event. Women and survivors of non-interpersonal trauma reported more supportive responses than men and survivors of interpersonal trauma. Hierarchical linear regressions showed that interpersonal trauma and victim blame on the part of the first person the survivor told were associated with more negative trauma-related cognitions. Interpersonal trauma, emotional support, and victim blame were associated with a greater degree of trauma-related distress. The results suggest that participants perceived the response of the first person they told as more beneficial than the response of the rest of their exosystem. However, the reactions of the first person the survivor told differed based on the sex of the survivor and the type of trauma they experienced. Consistent with previous research, interpersonal trauma and victim blame by the

The Underdevelopment of Nigeria: Who is to Blame - Failure of ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

The paper examines the underdevelopment of Nigeria: who is to blame: Failure of leadership or its' political economy. The paper highlights the features of underdevelopment in Nigeria. These range from, high rate of unemployment, inegalitarian distribution of income and wealth, high level of insecurity, increase level of ...

Attributions of Blame in a Hypothetical Child Sexual Abuse Case: Roles of Behavior Problems and Frequency of Abuse.

Science.gov (United States)

Theimer, Kate; Hansen, David J

2017-06-01

Youth who are blamed for their sexual abuse may experience increased negative outcomes, such as amplified self-blame. Similarly, blaming nonoffending parents can impede their ability to support their child following disclosure. Understanding the factors that influence how people perceive victim, caregiver, and perpetrator responsibility is imperative for the protection and treatment of families who have experienced sexual abuse. Little research has explored victim and abuse characteristics that influence the perception of sexual abuse. As such, the purpose of this study was to examine the roles of behavior problems and frequency of abuse in the attribution of blame in a hypothetical sexual abuse case. In addition, the relationship between several respondent characteristics and assignment of responsibility were explored as secondary aims. The study used a two (behavior problems: three suspensions in one school semester vs. no mention of behavior problems) by two (one abuse occurrence vs. five abuse occurrences) between-subjects design. Seven hundred forty-two participants read one of the four child sexual abuse (CSA) vignettes and completed measures related to responsibility. ANOVAs revealed those who read a vignette where the youth experienced multiple abuse incidents rated the victim as more responsible regardless of whether or not the youth was described as having behavior problems. Results indicate that respondents may have attributed more blame to the victim due to the belief that she could have done something to stop the abuse after the first incident. The abuse frequency manipulation when combined with the behavior manipulation appeared to relate to how respondents perceived the victim's parents. Males and younger respondents attributed more blame to the victim; however, sexual abuse or assault history did not associate with victim responsibility ratings. Clinical and research implications were discussed.

Stop Blaming the Victim: A Meta-Analysis on Rape Myths

Science.gov (United States)

Suarez, Eliana; Gadalla, Tahany M.

2010-01-01

Although male rape is being reported more often than before, the majority of rape victims continue to be women. Rape myths--false beliefs used mainly to shift the blame of rape from perpetrators to victims--are also prevalent in today's society and in many ways contribute toward the pervasiveness of rape. Despite this, there has been limited…

Government Disaster Response and Narrative Retrospection

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Rubin, Olivier

2017-01-01

that voters did not appear to immediately punish the Danish and Swedish governments for the Tsunami despite the severe impacts and the widespread public disapproval of the governments’ disaster responses. The concept of narrative retrospection shows how there was limited pressure to politicize the government’s...... disaster management efforts in Denmark, while the brunt of the political blame in Sweden occurred more than a year after the Tsunami.......This paper investigates the nexus between disaster response and voting behaviour through a comparative study of the electoral dynamics in the immediate aftermath of the 2004 Tsunami in Denmark and Sweden. The paper addresses three hypotheses of retrospection: (i) blind retrospection where voters...

Predicting psychological ripple effects: the role of cultural identity, in-group/out-group identification, and attributions of blame in crisis communication.

Science.gov (United States)

Anagondahalli, Deepa; Turner, Monique Mitchell

2012-04-01

Incidents of intentional food contamination can produce ripple effects in consumers such as reduced trust and increased anxiety. In their postcrisis communication, food companies often direct the blame at the perpetrator in an effort to mitigate potential losses and regain consumer trust. The attempt to placate consumers may, in itself, potentially create psychological ripple effects in message readers. This study examined the interacting influence of two message characteristics: identity of the perpetrator of the crime (in-group/out-group membership), and the attribution of blame (reason why the perpetrator committed the crime), with message receiver characteristic (cultural identity) on psychological ripple effects such as blame, trust, anxiety, and future purchase intention. Results indicated that although group membership of the perpetrator was not significant in predicting outcomes for the organization, the attribution communicated in the message was. American message receivers blamed the organization more and trusted it less when personal dispositional attributions were made about the perpetrator. Asian message receivers blamed the organization more and trusted it less when situational attributions were made about the perpetrator. Lowered trust in the company and increased anxiety correlated with lower purchase intent for both American and Asian message receivers. Implications for crisis message design are discussed. © 2011 Society for Risk Analysis.

A Longitudinal Rejection Sensitivity Model of Depression and Aggression: Unique Roles of Anxiety, Anger, Blame, Withdrawal and Retribution.

Science.gov (United States)

Zimmer-Gembeck, Melanie J; Nesdale, Drew; Webb, Haley J; Khatibi, Mhasa; Downey, Geraldine

2016-10-01

In this longitudinal study, attributional and social processes involved in symptoms of mental health problems (depressive symptoms and aggressive behavior) were identified by investigating anxious and angry rejection sensitivity (RS), causal attributions of self-blame and peer-blame, and responses to rejection threat of withdrawal and retribution. Young adolescents (N = 713, grades 5-7) completed questionnaires three times in their regular classrooms over 14 months. Participants who reported more self-blame for rejection were more likely to withdraw in response to rejection threat, and withdrawal and anxious RS were associated with increased depressive symptoms at T3 relative to T1. In contrast, adolescents higher in the angry form of RS and who reported more peer-blame for rejection were more likely to seek retribution, which in turn was associated with more overt/relational aggressive behavior at T3 relative to T1. Depressive symptom level measured at T1 also was associated with later RS and coping with withdrawal, and aggressive behavior at T1 was associated with later retribution. Sex of the participants did not moderate any longitudinal associations, and only one prospective path, from T1 depressive symptoms to T2 RS anxious, was moderated by age.

Leadership Style, Crisis Response and Blame Management: The case of Hurricane Katrina

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Boin, R.A.|info:eu-repo/dai/nl/161938876; t Hart, P.|info:eu-repo/dai/nl/072685387; McConnell, A.; Preston, T

2010-01-01

Crisis management research has largely ignored one of the most pressing challenges political leaders are confronted with in the wake of a large-scale extreme event: how to cope with what is commonly called the blame game. In this article, we provide a heuristic to help understand political leader

Why the Community Reinvestment Act cannot be blamed for the subprime crisis

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Aalbers, M.B.

2009-01-01

It has become common practice—and in particular, but not exclusively, in conservative media—to blame the Community Reinvestment Act (CRA) of 1977 for the U.S. subprime mortgage and foreclosure crisis that triggered the global financial crisis. It is argued that the CRA forced lenders to give

The Role of Self-Blaming Moral Emotions in Major Depression and Their Impact on Social-Economical Decision Making

OpenAIRE

Pulcu, Erdem; Zahn, Roland; Elliott, Rebecca

2013-01-01

People with major depressive disorder (MDD) are more prone to experiencing moral emotions related to self-blame, such as guilt and shame. DSM-IV-TR recognises excessive or inappropriate guilt as one of the core symptoms of current MDD, whereas excessive shame is not part of the criteria for MDD. However, previous studies specifically assessing shame suggested its involvement in MDD. In the first part of this review, we will consider literature discussing the role of self-blaming moral emotion...

Blaming the Baby Boomers does today’s young people no favours

OpenAIRE

Bristow, J.

2015-01-01

One of the nastiest narratives to have developed over the past decade is that of “boomer blaming”, where the alleged good fortunes of the generation born in the 20 years or so after World War II (definitions of the boomer generation vary, often according to what it is being blamed for) are presented as the cause of myriad social problems.

From the Consulting Room to the Court Room? Taking the Clinical Model of Responsibility Without Blame into the Legal Realm.

Science.gov (United States)

Lacey, Nicola; Pickard, Hanna

2013-03-01

Within contemporary penal philosophy, the view that punishment can only be justified if the offender is a moral agent who is responsible and hence blameworthy for their offence is one of the few areas on which a consensus prevails. In recent literature, this precept is associated with the retributive tradition, in the modern form of 'just deserts'. Turning its back on the rehabilitative ideal, this tradition forges a strong association between the justification of punishment, the attribution of responsible agency in relation to the offence, and the appropriateness of blame. By contrast, effective clinical treatment of disorders of agency employs a conceptual framework in which ideas of responsibility and blameworthiness are clearly separated from what we call 'affective blame': the range of hostile, negative attitudes and emotions that are typical human responses to criminal or immoral conduct. We argue that taking this clinical model of 'responsibility without blame' into the legal realm offers new possibilities. Theoretically, it allows for the reconciliation of the idea of 'just deserts' with a rehabilitative ideal in penal philosophy. Punishment can be reconceived as consequences-typically negative but occasionally not, so long as they are serious and appropriate to the crime and the context-imposed in response to, by reason of, and in proportion to responsibility and blameworthiness, but without the hard treatment and stigma typical of affective blame. Practically, it suggests how sentencing and punishment can better avoid affective blame and instead further rehabilitative and related ends, while yet serving the demands of justice.

"Blame" Concept in Phraseology: Cognitive-Semantic Aspect (Based on the French Language)

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Zalavina, Tatyana Y.; Kisel, Olesya V.

2016-01-01

Phraseology is one of the basic and most important objects of study in cognitive linguistics. The article deals with verbal fixed phrases in their correlation with the cognitive structure of knowledge--a concept. The used definitional analysis method to identify the basic notions of the conceptual content of the concept of blame and basic…

Global Governance, Educational Change

Science.gov (United States)

Mundy, Karen

2007-01-01

In the last half decade, a rising literature has focused on the idea that processes of economic, political and social globalization require analysis in terms of governance at the global level. It is argued in this article that emerging forms of global governance have produced significant challenges to conventional conceptions of international…

Psychological adjustment and victim-blaming among intimate partner violence offenders: The role of social support and stressful life events

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Sergio Murgui

2013-07-01

Full Text Available Intimate partner violence offenders often use victim-blaming attributions to explain their own violentbehavior. These attributions represent an important challenge for intervention programs for intimatepartnerviolence offenders. The main objectives of this study were to analyze both the influence of socialsupport and stressful life events on the psychological adjustment (self-esteem and depressivesymptomatology of intimate partner violence offenders and the relationship between offenders’psychological adjustment and their victim-blaming attributions. The sample consists of 314 men convictedof intimate partner violence who were referred to a community-based intervention program. Results froma structural equation model showed that social support and stressful life events were related topsychological adjustment. Psychological adjustment also was related to victim-blaming attributions amongintimate partner violence offenders. A better understanding of the relationships between psychologicaladjustment of intimate partner violence offenders and its determinants, as well as its impact on victimblamingattributions, may provide support to new intervention strategies. Implications of these results forimproving the effectiveness of intervention programs are discussed.

The role of self-blaming moral emotions in major depression and their impact on social-economical decision making

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Erdem ePulcu

2013-06-01

Full Text Available People with major depressive disorder (MDD are more prone to experiencing moral emotions related to self-blame, such as guilt and shame. DSM-IV-TR recognises excessive or inappropriate guilt as one of the core symptoms of current MDD, whereas excessive shame is not part of the criteria for MDD. However, previous studies specifically assessing shame suggested its involvement in MDD. In the first part of this review, we will consider literature discussing the role of self-blaming moral emotions in MDD. These self-blaming moral emotions have been purported to influence people when they make social and financial decisions in cognitive studies, particularly those using neuroeconomical paradigms. Such paradigms aim to predict social behaviour in activities of daily living, by using important resource tangibles (especially money in laboratory conditions. Previous literature suggests that guilt promotes altruistic behaviour via acting out reparative tendencies, whereas shame reduces altruism by means of increasing social and interpersonal distance. In the second part of this review, we will discuss the potential influence of self-blaming moral emotions on overt behaviour in MDD, reviewing clinical and experimental studies in social and financial decision-making, in which guilt and shame were manipulated. This is not a well-established area in the depression literature, however in this opinion paper we will argue that studies of moral emotions and their impact on behavioural decision-making are of potential importance in the clinical field, by linking specific symptoms of a disorder to a behavioural outcome which may lead to stratification of clinical diagnoses in the future.

The role of self-blaming moral emotions in major depression and their impact on social-economical decision making.

Science.gov (United States)

Pulcu, Erdem; Zahn, Roland; Elliott, Rebecca

2013-01-01

People with major depressive disorder (MDD) are more prone to experiencing moral emotions related to self-blame, such as guilt and shame. DSM-IV-TR recognizes excessive or inappropriate guilt as one of the core symptoms of current MDD, whereas excessive shame is not part of the criteria for MDD. However, previous studies specifically assessing shame suggested its involvement in MDD. In the first part of this review, we will consider literature discussing the role of self-blaming moral emotions in MDD. These self-blaming moral emotions have been purported to influence people when they make social and financial decisions in cognitive studies, particularly those using neuroeconomical paradigms. Such paradigms aim to predict social behavior in activities of daily living, by using important resource tangibles (especially money) in laboratory conditions. Previous literature suggests that guilt promotes altruistic behavior via acting out reparative tendencies, whereas shame reduces altruism by means of increasing social and interpersonal distance. In the second part of this review, we will discuss the potential influence of self-blaming moral emotions on overt behavior in MDD, reviewing clinical and experimental studies in social and financial decision-making, in which guilt, and shame were manipulated. This is not a well-established area in the depression literature, however in this opinion paper we will argue that studies of moral emotions and their impact on behavioral decision-making are of potential importance in the clinical field, by linking specific symptoms of a disorder to a behavioral outcome which may lead to stratification of clinical diagnoses in the future.

The Role of Self-Blaming Moral Emotions in Major Depression and Their Impact on Social-Economical Decision Making

Science.gov (United States)

Pulcu, Erdem; Zahn, Roland; Elliott, Rebecca

2013-01-01

People with major depressive disorder (MDD) are more prone to experiencing moral emotions related to self-blame, such as guilt and shame. DSM-IV-TR recognizes excessive or inappropriate guilt as one of the core symptoms of current MDD, whereas excessive shame is not part of the criteria for MDD. However, previous studies specifically assessing shame suggested its involvement in MDD. In the first part of this review, we will consider literature discussing the role of self-blaming moral emotions in MDD. These self-blaming moral emotions have been purported to influence people when they make social and financial decisions in cognitive studies, particularly those using neuroeconomical paradigms. Such paradigms aim to predict social behavior in activities of daily living, by using important resource tangibles (especially money) in laboratory conditions. Previous literature suggests that guilt promotes altruistic behavior via acting out reparative tendencies, whereas shame reduces altruism by means of increasing social and interpersonal distance. In the second part of this review, we will discuss the potential influence of self-blaming moral emotions on overt behavior in MDD, reviewing clinical and experimental studies in social and financial decision-making, in which guilt, and shame were manipulated. This is not a well-established area in the depression literature, however in this opinion paper we will argue that studies of moral emotions and their impact on behavioral decision-making are of potential importance in the clinical field, by linking specific symptoms of a disorder to a behavioral outcome which may lead to stratification of clinical diagnoses in the future. PMID:23750148

Attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder blame game: a study on the positioning of professionals, teachers and parents.

Science.gov (United States)

Frigerio, Alessandra; Montali, Lorenzo; Fine, Michelle

2013-11-01

Attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder is currently the most debated childhood psychiatric diagnosis. Given the circulation of competing perspectives about the 'real' causes of children's behaviour and the 'best' way to treat them, we aim to analyse the interactions of the central social actors' discourses about attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder children within the Italian context. Adopting a multi-method approach, we focus on the polyphonic chorus of voices surrounding the child, studying the discourses of mental health professionals, teachers and parents. These actors are representative of three contexts that are deeply engaged with attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder: medical institutions, schools and families. Our theoretical and methodological approach integrates positioning theory, the Bakhtinian notion of dialogical thinking and discourse analysis to study stakeholders' reflexive and interactive positioning in terms of the attribution of rights, duties, responsibilities and power issues. The results show that mutual blame is a constitutive element of relational dynamics among the key adults surrounding attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder children. We argue that these conflicting relationships are not merely related to the debate regarding the validity of the attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder diagnosis. Rather, the mutual blame centres on questions of compliance, recognition of authority and morality. Through the blame game, adults negotiate their own and others' subjectivity in ways that simultaneously (re)produce power relationships and resistance efforts.

The gendered embodiment of shame: Intersections of acquaintance rape, trauma and self-blame in Pompidou posse by Sarah Lotz

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Jessica Murray

2014-08-01

Full Text Available This article offers a feminist literary analysis of the gendered embodiment of shame in Pompidou posse by Sarah Lotz. In this novel, Lotz depicts female characters who are sexually assaulted by acquaintances and the resultant shame and trauma reside in their bodies. I will demonstrate that the embodied shame of these characters is distinctly gendered and that this shapes their attempts to cope with the aftermath of the sexual assaults. A close reading of the text reveals that the characters are exposed to overwhelming social messages of female culpability in a larger context that is rife with misogyny. As a result, they anticipate blame to such an extent that they blame themselves and internalise this blame as shame. By focusing on the bodies of the survivors, Lotz demonstrates the embodiment of shame, but she also suggests a corporeal challenge to silencing. The bodies of these characters speak loudly, albeit sometimes in the halting language of trauma, and they function to alert them to danger, to help them excavate memories that are made inaccessible and to testify to traumatic sexual assault.

Blaming Machismo: How the Social Imaginary is Failing Men with HIV in Santa Cruz, Bolivia.

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Heckert, Carina

2017-01-01

Drawing from an ethnography of HIV care in Santa Cruz, Bolivia, in this article I explore how the social imaginary surrounding gender relations shapes men's experiences of seeking care for and living with HIV. Popular understandings of gender relations, which draw heavily on the machismo concept, intersect with a global health master narrative that frames women as victims in the AIDS epidemic in a way that generates a strong sentiment of blaming machismo within local HIV/AIDS-related services. Statements such as, "it's because of machismo" are used to explain away epidemiological trends. Participant observation in the context of HIV care, coupled with illness narrative interviews, illuminate how blaming machismo shapes men's experiences of care and the ways that they feel excluded from various forms of support. Thus, the illness experiences of men with HIV problematize the machismo concept and how it is drawn upon in the context of care.

Who Is to Blame? Rape of Hindu-Muslim Women in Interethnic Violence in India

Science.gov (United States)

Murthi, Meera

2009-01-01

This research examined attitudes that predict rape blame in contexts of interethnic violence between minority Muslims and dominant Hindu communities in Mumbai, India. I hypothesized that, in contexts of interethnic violence, prejudicial attitudes toward communities and attitudes that view rape as a conflict tool (i.e., an effective strategy to…

Mothers in "incest families": a critique of blame and its destructive sequels.

Science.gov (United States)

Green, J

1996-09-01

This paper critically reviewed the blame-oriented explanations of mothers' roles in father-daughter incest, which was contrasted with feminist reassessments in a sociopolitical context. The concept of the dysfunctional family forms the matrix in which views of blaming the mother take life. The mother is characterized as the ¿cornerstone¿ of the family dynamics that create and maintain the incestuous behavior of the spouse. Several categories of maternal behavior were reported to set up conditions in the family for father-daughter incest, including the contention that the mother colludes in the abuse either by unconscious passivity or by active conscious involvement in arranging the act. In addition, the mother's alleged inadequacies in the areas of intimacy and sexuality are often viewed as central factors in the dynamics of father-daughter incest. Identified as additional victims in the complex matrix of family and community, mothers are revictimized by the clinical establishment that upholds the unconscious patriarchal ideology underlying violence against women. Clinicians need to validate and support mothers in their ¿disenfranchised grief¿ so they can help their daughters to heal, and to design and lobby for programs that will promote social changes that are necessary for a more egalitarian society.

Historical Cavern Floor Rise for All SPR Sites

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Moriarty, Dylan Michael [Sandia National Lab. (SNL-NM), Albuquerque, NM (United States)

2016-09-01

The Strategic Petroleum Reserve (SPR) contains the largest supply is the largest stockpile of government-owned emergency crude oil in the world. The oil is stored in multiple salt caverns spread over four sites in Louisiana and Texas. Cavern infrastructure near the bottom of the cavern can be damaged from vertical floor movement. This report presents a comprehensive history of floor movements in each cavern. Most of the cavern floor rise rates ranged from 0.5-3.5 ft/yr, however, there were several caverns with much higher rise rates. BH103, BM106, and BH105 had the three highest rise rates. Information from this report will be used to better predict future vertical floor movements and optimally place cavern infrastructure. The reasons for floor rise are not entirely understood and should be investigated.

Internalising discourses of parenting blame: Voices from the Field

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Cliona Barnes

2012-07-01

Full Text Available This paper investigates the intertwining of a discourse of parental blame with the legacy of institutionalised neglect and the current roll-back of state support and services in two of Ireland's most socially marginalised and economically disadvantaged communities. In the course of fieldwork conducted to explore narratives of community safety, the authors were struck by the continual, unprompted emergence of a divisive and enduring belief that community problems could be primarily traced to 'bad parents' and 'bad parenting'. This article argues/identifies that the internalisation of a powerfully evocative discourse of blame works to absolve the state of all responsibility for the conditions in which marginalised communities are forced to live; it legitimises current and future cutbacks by portraying such communities as irresponsible and as the creators of their own problems; it distorts and distracts discussion away from necessary and critical questioning of state accountability by promoting a reductive, individualised understanding of what are complex, collective responsibilities. The internalisation of discourses of culpability operates to the benefit of the state, where 'bad' parents are understood to be 'undeserving' citizens. Finally, we argue that the ability of the state to cut back social funding and to roll back on previous commitments depends, in a large part, on the willingness of the wider community to believe that responsibility for long term social and economic marginalisation and associated problems rests, not with the state, but with 'bad' and 'undeserving' citizens (Adair 2005; Edelman 1998; Lens 2002; Welsh and Parsons 2006. Promoting that willingness is achieved through continual media and public sphere portrayals of the poor, and particularly of working class parents, as dangerously and overly fertile (Tyler 2008; Wilson and Huntington 2005, as non-contributors to prosperity and as over contributors to decline (Skeggs 2005

The ‘Blame Game’: Discourse Analysis of Family Members’ and Therapist Negotiation of Problem Definition in Systemic Family Therapy

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Pinelopi Patrika

2016-03-01

Full Text Available The present article aims at shedding light to the complex ways in which blame and responsibility are negotiated, when family members and the therapist engage in problem definition talk in systemic family therapy. The article draws from a qualitative research study which was designed to explore problem talk in systemic family therapy by means of discourse analysis methodology. Nine videotaped initial systemic family therapy sessions in which four different therapists and six different families with a variety of reported difficulties were sampled. They were transcribed verbatim and subjected to micro-analysis by means of the Discursive Action Model. In the present article, we present the detailed analysis of one of the identified patterns of blame allocation, in which family members are shown to construct the identified patient’s deviation from normality as the cause of their difficulties while the therapist is shown to attempt to exonerate blame from the identified patient by means of positive connotation. We discuss the implications of our analysis for theory development and clinical practice in the field, in the context of a growing body of related research. We also hint to the potential of discourse analysis methodology for family therapy research.

Renewing governance.

Science.gov (United States)

Loos, Gregory P

2003-01-01

Globalization's profound influence on social and political institutions need not be negative. Critics of globalization have often referred to the "Impossible Trinity" because decision-making must 1. respect national sovereignty, 2. develop and implement firm regulation, and 3. allow capital markets to be as free as possible. To many, such goals are mutually exclusive because history conditions us to view policy-making and governance in traditional molds. Thus, transnational governance merely appears impossible because current forms of governance were not designed to provide it. The world needs new tools for governing, and its citizens must seize the opportunity to help develop them. The rise of a global society requires a greater level of generality and inclusion than is found in most policy bodies today. Politicians need to re-examine key assumptions about government. States must develop ways to discharge their regulatory responsibilities across borders and collaborate with neighboring jurisdictions, multilateral bodies, and business. Concepts such as multilateralism and tripartism show great promise. Governments must engage civil society in the spirit of shared responsibility and democratic decision-making. Such changes will result in a renewal of the state's purpose and better use of international resources and expertise in governance.

Who, or What, Is to Blame for the Accumulation of Debt in Ontario and Quebec (and What Will It Take to Stop the Bleeding?

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Ronald D. Kneebone

2014-07-01

Full Text Available What is the main reason for government debt accumulation in Canada? Is the main driver of debt the public policy choices made by governments, or are non-policy factors, like interest rates and the economic environment to blame? Answering this question is the first step for governments burdened by high levels of government debt to introduce policies aimed at getting that debt under control. The effort to curtail debts in the mid-1990s prompted research into the sources of debt accumulation. The goal of this research was to determine whether the cause of debt was a set of poor fiscal policy choices in the form of overly generous social programs and/or insufficient taxation, an overly tight monetary policy driving up interest costs on existing debt and slowing growth, or simply bad luck in the form of unavoidable world events. That research aspired to identify the sources of debt accumulation so those mistakes, once identified, might be avoided in the future. This paper looks at Ontario and Quebec; two provinces with high and growing debt to GDP ratios and representing the two largest provincial economies in Canada. Introducing an original data set describing the finances of these governments over the period 1980-81 to 2011-12 and a new approach for identifying the causes of debt accumulation, this paper finds that the causes are disproportionate policy based. Finally, this paper offers a way out of debt for these governments. The solutions demand difficult policy choices; choices that will require a significantly heavier burden be borne by the citizens and taxpayers of Ontario than those in Quebec.

Perceptions of adolescent bullying: attributions of blame and responsibility in cases of cyber-bullying.

Science.gov (United States)

Morrow, Allison; Downey, Christina A

2013-12-01

Cyber-bullying (where victims are targeted via online social networking or other electronic means) has gained increased attention in research and the broadcast media, but previous research has not investigated attribution of blame in such cyber-bullying events. This experiment hypothesized that participants would assign higher ratings of blame to bullying perpetrators when the bullying situations were depicted as having highly foreseeable outcomes (vs. unforeseeable outcomes), and as occurring in school (vs. online). In addition, a significant interaction was predicted between outcome foreseeability and bullying situation, with highly foreseeable in-school events being rated as the most predictable and attributable to the bully's actions. One-hundred sixty-three participants completed surveys containing demographic items, items regarding their past experiences of victimization, and one of four randomly-assigned vignettes detailing a bullying situation (which participants rated). While hypotheses regarding outcome foreseeability were supported, no cyber-bullying vs. in-school main effects (or corresponding interaction effects) were detected. Implications for future research and practice, as well as study limitations, are discussed. © 2013 The Scandinavian Psychological Associations.

Blaming the helpers: the marginalization of teachers and parents of the urban poor.

Science.gov (United States)

Farber, B A; Azar, S T

1999-10-01

The nature and origins of the current tendency toward disparaging parents and teachers of the urban poor are examined. It is suggested that the influence of parents and teachers must be understood in the context of multiple intervening variables. Several explanations are offered for the phenomenon of blame, including the fact that women constitute the great majority of teachers and are often the primary agents of parenting.

The Blame Index: Exploring the Change in Social Work Students' Perceptions of Poverty

Science.gov (United States)

Delavega, Elena; Kindle, Peter A.; Peterson, Susan; Schwartz, Charles

2017-01-01

This study reports the development of a new Blame Index to determine attributions of the causes of poverty along a single structural-to-individual dimension. A multisite pre-/post-group design tested the degree of change in social work students' (N = 177) perception of poverty as a result of taking a single BSW social policy course or an MSW…

Do Parents Blame or Doubt Their Child More when Sexually Abused by Adolescents versus Adults?

Science.gov (United States)

Walsh, Wendy A.; Cross, Theodore P.; Jones, Lisa M.

2012-01-01

Although the importance of parental support for child sexual abuse victims is well documented, the nature of parental support for victims sexually abused by adolescents is less understood. In this exploratory study, we examine whether parents differ in their levels of blame or doubt for their child when sexually abused by adolescents versus…

Increasing Resilience Through Engagement In Sea Level Rise Community Science Initiatives.

Science.gov (United States)

Chilton, L. A.; Rindge, H.

2017-12-01

Science literate and engaged members of the public, including students, are critical to building climate resilient communities. USC Sea Grant facilitates programs that work to build and strengthen these connections. The Urban Tides Community Science Initiative (Urban Tides) and the Youth Exploring Sea Level Rise Science Program (YESS) engage communities across the boundaries of public engagement, K-12 education, and informal education. YESS is an experiential sea level rise education program that combines classroom learning, field investigations and public presentations. Students explore sea level rise using a new curricula, collect their own data on sea level rise, develop communication products, and present their findings to city governments, researchers, and others. Urban Tides engages community members, informal education centers, K-12 students, and local government leaders in a citizen science program photo- documenting extreme high tides, erosion and coastal flooding in Southern California. Images provide critical information to help calibrate scientific models used to identify locations vulnerable to damage from future sea level rise. These tools and information enable community leaders and local governments to set priorities, guidelines, and update policies as they plan strategies that will help the region adapt. The program includes a mobile app for data collection, an open database to view photos, a lesson plan, and community beach walks. Urban Tides has led to an increase in data and data-gathering capacity for regional scientists, an increase in public participation in science, and an increase in ocean and climate literacy among initiative participants. Both of these programs bring informed and diverse voices into the discussion of how to adapt and build climate resilient communities. USC Sea Grant will share impacts and lessons learned from these two unique programs.

Argentina's chemical makers seek government support

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Salles, F.

1993-01-01

Argentina's chemical industry association, Camara de la Industria Quimica y Petroquimica (CIQYP; Buenos Aires), has started negotiations with the government aiming to stem industry-wide losses, which reached $236 million during the past 18 months. CIQYP blames the poor performance on worldwide over-supply and falling prices, which have curbed exports, and low tariffs, which have spurred imports. It is calling for higher import tariffs and export incentives. The talks will also focus on a possible bond issue that would support companies willing to restructure and modernize operations. The main factor hindering competitiveness is what CIQYP president Alejandro Achaval calls Argentinean cost, including high energy costs, high provincial and federal taxes, and high financing charges. Since 1988, the industry has cut prices by 30%, formed mergers and joint ventures, closed 11 plants and started five new ones, slashed the workforce by 27%, and engaged in the government's privatization program. Meanwhile, plans to privatize 64% of aromatics producer Petroquimica General Mosconi(PGM) were derailed when potential bidders Diamond Shamrock, Shell, and Perez Companc refused for the second time to make offers on February 2. Jorge Olazabal, planning secretary of the Ministry of Defense, says PGM will be put up for sale again by March

The Relation between Abuse and Violent Delinquency: The Conversion of Shame to Blame in Juvenile Offenders

Science.gov (United States)

Gold, Jason; Sullivan, Margaret Wolan; Lewis, Michael

2011-01-01

Objective: While the relationship between abusive parenting and violent delinquency has been well established, the cognitive and emotional processes by which this occurs remain relatively unidentified. The objective of this work is to apply a conceptual model linking abusive parenting to the conversion of shame into blaming others and therefore to…

Approaching Parental Guilt, Shame, and Blame in a Helping Relationship: Multiple Methods for Teaching and Learning

Science.gov (United States)

Bentley, Kia J.; Cohen-Filipic, Katherine; Cummings, Cory R.

2016-01-01

Social workers often feel ill-prepared to effectively engage parents in conversations about guilt, shame, and blame related to their children's mental health or substance use challenges. To address that problem, we suggest that specific content should be integrated into social work courses to teach students how to acknowledge and sensitively…

Rising public debt profile in Nigeria: risks and sustainablity issues ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

Rising public debt profile in Nigeria: risks and sustainablity issues. ... and state governments has echoed new concerns for policy stakeholders in Nigeria. ... the share of concessional loan in external debt stock and develop Public-Private ...

Rethinking Federalism for More Effective Governance

OpenAIRE

Alice M. Rivlin

2012-01-01

For common reasons the federal government and most state governments face rising structural deficits even as the economy recovers. An aging population requires retirement income and increasingly expensive health care, while a prosperous economy requires public investment in skills, technology, and infrastructure. However, stressed federal and state tax systems are increasingly inadequate. The author revisits proposals, made twenty years ago, for substantial changes in fiscal federalism design...

The blame game: cervical cancer, knowledge of its link to human papillomavirus and stigma.

Science.gov (United States)

Shepherd, Melissa A; Gerend, Mary A

2013-01-01

This two-study paper examined stigma toward women with cervical cancer. Cervical cancer is caused by human papillomavirus (HPV), a sexually transmitted infection (STI). For Study 1, participants (N = 352) were randomly assigned to one of four conditions in which they read a brief description of a patient with either cervical or ovarian cancer in which the cause of the patient's cancer was either specified (cervical: HPV, a STI vs. ovarian: family history) or unspecified. Participants in the cervical cancer/cause-specified condition rated the patient as more dirty, dishonest and unwise, and reported feeling more moral disgust and 'grossed out' than participants in the cervical cancer/cause-unspecified condition. For Study 2, participants (N = 126) were randomly assigned to read a vignette about a patient with cervical cancer in which the cause of cancer was either specified or unspecified. Consistent with Study 1, participants in the cause-specified condition rated the patient as more unwise, and reported feeling more moral disgust and 'grossed out' than participants in the cause-unspecified condition. These effects were mediated by attributions of blame toward the patient. Findings suggest that women with cervical cancer may be stigmatised and blame may play a role in this process.

Tobacco industry use of personal responsibility rhetoric in public relations and litigation: disguising freedom to blame as freedom of choice.

Science.gov (United States)

Friedman, Lissy C; Cheyne, Andrew; Givelber, Daniel; Gottlieb, Mark A; Daynard, Richard A

2015-02-01

We examined the tobacco industry's rhetoric to frame personal responsibility arguments. The industry rarely uses the phrase "personal responsibility" explicitly, but rather "freedom of choice." When freedom of choice is used in the context of litigation, the industry means that those who choose to smoke are solely to blame for their injuries. When used in the industry's public relations messages, it grounds its meaning in the concept of liberty and the right to smoke. The courtroom "blame rhetoric" has influenced the industry's larger public relations message to shift responsibility away from the tobacco companies and onto their customers. Understanding the rhetoric and framing that the industry employs is essential to combating this tactic, and we apply this comprehension to other industries that act as disease vectors.

Government for the People; On the Determinants of the Size of U.S. Government

OpenAIRE

Tamim Bayoumi; Fernando M. Gonçalves

2007-01-01

Trends in the size of U.S. government are examined. In the postwar period, general government primary spending rose by ¼ percent of GDP a year through 1975, stabilizing thereafter. With higher social transfers offset by a lower burden of defense spending, expansion reflected a baby-boom driven rise in education spending. The parallel improvement in tax efficiency helped equate the benefits of higher spending with the costs from higher taxation, in accordance with a marginalist view of the siz...

Why blame is a factor in recovery from whiplash injury.

Science.gov (United States)

Ferrari, R; Russell, A S

2001-03-01

The biopsychosocial model of chronic whiplash continues to evolve. An aspect of the medicolegal and social dilemma of whiplash that has been largely unresearched is the impression in clinical practice of how seldom drivers who caused the collision present with chronic whiplash symptoms. There are potential biological (injury threshold and mechanism), psychological, and social explanations for this observation, and these flow from the same biopsychosocial model that addresses the progression from acute to chronic pain. This article explores each of these factors as they relate to the disparate experiences of the driver at-fault ('blamed') for the collision, and the not-at-fault driver ('innocent victim'). Recent research lends further support to the hypothesis that a biopsychosocial model best explains this phenomenon. Copyright DUMMY.

Blame and guilt - a mixed methods study of obstetricians' and midwives' experiences and existential considerations after involvement in traumatic childbirth.

Science.gov (United States)

Schrøder, Katja; Jørgensen, Jan S; Lamont, Ronald F; Hvidt, Niels C

2016-07-01

When complications arise in the delivery room, midwives and obstetricians operate at the interface of life and death, and in rare cases the infant or the mother suffers severe and possibly fatal injuries related to the birth. This descriptive study investigated the numbers and proportions of obstetricians and midwives involved in such traumatic childbirth and explored their experiences with guilt, blame, shame and existential concerns. A mixed methods study comprising a national survey of Danish obstetricians and midwives and a qualitative interview study with selected survey participants. The response rate was 59% (1237/2098), of which 85% stated that they had been involved in a traumatic childbirth. We formed five categories during the comparative mixed methods analysis: the patient, clinical peers, official complaints, guilt, and existential considerations. Although blame from patients, peers or official authorities was feared (and sometimes experienced), the inner struggles with guilt and existential considerations were dominant. Feelings of guilt were reported by 36-49%, and 50% agreed that the traumatic childbirth had made them think more about the meaning of life. Sixty-five percent felt that they had become a better midwife or doctor due to the traumatic incident. The results of this large, exploratory study suggest that obstetricians and midwives struggle with issues of blame, guilt and existential concerns in the aftermath of a traumatic childbirth. © 2016 Nordic Federation of Societies of Obstetrics and Gynecology.

The team halo effect: why teams are not blamed for their failures.

Science.gov (United States)

Naquin, Charles E; Tynan, Renee O

2003-04-01

In this study, the existence of the team halo effect, the phenomenon that teams tend not to be blamed for their failures, is documented. With 2 studies using both real teams and controlled scenarios, the authors found evidence that the nature of the causal attribution processes used to diagnose failure scenarios leads to individuals being more likely to be identified as the cause of team failure than the team as a collective. Team schema development, as indexed by team experience, influences this effect, with individuals who have more team experience being less likely to show the team halo effect

Hospital reforms in France under a Socialist government.

Science.gov (United States)

De Pouvourville, G

1986-01-01

French health care faced the dual crises of rising costs and excess physicians. No government, whether left or right, could avoid focusing reform on the extensive public hospital system. Many differences introduced by the Socialists after 1981 were rhetorical and relational--matters of "democratization" of governance and "control" of physicians. Paradoxically, the two major structural reforms, "departmentalization" and "global budgeting," were extensions of actions begun under preceding governments. Neither has come to fruition yet.

Sexual preference, gender, and blame attributions in adolescent sexual assault.

Science.gov (United States)

Davies, Michelle; Austen, Kerry; Rogers, Paul

2011-01-01

The study investigated the impact of victim sexual orientation, perpetrator gender, and participant gender on judgements toward a 15-year-old male victim of a depicted sexual assault. One hundred and eight-eight participants (97 male, 91 female) read a hypothetical scenario depicting the sexual assault of a 15-year-old male victim where the victim's sexual orientation and the perpetrator's gender were varied between subjects. Participants then completed a questionnaire assessing their attributions toward both the victim and the perpetrator. Results revealed that male participants blamed the victim more than female participants when the victim was both gay and attacked by a male perpetrator. All participants, regardless of gender, made more positive judgements toward the female as opposed to male perpetrator. Results are discussed in relation to gender role stereotypes and homophobia.

Climate change governance

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Knieling, Joerg [HafenCity Univ. Hamburg (Germany). Urban Planning and Regional Development; Leal Filho, Walter (eds.) [HAW Hamburg (Germany). Research and Transfer Centre Applications of Life Science

2013-07-01

Climate change is a cause for concern both globally and locally. In order for it to be tackled holistically, its governance is an important topic needing scientific and practical consideration. Climate change governance is an emerging area, and one which is closely related to state and public administrative systems and the behaviour of private actors, including the business sector, as well as the civil society and non-governmental organisations. Questions of climate change governance deal both with mitigation and adaptation whilst at the same time trying to devise effective ways of managing the consequences of these measures across the different sectors. Many books have been produced on general matters related to climate change, such as climate modelling, temperature variations, sea level rise, but, to date, very few publications have addressed the political, economic and social elements of climate change and their links with governance. This book will address this gap. Furthermore, a particular feature of this book is that it not only presents different perspectives on climate change governance, but it also introduces theoretical approaches and brings these together with practical examples which show how main principles may be implemented in practice.

Shame and guilt/self-blame as predictors of expressed emotion in family members of patients with schizophrenia

Science.gov (United States)

Wasserman, Stephanie; Weisman de Mamani, Amy; Suro, Giulia

2012-01-01

Expressed emotion (EE) is a measure of the family environment reflecting the amount of criticism and emotional over-involvement expressed by a key relative towards a family member with a disorder or impairment. Patients from high EE homes have a poorer illness prognosis than do patients from low EE homes. Despite EE's well-established predictive validity, questions remain regarding why some family members express high levels of EE attitudes while others do not. Based on indirect evidence from previous research, the current study tested whether shame and guilt/self-blame about having a relative with schizophrenia serve as predictors of EE. A sample of 72 family members of patients with schizophrenia completed the Five Minute Speech Sample to measure EE, along with questionnaires assessing self-directed emotions. In line with the hypotheses, higher levels of both shame and guilt/self-blame about having a relative with schizophrenia predicted high EE. Results of the current study elucidate the EE construct and have implications for working with families of patients with schizophrenia. PMID:22357355

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

Science.gov (United States)

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

2018-02-01

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

Donatella della Porta, Social Movements in Times of Austerity: Bringing Capitalism Back into Protest Analysis, Cambridge: Polity Press, 2015, 248 pages, ISBN-13: 9780745688589 (hbk

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Marius Ioan TĂTAR

2016-11-01

Full Text Available The global economic crisis had major social and political impact on European societies. The political consequences of the crisis mainly stem from rising unemployment, the freezing or cuts of public sector pay, declining purchasing power, pessimism about future developments and perceptions of bad governance. In this context, a new wave of protest has spread across Europe as a reaction to the austerity measures adopted during the economic crisis. Governments’ inability to deal with the crisis has generated in many places anxiety, which then turned into popular anger. People who have been hard hit by the crisis placed most of the blame with incumbent governments and condemned the corruption and lack of political responsibility of the political class in general.

Sovereign Wealth Funds – the New Challenge for Corporate Governance

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Dariusz Urban

2010-10-01

Full Text Available The article discusses Sovereign Wealth Funds with reference do the process of corporate governance. In the first part the paper presents the rise, growth and current investment activity of those funds. In the second section the author consider reasons for implementation of corporate governance best practices. The last part of the paper compares Santiago Principles with OECD principles of corporate governance.

From the Consulting Room to the Court Room? Taking the Clinical Model of Responsibility Without Blame into the Legal Realm

Science.gov (United States)

Lacey, Nicola; Pickard, Hanna

2013-01-01

Within contemporary penal philosophy, the view that punishment can only be justified if the offender is a moral agent who is responsible and hence blameworthy for their offence is one of the few areas on which a consensus prevails. In recent literature, this precept is associated with the retributive tradition, in the modern form of ‘just deserts’. Turning its back on the rehabilitative ideal, this tradition forges a strong association between the justification of punishment, the attribution of responsible agency in relation to the offence, and the appropriateness of blame. By contrast, effective clinical treatment of disorders of agency employs a conceptual framework in which ideas of responsibility and blameworthiness are clearly separated from what we call ‘affective blame’: the range of hostile, negative attitudes and emotions that are typical human responses to criminal or immoral conduct. We argue that taking this clinical model of ‘responsibility without blame’ into the legal realm offers new possibilities. Theoretically, it allows for the reconciliation of the idea of ‘just deserts’ with a rehabilitative ideal in penal philosophy. Punishment can be reconceived as consequences—typically negative but occasionally not, so long as they are serious and appropriate to the crime and the context—imposed in response to, by reason of, and in proportion to responsibility and blameworthiness, but without the hard treatment and stigma typical of affective blame. Practically, it suggests how sentencing and punishment can better avoid affective blame and instead further rehabilitative and related ends, while yet serving the demands of justice. PMID:24771953

Transforming governance to enhance social and educational innovation

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Jacob Torfing

2016-04-01

Full Text Available The recent proliferation of governance networks at all levels and in different policy areas has led to a growing number of studies focusing on interactive forms of governance. This paper aims to contribute to the development of governance research by looking at how collaboration in governance networks can help to spur social and educational innovation. The paper begins by defining the concept of governance networks and then provides a systematic overview of different theories that explain the current rise of governance networks. Next, it defines the concept of innovation and discusses how collaboration in networks can enhance innovation. Finally, it discusses how collaborative innovation can be initiated, facilitated and catalysed through new forms of leadership and management.

Attributions of blame and responsibility in sexual harassment: reexamining a psychological model.

Science.gov (United States)

Klein, Kristen M; Apple, Kevin J; Kahn, Arnold S

2011-04-01

Kelley's (Nebr Symp Motiv 15:192-238, 1967) attribution theory can inform sexual harassment research by identifying how observers use consensus, consistency, and distinctiveness information in determining whether a target or perpetrator is responsible for a sexual harassment situation. In this study, Kelley's theory is applied to a scenario in which a male perpetrator sexually harasses a female target in a university setting. Results from 314 predominantly female college students indicate that consistency and consensus information significantly affect participants' judgments of blame and responsibility for the situation. The authors discuss the importance of the reference groups used to derive consensus and distinctiveness information, and reintroduce Kelley's attribution theory as a means of understanding observers' perceptions of sexual harassment.

Blaming the Victim and Exonerating the Perpetrator in Cases of Rape and Robbery: Is There a Double Standard?

Science.gov (United States)

Bieneck, Steffen; Krahe, Barbara

2011-01-01

Research in legal decision making has demonstrated the tendency to blame the victim and exonerate the perpetrator of sexual assault. This study examined the hypothesis of a special leniency bias in rape cases by comparing them to cases of robbery. N = 288 participants received descriptions of rape and robbery of a female victim by a male…

Blame, Guilt and the Need for "Labels"; Insights from Parents of Children with Special Educational Needs and Educational Practitioners

Science.gov (United States)

Broomhead, Karen

2013-01-01

Previous research on home-school relationships and blame has concentrated on the experiences of parents with children with behavioural, emotional and social difficulties (BESD). This has led to the voices of educational practitioners, as well as parents of children with other special educational needs, being neglected. This article, by Karen…

Leadership and Governance in Regional Tourism

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Valente, Flavio Jose; Dredge, Dianne; Lohmann, Gui

2015-01-01

the idea that market-led governance offers a superior model of leadership for regional tourism. This paper adopts an embedded case study approach, undertaking a comparison of leadership in two RTOs that are operating in the same geographical location but under different governance regimes. Semi......-structured interviews with executives/leaders and stakeholders/followers were undertaken in two RTOs, a market-led organization and a government-led organization. The purpose of the study was to examine the influence of governance arrangements on the capacity of these RTOs to lead tourism. Findings reveal that while......The rise of neoliberal market management has contributed to an incontrovertible “truth” that regional tourism organizations (RTOs) established and led by business actors are more effective in leading regional tourism development. Despite these assertions, little evidence has surfaced to support...

Unemployment, government healthcare spending, and cerebrovascular mortality, worldwide 1981-2009: an ecological study.

Science.gov (United States)

Maruthappu, Mahiben; Shalhoub, Joseph; Tariq, Zoon; Williams, Callum; Atun, Rifat; Davies, Alun H; Zeltner, Thomas

2015-04-01

The global economic downturn has been associated with unemployment rises, reduced health spending, and worsened population health. This has raised the question of how economic variations affect health outcomes. We sought to determine the effect of changes in unemployment and government healthcare expenditure on cerebrovascular mortality globally. Data were obtained from the World Bank and World Health Organization. Multivariate regression analysis was used to assess the effect of changes in unemployment and government healthcare expenditure on cerebrovascular mortality. Country-specific differences in infrastructure and demographics were controlled for. One- to five-year lag analyses and robustness checks were conducted. Across 99 countries worldwide, between 1981 and 2009, every 1% increase in unemployment was associated with a significant increase in cerebrovascular mortality (coefficient 187, CI: 86.6-288, P = 0.0003). Every 1% rise in government healthcare expenditure, across both genders, was associated with significant decreases in cerebrovascular deaths (coefficient 869, CI: 383-1354, P = 0.0005). The association between unemployment and cerebrovascular mortality remained statistically significant for at least five years subsequent to the 1% unemployment rise, while the association between government healthcare expenditure and cerebrovascular mortality remained significant for two years. These relationships were both shown to be independent of changes in gross domestic product per capita, inflation, interest rates, urbanization, nutrition, education, and out-of-pocket spending. Rises in unemployment and reductions in government healthcare expenditure are associated with significant increases in cerebrovascular mortality globally. Clinicians may also need to consider unemployment as a possible risk factor for cerebrovascular disease mortality. © 2015 World Stroke Organization.

Implementing clinical governance in English primary care groups/trusts: reconciling quality improvement and quality assurance.

Science.gov (United States)

Campbell, S M; Sheaff, R; Sibbald, B; Marshall, M N; Pickard, S; Gask, L; Halliwell, S; Rogers, A; Roland, M O

2002-03-01

To investigate the concept of clinical governance being advocated by primary care groups/trusts (PCG/Ts), approaches being used to implement clinical governance, and potential barriers to its successful implementation in primary care. Qualitative case studies using semi-structured interviews and documentation review. Twelve purposively sampled PCG/Ts in England. Fifty senior staff including chief executives, clinical governance leads, mental health leads, and lay board members. Participants' perceptions of the role of clinical governance in PCG/Ts. PCG/Ts recognise that the successful implementation of clinical governance in general practice will require cultural as well as organisational changes, and the support of practices. They are focusing their energies on supporting practices and getting them involved in quality improvement activities. These activities include, but move beyond, conventional approaches to quality assessment (audit, incentives) to incorporate approaches which emphasise corporate and shared learning. PCG/Ts are also engaged in setting up systems for monitoring quality and for dealing with poor performance. Barriers include structural barriers (weak contractual levers to influence general practices), resource barriers (perceived lack of staff or money), and cultural barriers (suspicion by practice staff or problems overcoming the perceived blame culture associated with quality assessment). PCG/Ts are focusing on setting up systems for implementing clinical governance which seek to emphasise developmental and supportive approaches which will engage health professionals. Progress is intentionally incremental but formidable challenges lie ahead, not least reconciling the dual role of supporting practices while monitoring (and dealing with poor) performance.

Social construction of victim’s blame, with special emphasis on criminal procedure against accused for the assassination of Zoran Đinđić, the prime minister of Serbia

OpenAIRE

Nikolić-Ristanović Vesna Ž.

2004-01-01

In this paper, the problem of victim blaming is analyzed, in general, and particularly, in the criminal procedure and through the media. Also, the attention is paid to the secondary victimization of family members of murder victims in general, and, especially, in criminal procedure, and when there is the tendency of blaming direct victim. In the first part of the paper the overview of existing theoretical knowledge is given. In the second part, the analyses of social construction of victim’s ...

"Luck's always to blame": silent wounds of a penetrating gunshot trauma sustained 20 years ago.

Science.gov (United States)

Tomos, Ioannis; Manali, Effrosyni D; Argentos, Stylianos; Raptakis, Thomas; Papiris, Spyros A

2015-01-01

Gunshot tracheal injuries represent life-threatening events and usually necessitate emergent surgical intervention. We report a case of an exceptional finding of a patient with retained ballistic fragments in the soft tissues of the thorax, proximal to the right subclavian artery and the trachea, carrying silently his wounds for two decades without any medical or surgical intervention. The bullet pellet on the upper part of the trachea seen accidentally in the chest computed tomography, was also found during bronchoscopy. In short "luck's always to blame".

Global Governance Mechanisms to Address Antimicrobial Resistance.

Science.gov (United States)

Padiyara, Ponnu; Inoue, Hajime; Sprenger, Marc

2018-01-01

Since their discovery, antibiotics, and more broadly, antimicrobials, have been a cornerstone of modern medicine. But the overuse and misuse of these drugs have led to rising rates of antimicrobial resistance, which occurs when bacteria adapt in ways that render antibiotics ineffective. A world without effective antibiotics can have drastic impacts on population health, global development, and the global economy. As a global common good, antibiotic effectiveness is vulnerable to the tragedy of the commons, where a shared limited resource is overused by a community when each individual exploits the finite resource for their own benefit. A borderless threat like antimicrobial resistance requires global governance mechanisms to mitigate its emergence and spread, and it is the responsibility of all countries and relevant multilateral organizations. These mechanisms can be in the form of legally binding global governance mechanisms such as treaties and regulatory standards or nonbinding mechanisms such as political declarations, resolutions, or guidelines. In this article, we argue that while both are effective methods, the strong, swift, and coordinated action needed to address rising rates of antimicrobial resistance will be better served through legally binding governance mechanisms.

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African Journals Online (AJOL)

design principles articulate what might be thought of as 'best thinking' rather than 'best practice'. ... business of blaming, and blaming and prevention ... important place within security governance. ... example, often do) entails a different way of.

Patient deaths blamed on long waits at the Phoenix VA

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Robbins RA

2014-04-01

Full Text Available No abstract available. Article truncated at 150 words. This morning the lead article in the Arizona Republic was a report blaming as many as 40 deaths at the Phoenix VA on long waits (1. Yesterday, Rep. Jeff Miller, the chairman of the House Committee on Veterans Affairs, held a hearing titled “A Continued Assessment of Delays in VA Medical Care and Preventable Veteran Deaths.” “It appears as though there could be as many as 40 veterans whose deaths could be related to delays in care,” Miller announced to a stunned audience. The committee has spent months investigating patient-care scandals and allegations at VA facilities in Pittsburgh, Atlanta, Miami and other cities. said that dozens of VA hospital patients in Phoenix may have died while awaiting medical care. He went on to say that staff investigators have evidence that the Phoenix VA Health Care System keeps two sets of records to conceal prolonged waits that patients must endure for ...

Examining the Relationship between Male Rape Myth Acceptance, Female Rape Myth Acceptance, Victim Blame, Homophobia, Gender Roles, and Ambivalent Sexism

Science.gov (United States)

Davies, Michelle; Gilston, Jennifer; Rogers, Paul

2012-01-01

The relationship between male rape myth acceptance, female rape myth acceptance, attitudes toward gay men, a series of gender role and sexism measures, victim blame and assault severity were investigated. It was predicted that men would display more negative, stereotypical attitudes than women and that male rape myth endorsement would be related…

Archiving of Comprehensive Annual Financial Reports (CAFRs) on State Government Web Sites

Science.gov (United States)

Thornton, Joel B.

2012-01-01

Rising cost and declining revenues have hampered the financial affairs of state governments, forcing many to curtail services, reduce employee benefits, and trim the workforce, calling into question the fiscal sustainability of many state governments. As a result, stakeholders are demanding greater accountability and increased transparency into…

The Effect of Government Debt and Other Determinants on Economic Growth: The Greek Experience

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Panagiotis Pegkas

2018-02-01

Full Text Available This study empirically investigates the relationship between economic growth and several factors (investment, private and government consumption, trade openness, population growth and government debt in Greece, where imbalances persist several years after the financial crisis. The results reveal a long-run relationship between variables. Investment as private and government consumption and trade openness affect positively growth. On the other hand, there is a negative long-run effect of government debt and population growth on growth. Furthermore, the study addresses the issue of break effects between government debt and economic growth. The results indicate that the relationship between debt and growth depends on the debt breaks. Specifically, at debt levels before 2000, increases in the government debt-to-GDP ratio are associated with insignificant effects on economic growth. However, as government debt rises after 2000, the effect on economic growth diminishes rapidly and the growth impacts become negative. The challenge for policy makers in Greece is to halt the rising of government debt by keeping a sustainable growth path. Fiscal discipline should be combined with the implementation of coherent, consistent and sequential growth-enhancing structural reforms.

Blame and guilt - a mixed methods study of obstetricians' and midwives' experiences and existential considerations after involvement in traumatic childbirth

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Schrøder, Katja; Jørgensen, Jan S; Lamont, Ronald F

2016-01-01

INTRODUCTION: When complications arise in the delivery room, midwives and obstetricians operate at the interface of life and death, and in rare cases the infant or the mother suffers severe and possibly fatal injuries related to the birth. This descriptive study investigated the numbers and propo......INTRODUCTION: When complications arise in the delivery room, midwives and obstetricians operate at the interface of life and death, and in rare cases the infant or the mother suffers severe and possibly fatal injuries related to the birth. This descriptive study investigated the numbers...... and proportions of obstetricians and midwives involved in such traumatic childbirth and explored their experiences with guilt, blame, shame and existential concerns. MATERIAL AND METHODS: A mixed methods study comprising a national survey of Danish obstetricians and midwives and a qualitative interview study...... the meaning of life. Sixty-five percent felt that they had become a better midwife or doctor due to the traumatic incident. CONCLUSIONS: The results of this large, exploratory study suggest that obstetricians and midwives struggle with issues of blame, guilt and existential concerns in the aftermath...

Inertial rise of a meniscus on a vertical cylinder

KAUST Repository

O’Kiely, Doireann

2015-03-03

© © 2015 Cambridge University PressA. We consider the inertia-dominated rise of a meniscus around a vertical circular cylinder. Previous experiments and scaling analysis suggest that the height of the meniscus, h-{m}, grows with the time following the initiation of rise, t, like h-{m}\\\\propto t^{1/2}. This is in contrast to the rise on a vertical plate, which obeys the classic capillary-inertia scaling h-{m}\\\\propto t^{2/3}. We highlight a subtlety in the scaling analysis that yielded h-{m}\\\\propto t^{1/2} and investigate the consequences of this subtlety. We develop a potential flow model of the dynamic problem, which we solve using the finite element method. Our numerical results agree well with previous experiments but suggest that the correct early time behaviour is, in fact, h-{m}\\\\propto t^{2/3}. Furthermore, we show that at intermediate times the dynamic rise of the meniscus is governed by two parameters: the contact angle and the cylinder radius measured relative to the capillary length scale, t^{2/3}. This result allows us to collapse previous experimental results with different cylinder radii (but similar static contact angles) onto a single master curve.

Blame, shame and hopelessness: medically unexplained symptoms and the 'heartsink' experience.

Science.gov (United States)

Stone, Louise

2014-04-01

'Heartsink' patients present a moral dilemma. We recognise their suffering, but at the same time struggle with the feelings they trigger in us. Patients also experience negative feelings. Without a diagnosis they lack a narrative or vocabulary to make sense of their own suffering. This article explores some of the challenges faced and strategies utilised when managing patients with medically unexplained symptoms. Doctors and patients often experience frustration and helplessness in consultations around medically unexplained symptoms. Without a diagnosis, patients lack social legitimacy as 'sick' people with 'real' illnesses. They often describe feeling blamed for their own distress. Because of this, they can experience deep feelings of worthlessness and shame. Patients with a history of abuse can be particularly vulnerable. Management includes validating their suffering, helping them construct appropriate explanations for their distress and providing empathic interpersonal care, while minimising the risk of iatrogenic harm.

Global warming and sea level rise. Chikyu Ondanka to kaimen josho

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Mimura, N [Ibaraki University, Ibaraki (Japan). Faculty of Engineering

1993-10-15

This paper describes the following matters on the problems of global warming and sea level rise. The first evaluation report published by the inter-government panel on climate change (IPCC) in 1990 estimates that, if emission of greenhouse effect gas keeps increasing at the present rate, the air temperature and the average sea level would rise by 3[degree]C and 65 centimeters, respectively by 2100. Global warming would not only result in rise of the sea level, but also accompany changes in strengths and routes of tropical low pressure areas, and precipitation patterns. Downstream areas of large rivers and island countries on coral reefs may have a risk of getting submerged. Countries having coasts developed to high densities (Japan, for example) would be subjected to a high potential effect. An 'East Hemisphere International Conference on Sea Level Rising Problem' was held in Japan in August 1993 as part of the works to prepare the second evaluation report of the IPCC (publication scheduled for 1995). The conference was attended by 24 countries, and 43 study results were reported. 4 figs.

Hibernia project gets another government boost

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Anon.

1992-01-01

This paper reports that Canadian governments will provide a financial backstop for development of Hibernia oil field off Newfoundland while a new partner i sought. Ottawa and Newfoundland will pay as much as $127 million or 75% of development costs incurred by the companies from May 15 to Nov. 1, 192. That figure could rise to $185 million if an agreement is extended to Jan. 1, 1993, by mutual consent. The governments will pay only if the project on the Grand Banks is suspended or terminated and buyers can't be found for Gulf's 25% interest. The federal government agreed to pay two thirds of the indemnity, Newfoundland one third. A federal spokesman the Ottawa does not expect to have to pay the funds. The agreement represents an insurance policy for participating companies

Blended Learning Analytics Model for Evaluation (BLAME). Et case-studie af universitetsunderviseres brug af Blackboard

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Musaeus, Peter; Bennedsen, Andreas Brændstrup; Hansen, Janne Saltoft

2015-01-01

I denne artikel vil vi præsentere en strategi til inddragelse af læringsanalytik (learning analytics) ved evaluering af universitetsunderviseres brug af et nyt LMS på Aarhus Universitet: Blackboard. Vi diskuterer en model (BLAME: Blended Learning Analytics Model of Evaluation) for, hvordan...... kategorisering af kurser og data om læringsanalytik indsamlet på Blackboard kan integreres. Endvidere belyser vi, hvilke implikationer en sådan læringsanalytik kan have for blended learning ved at analysere to forskellige uddannelses-cases/illustrationer. Dernæst diskuterer vi pædagogisk udvikling i forbindelse...

Numerical modelling of inert gas bubble rising in liquid metal pool

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Pradeep, Arjun; Sharma, Anil Kumar; Ponraju, D.; Nashine, B K.

2016-01-01

Two-phase flow finds several applications in safe operation of Sodium-cooled Fast Reactor (SFR). Numerical modelling of bubble rise dynamics in liquid metal pool of SFR is essential for the evaluation of residence time and shape changes, which are of utmost importance for simulating associated heat and mass transfer processes involved in reactor safety. A numerical model has been developed based on OpenFOAM for the evaluation of two-dimensional inert gas bubble rise dynamics in stagnant liquid metal pool. The governing model equations are discretized and solved using the Volume of Fluid based solver available in OpenFOAM with appropriate initial and boundary conditions. The model has been validated with available numerical benchmark results for laminar transient two-phase flow. The model has been used to evaluate velocity and rise trajectory of argon gas bubble with different diameters through a pool of liquid sodium. (author)

Analysis of Sea Level Rise in Singapore Strait

Science.gov (United States)

Tkalich, Pavel; Luu, Quang-Hung

2013-04-01

Sea level in Singapore Strait is governed by various scale phenomena, from global to local. Global signals are dominated by the climate change and multi-decadal variability and associated sea level rise; at regional scale seasonal sea level variability is caused by ENSO-modulated monsoons; locally, astronomic tides are the strongest force. Tide gauge records in Singapore Strait are analyzed to derive local sea level trend, and attempts are made to attribute observed sea level variability to phenomena at various scales, from global to local. It is found that at annual scale, sea level anomalies in Singapore Strait are quasi-periodic, of the order of ±15 cm, the highest during northeast monsoon and the lowest during southwest monsoon. Interannual regional sea level falls are associated with El Niño events, while the rises are related to La Niña episodes; both variations are in the range of ±9 cm. At multi-decadal scale, sea level in Singapore Strait has been rising at the rate 1.2-1.9 mm/year for the period 1975-2009, 2.0±0.3 mm/year for 1984-2009, and 1.3-4.7 mm/year for 1993-2009. When compared with the respective global trends of 2.0±0.3, 2.4, and 2.8±0.8 mm/year, Singapore Strait sea level rise trend was weaker at the earlier period and stronger at the recent decade.

"She deserved it": Effects of sexism norms, type of violence, and victim's pre-assault behavior on blame attributions toward female victims and approval of the aggressor's behavior.

Science.gov (United States)

Koepke, Sabrina; Eyssel, Friederike; Bohner, Gerd

2014-04-01

Effects of ambivalent sexism, sexism norms, victim behavior, and type of violence on male students' reactions to male violence against women in intimate relationships were examined. Participants judged a scenario depicting an act of sexual or non-sexual violence against a female partner who had either shown overtly sexual or non-sexual behavior toward another man. Generally, high (vs. low) hostile sexism, high (vs. low) hostile sexism norm feedback, and victim's overtly sexual (vs. non-sexual) behavior led to stronger victim blame and perceived approval of the aggressor's behavior. The victim of non-sexual violence was blamed more than the rape victim, particularly if she had behaved in an overtly sexual manner.

The current approach to human error and blame in the NHS.

Science.gov (United States)

Ottewill, Melanie

There is a large body of research to suggest that serious errors are widespread throughout medicine. The traditional response to these adverse events has been to adopt a 'person approach' - blaming the individual seen as 'responsible'. The culture of medicine is highly complicit in this response. Such an approach results in enormous personal costs to the individuals concerned and does little to address the root causes of errors and thus prevent their recurrence. Other industries, such as aviation, where safety is a paramount concern and which have similar structures to the medical profession, have, over the past decade or so, adopted a 'systems' approach to error, recognizing that human error is ubiquitous and inevitable and that systems need to be developed with this in mind. This approach has been highly successful, but has necessitated, first and foremost, a cultural shift. It is in the best interests of patients, and medical professionals alike, that such a shift is embraced in the NHS.

The emergence of the BRICS – implications for global governance

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Sotiris Petropoulos

2013-05-01

Full Text Available The global financial crisis of 2008, with its detrimental effects on the global economy, was the starting point of a transformation of the global governance landscape. This fluid political and economic global environment seems to be leading to the enhancement of the position of regional powers, especially within the developing world. Hence, the importance of Brazil, Russia, India, China, and, to some extent, South Africa, within the global governance structure has increased. This rise of importance is derived from the enhancement of the economic capabilities of these powers and the fact that economic interdependence has rendered the world more sensitive to the economic policies of these nations. What is even more significant is the fact that these emerging powers have initiated a process of conducting regular meetings for the purpose of discussing and coordinating their actions related to global issues. The BRIC(S meetings seem to be acting as a power multiplier, leading to enhanced pressure on developed countries to accept some proposals from the BRIC(S countries. This development enhances the effectiveness of global governance structures while also legitimizing the notion of a new global governance structure. It is yet to be shown, however, whether the new rising powers will eventually challenge existing global governance structures or be fully integrated into them.

The Acceptance of Mobile Government from a Citizen‘s Perspective

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Ohme, Jakob

Mobile Government (in short: M-Government) is just at the beginning of its rise as a future trend of E-Government. Considering the technical advancements such as mobile Internet, smart phones and tablet-PCs, M-Government tremendously develops a new potential for organizational communication proce......-Government is significantly influenced by both, factors citizens see as a benefit but also by factors of perceived risks...... processes. There are many examples of failures of early E-Government-projects due to a lack of consideration of users’ requirements. Against this background, the paper tries to contribute to organizational communication processes by addressing the driving factors influencing the acceptance of Mobile...... Government among the citizens. Extending the approaches of the Technology Acceptance Model (TRA) (Davis, Bagozzi & Warshaw, 1989) and the Theory of Planned Behavior (TPB) (Ajzen, 1991) to Mobile Government, a new M-Government-Acceptance-Model was developed. It shows that the intention to use M...

The terminal rise velocity of bubble in a liquid column

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Mario Ar Talaia

2005-01-01

Full text of publication follows: As it is know, buoyancy and drag forces govern bubble rising velocity in a liquid column. These forces strongly depend on fluid proprieties and gravity as well as bubble equivalent diameter. The present work reports about a set of experiments bubble rising velocity in a liquid column using liquid with different kinematics viscosity. Records of terminal velocity were obtained, over a wide range of dynamic viscosity. The results show that the terminal rise velocity of bubble is strongly influenced by the effect of kinematics viscosity. The interpretation of physical phenomenon is considered. The set data permit to have a game of terminal velocities of 7.96 - 32.86 cm.s -1 with Reynolds number of 0.8 - 7491. The bubble movement is recorded with a camera video, which will be presented. Our aim goal is to present an original set data and the results are discussed in light of theory of two-phase flow. Prediction of bubble terminal velocity is discussed, so as, the range of applicability. (author)

Schema Effects of Rape Myth Acceptance on Judgments of Guilt and Blame in Rape Cases: The Role of Perceived Entitlement to Judge

Science.gov (United States)

Eyssel, Friederike; Bohner, Gerd

2011-01-01

Two experiments (N = 330) examined conditions that facilitate biasing effects of rape myth acceptance (RMA) on judgments of blame in rape cases. In both experiments, participants read a short vignette depicting a rape case. In Experiment 1, the amount of case-irrelevant information about defendant and plaintiff was varied. As predicted, high-RMA…

GOVERNANCE, URBAN COMPETITIVENESS AND CRISIS IN SPAIN

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Xosé SOMOZA MEDINA

2016-07-01

Full Text Available This article describes the rise of the term governance from its beginnings in the business world and the neoliberal economic thought through its application in urban renewal actions in the world’s major cities. Over the analysis, we argue that it was the theoretical discourse of urban governance and competitiveness that for decades enabled the private property sector to direct the urban regeneration processes of greatest added value. Changes in transport infrastructures and the abandonment of old industrial facilities left large central segments of the city available for redevelopment in line with the theories of post-Fordist capitalism. The global economic crisis has paralysed many of these projects, which had entailed the investment of large sums of public money and yielded low social returns. At the same time, criticism has been levelled against governance and strategic planning. Here, I examine the processes of governance and competitiveness as an urban objective and recent examples of urban renewal in Spanish cities.

More and more weather records - Is global warming to blame?

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Wergen, Gregor; Krug, Joachim [Institut fuer Theoretische Physik, Koeln (Germany)

2009-07-01

If one believes in current media coverage it seems very simple: Due to the significant, largely anthropogenic, warming of the world's average temperature, more and more weather extremes occur. Every time we have a record breaking daily maximum temperature, or an immense amount of precipitation in a certain timespan, this is intuitively blamed on global warming. However mathematically the relation between an increasing mean value and the occurrence of records is far from trivial and not completely understood. This relation and its relevance to the analysis of weather data is the subject of this talk. Given an underlying distribution, we consider the probability that an event in a succession of events is a record, when the distribution itself is shifting, or altering its form. We found some approximations that are useful for the comparison with historical climate recordings. We obtained data for the daily maximum and daily minimum temperature and the daily precipitation amount from thousands of weather stations in Europe and the United States and analyzed them with regard to record events. The results are largely in accordance with what we predict from our calculations, but also reveal some interesting deviations.

Network governance for dealing with IT-enabled Interorganizational cooperation : when should network IT - such as social media - be used and how to govern it

NARCIS (Netherlands)

de Graaf, Frank Jan; Velthuijsen, Hugo

2011-01-01

IT-based networking trends such as the rise of social media, crowd sourcing, open innovation, and cloud computing enable a profoundly different way of working and collaborating that challenges significantly traditional approaches of companies towards governance, i.e. the mechanisms a company employs

Neoliberalism revised? A critical account of World Bank conceptions of good governance and market friendly intervention.

Science.gov (United States)

Kiely, R

1998-01-01

This article examines recent World Bank reports on the role of the state in the development process, with particular reference to the rise of the East Asian newly industrializing countries and the crisis of "governance" in sub-Saharan Africa. The concepts of market friendly intervention and good governance are critically discussed, and are found to be inadequate as explanations for East Asian "success" and African "failure." The author presents an alternative explanation for the rise of the newly industrializing countries, which draws out some of the implications for the developing world.

United People : designing a new model of global governance

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Romme, A.G.L.; Ansell, C.; Buck, J.; Choi, Y.; van der Eyden, R.; Figueroa Huencho, V.; John, E.; Kunkler, T.; Mair, J.; Meijer, A.; Meyer, R.; Stephenson, K.; Välikangas, L.; Whitestone, N.; Yu, C.

2018-01-01

Human-driven changes on this planet have been giving rise to global warming, social instability, civil wars, and acts of terrorism. The existing system of global governance is not equipped to effectively address these enormous challenges. It is slow where one must move quickly, favors bureaucracy

Anthropogenic sea level rise and adaptation in the Yangtze estuary

Science.gov (United States)

Cheng, H.; Chen, J.; Chen, Z.; Ruan, R.; Xu, G.; Zeng, G.; Zhu, J.; Dai, Z.; Gu, S.; Zhang, X.; Wang, H.

2016-02-01

Sea level rise is a major projected threat of climate change. There are regional variations in sea level changes, depending on both naturally the tectonic subsidence, geomorphology, naturally changing river inputs and anthropogenic driven forces as artificial reservoir water impoundment within the watershed and urban land subsidence driven by ground water depletion in the river delta. Little is known on regional sea level fall in response to the channel erosion due to the sediment discharge decline by reservoir interception in the upstream watershed, and water level rise driven by anthropogenic measures as the land reclamation, deep waterway regulation and fresh water reservoir construction to the sea level change in estuaries. Changing coastal cities are situated in the delta regions expected to be threatened in various degrees. Shanghai belongs to those cities. Here we show that the anthropogenic driven sea level rise in the Yangtze estuary from the point of view of the continuous hydrodynamic system consisted of river catchment, estuary and coastal sea. Land subsidence is cited as 4 mm/a (2011-2030). Scour depth of the estuarine channel by upstream engineering as Three Gauge Dam is estimated at 2-10 cm (2011-2030). The rise of water level by deep waterway and land reclamation is estimated at 8-10 cm (2011-2030). The relative sea level rise will be speculated about 10 -16 cm (2011-2030), which these anthropogenic sea level changes will be imposed into the absolute sea level rise 2 mm/a and tectonic subsidence 1 mm/a measured in 1990s. The action guideline to the sea level rise strategy in the Shanghai city have been proposed to the Shanghai government as (1) recent actions (2012-2015) to upgrade the city water supply and drainage engineering and protective engineering; (2) interim actions (2016-2020) to improve sea level monitoring and early warning system, and then the special, city, regional planning considering sea level rise; (3) long term actions (2021

Attitudes About Human Trafficking: Individual Differences Related to Belief and Victim Blame.

Science.gov (United States)

Cunningham, Katherine C; Cromer, Lisa DeMarni

2016-01-01

Human trafficking is believed to oppress millions of people worldwide. Despite increased media attention and public awareness campaigns in recent years, no empirical research has examined public attitudes about human trafficking. The present study examined gender, sexual trauma history, and attitudes about human trafficking as they related to belief of a sex-trafficking scenario and willingness to blame the victim for the situation. Undergraduate students (N = 409) at a large private university in the Northeastern United States completed measures in which they responded to a vignette portraying sex trafficking in the United States. Participants also reported their personal trauma history and completed a Human Trafficking Myths Scale. Results indicated that gender and human trafficking myth acceptance, but not sexual trauma history, were significantly related to participants' belief of the sex-trafficking scenario and their perception of the victim's responsibility. Potential implications and directions for future research are discussed. © The Author(s) 2014.

DERADIKALISASI PEMAHAMAN AJARAN ISLAM

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Karwadi Karwadi

2014-05-01

Full Text Available We have nowadays witnessed a growing trend of the rising of radical religious thoughts amongst Muslims. They are fanatical people who claim to have correctly understood Islam more than others. Even they blame others who do not follow their way as unbelievers. How do such radical views rise? And how can such views be de-radicalized?  Radical views initially come out and gradually develop because of exclusive religious outlooks. Since outward attitudes reflect one’s deep mind and worldview, one best way to soften radicalism should begin from de-radicalization of one’s ideology and way of thinking. There should be transformation of Islamic religious thoughts from particularistic to rational-imperative, from exclusive to inclusive, from formalistic to perennial, from mono-cultural to multicultural. De-radicalization needs participation from the government, people and academia. Furthermore, de-radicalization must be a context-based effort, paying great attention to socio-historical contexts where this effort is formulated to avoid rising another form of radicalism.Keywords: de-radicalization, exclusive, perennial, multiculturalism

Anger and retribution after collective overuse: the role of blaming and environmental uncertainty in social dilemmas.

Science.gov (United States)

de Kwaadsteniet, Erik W; van Dijk, Eric; Wit, Arjaan; De Cremer, David

2010-01-01

This article investigates how group members respond to one another when collective overuse occurs. The authors argue that interpersonal reactions after overuse in a common-resource dilemma are largely determined by the environmental characteristics of the social dilemma. More specifically, under environmental certainty they expect people to show more anger to group members than under uncertainty (Study 1). Additionally, they expect stronger retributive reactions to high harvesters than to moderate harvesters, and they expect this difference to be larger under certainty than under uncertainty (Study 2 and 3). Moreover, they predict that these effects are mediated by blaming. The results of three experiments corroborate these predictions.

A Framework for Project Governance in Major Public IT projects

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Harboe, Peter Georg; Riis, Eva

2016-01-01

such a framework. It was developed from the literature on major and mega-projects, both public and private, that concern infrastructure, engineering and IT. The proposed framework for project governance comprises six major elements: governance structure, management approach, stakeholders, value, systems......The rising number of major public IT projects is mirrored by a growing research interest in the management of such projects. Both can benefit from a more complete understanding of project governance that should lead to a practical framework for project governance. The present paper proposes...... integration and complexity. Empirical research has identified a number of characteristics for these project governance elements. In the second part of the paper the framework was tested in a case study of the Danish smart card Rejsekort project. The framework was found to be robust, and that in this case...

A Framework for Project Governance in Major Public IT projects

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Riis, Eva; Harboe, Peter Georg

2016-01-01

integration and complexity. Empirical research has identified a number of characteristics for these project governance elements. In the second part of the paper the framework was tested in a case study of the Danish smart card Rejsekort project. The framework was found to be robust, and that in this case......The rising number of major public IT projects is mirrored by a growing research interest in the management of such projects. Both can benefit from a more complete understanding of project governance that should lead to a practical framework for project governance. The present paper proposes...... such a framework. It was developed from the literature on major and mega-projects, both public and private, that concern infrastructure, engineering and IT. The proposed framework for project governance comprises six major elements: governance structure, management approach, stakeholders, value, systems...

Corporate governance and corporate social responsibility: A typology of OECD countries

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Patricia Crifo

2016-06-01

Full Text Available This article investigates the relationships between corporate governance and Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR. The underlying intuition is that governance factors are major determinants of CSR policies and extra-financial performance. More precisely, we identify three main factors that determine the strength of CSR engagement at the firm level: the structure of equity ownership (identity of shareholders, the composition and structure of board of directors, and the regulatory framework on corporate governance and CSR. We show how evolutions regarding corporate governance over the three previous decades have paved the way and shaped the rise of CSR. In addition, we elaborate a typology of CSR and governance structures that characterize OECD countries depending on whether the CSR reporting regime is stringent versus non-stringent, and on whether the corporate governance model is based on the shareholder, stakeholder or hybrid regime.

Exposure to rising inequality shapes Americans' opportunity beliefs and policy support.

Science.gov (United States)

McCall, Leslie; Burk, Derek; Laperrière, Marie; Richeson, Jennifer A

2017-09-05

Economic inequality has been on the rise in the United States since the 1980s and by some measures stands at levels not seen since before the Great Depression. Although the strikingly high and rising level of economic inequality in the nation has alarmed scholars, pundits, and elected officials alike, research across the social sciences repeatedly concludes that Americans are largely unconcerned about it. Considerable research has documented, for instance, the important role of psychological processes, such as system justification and American Dream ideology, in engendering Americans' relative insensitivity to economic inequality. The present work offers, and reports experimental tests of, a different perspective-the opportunity model of beliefs about economic inequality. Specifically, two convenience samples (study 1, n = 480; and study 2, n = 1,305) and one representative sample (study 3, n = 1,501) of American adults were exposed to information about rising economic inequality in the United States (or control information) and then asked about their beliefs regarding the roles of structural (e.g., being born wealthy) and individual (e.g., hard work) factors in getting ahead in society (i.e., opportunity beliefs). They then responded to policy questions regarding the roles of business and government actors in reducing economic inequality. Rather than revealing insensitivity to rising inequality, the results suggest that rising economic inequality in contemporary society can spark skepticism about the existence of economic opportunity in society that, in turn, may motivate support for policies designed to redress economic inequality.

Exposure to rising inequality shapes Americans’ opportunity beliefs and policy support

Science.gov (United States)

McCall, Leslie; Burk, Derek; Laperrière, Marie; Richeson, Jennifer A.

2017-01-01

Economic inequality has been on the rise in the United States since the 1980s and by some measures stands at levels not seen since before the Great Depression. Although the strikingly high and rising level of economic inequality in the nation has alarmed scholars, pundits, and elected officials alike, research across the social sciences repeatedly concludes that Americans are largely unconcerned about it. Considerable research has documented, for instance, the important role of psychological processes, such as system justification and American Dream ideology, in engendering Americans’ relative insensitivity to economic inequality. The present work offers, and reports experimental tests of, a different perspective—the opportunity model of beliefs about economic inequality. Specifically, two convenience samples (study 1, n = 480; and study 2, n = 1,305) and one representative sample (study 3, n = 1,501) of American adults were exposed to information about rising economic inequality in the United States (or control information) and then asked about their beliefs regarding the roles of structural (e.g., being born wealthy) and individual (e.g., hard work) factors in getting ahead in society (i.e., opportunity beliefs). They then responded to policy questions regarding the roles of business and government actors in reducing economic inequality. Rather than revealing insensitivity to rising inequality, the results suggest that rising economic inequality in contemporary society can spark skepticism about the existence of economic opportunity in society that, in turn, may motivate support for policies designed to redress economic inequality. PMID:28831007

Budget of the U.S. Government, Fiscal Year 2014

Science.gov (United States)

Office of Management and Budget, Executive Office of the President, 2013

2013-01-01

"Budget of the United States Government, Fiscal Year 2014" contains the Budget Message of the President, information on the President's priorities, budget overviews organized by agency, and summary tables. President Obama believes the country must invest in the true engine of America's economic growth--a rising and thriving middle class.…

What We Have Learned: "New Foundations for Global Governance"

Institute of Scientific and Technical Information of China (English)

Alan S. Alexandroff; David Shorr

2010-01-01

@@ In a Conference convened at Princeton University in January 2010, international relations experts were asked to consider, among other things, great power leadership and explore what would enable these powers to solve some of the great challenges facing global governance. The Conference noted a growing disjunction between our "inherited" multilateral institutions, the evolving architecture of global governance and the daunting scope and complexity of today's global governance agenda. Two key leadership questions dominated discussions at the Conference. The first: what would be the role of the remaining superpower-the United States-in the years ahead? Could the United States accept a greater multilateral environment with possibly a diminished hegemonic role? Secondly, could China successfully achieve great power status without the rivalry competition and even conflict that normally accompanies a rising power? And, in what ways could China exercise leadership in global governance?

Understanding social media governance: seizing opportunities, staying out of trouble

NARCIS (Netherlands)

van den Berg, A.C.; Verhoeven, J.W.M.

2017-01-01

Purpose – The rise of social media such as Facebook and Twitter has provided employees with means to share work-related information. Increasingly, social media governance policies are implemented to negotiate the risks and opportunities of such behaviors. The purpose of this paper is to unveil the

Population dynamics of Hawaiian seabird colonies vulnerable to sea-level rise.

Science.gov (United States)

Hatfield, Jeff S; Reynolds, Michelle H; Seavy, Nathaniel E; Krause, Crystal M

2012-08-01

Globally, seabirds are vulnerable to anthropogenic threats both at sea and on land. Seabirds typically nest colonially and show strong fidelity to natal colonies, and such colonies on low-lying islands may be threatened by sea-level rise. We used French Frigate Shoals, the largest atoll in the Hawaiian Archipelago, as a case study to explore the population dynamics of seabird colonies and the potential effects sea-level rise may have on these rookeries. We compiled historic observations, a 30-year time series of seabird population abundance, lidar-derived elevations, and aerial imagery of all the islands of French Frigate Shoals. To estimate the population dynamics of 8 species of breeding seabirds on Tern Island from 1980 to 2009, we used a Gompertz model with a Bayesian approach to infer population growth rates, density dependence, process variation, and observation error. All species increased in abundance, in a pattern that provided evidence of density dependence. Great Frigatebirds (Fregata minor), Masked Boobies (Sula dactylatra), Red-tailed Tropicbirds (Phaethon rubricauda), Spectacled Terns (Onychoprion lunatus), and White Terns (Gygis alba) are likely at carrying capacity. Density dependence may exacerbate the effects of sea-level rise on seabirds because populations near carrying capacity on an island will be more negatively affected than populations with room for growth. We projected 12% of French Frigate Shoals will be inundated if sea level rises 1 m and 28% if sea level rises 2 m. Spectacled Terns and shrub-nesting species are especially vulnerable to sea-level rise, but seawalls and habitat restoration may mitigate the effects of sea-level rise. Losses of seabird nesting habitat may be substantial in the Hawaiian Islands by 2100 if sea levels rise 2 m. Restoration of higher-elevation seabird colonies represent a more enduring conservation solution for Pacific seabirds. Conservation Biology ©2012 Society for Conservation Biology. No claim to original

Challenges in Projecting Sea Level Rise impacts on the Coastal Environment of South Florida (Invited)

Science.gov (United States)

Obeysekera, J.; Park, J.; Irizarry-Ortiz, M. M.; Barnes, J. A.; Trimble, P.; Said, W.

2010-12-01

Due to flat topography, a highly transmissive groundwater aquifer, and a growing population with the associated infrastructure, South Florida’s coastal environment is one of the most vulnerable areas to sea level rise. Current projections of sea level rise and the associated storm surges will have direct impacts on coastal beaches and infrastructure, flood protection, freshwater aquifers, and both the isolated and regional wetlands. Uncertainties in current projections have made it difficult for regional and local governments to develop adaptation strategies as such measures will depend heavily on the temporal and spatial patterns of sea level rise in the coming decades. We demonstrate the vulnerability of both the built and natural environments of the coastal region and present the current efforts to understand and predict the sea level rise estimate that management agencies could employ in planning of adaptation strategies. In particular, the potential vulnerabilities of the flood control system as well as the threat to the water supply wellfields in the coastal belt will be presented. In an effort to understand the historical variability of sea level rise, we present linkages to natural phenomena such as Atlantic Multi-Decadal Oscillation, and the analytical methods we have developed to provide probabilistic projections of both mean sea level rise and the extremes.

Rumor, gossip and blame: implications for HIV/AIDS prevention in the South African lowveld.

Science.gov (United States)

Stadler, Jonathan

2003-08-01

The HIV/AIDS epidemic provides fertile breeding ground for theories of the origin of HIV/AIDS, its mode of transmission, and the allocation of blame. Drawing on ethnographic research in the Bushbuckridge region of the South African lowveld, this article examines the articulation of AIDS through gossip and rumor. These oral forms create moral readings of behavior and shape folk discourses of AIDS that resist dominant epidemiological explanations. Significantly, constructions of AIDS are not uniform. Although elders claim AIDS as traditional and curable, younger men and women support theories of AIDS as a modern, foreign disease. Witchcraft beliefs are popular in explaining why certain people die and not others. At times, rumor may escalate into a moral panic. The implications of these findings for social responses to the AIDS epidemic and HIV/AIDS prevention are explored.

High-rise Buildings versus Outdoor Thermal Environment in Chongqing

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Jin-sha Wang

2007-10-01

Full Text Available This paper gives a brief description of the over quick urbanization sinceChongqing, one of the biggest cities in China, has been a municipality directly under theCentral Government in 1997, excessive development and exceeding increase of high-risebuildings because of its special geographical position which finally leads to the worseningof the urban outdoor thermal environment. Then, this paper makes a bright balance to thefield measurement and simulated results of the wind speed field, temperature field of onemultifunctional high-rise building in Chongqing university located in the city center, andthe contrasted results validate the correctness of CFD in the outdoor thermal environmentalsimulation, expose the disadvantages of high-rise buildings on the aspects of blocking thewind field, decreasing wind speed which results in accumulation of the air-conditioningheat revolving around and periscian region where sunshine can not rip into. Finally, inorder to improve the urban outdoor thermal environment near the high-rise buildingsespecially for the angle of natural ventilation, this paper simulates the wind environment indifferent architectural compositions and architectural layouts by CFD, and the simulatedresults show that freestyle and tower buildings which can guarantee the wind speed andtake the air-conditioning heat away are much suitable and reasonable for the specialChongqing geography. These conclusions can also be used as a reference in othermountain cities, especially for the one with a great number of populations.

Private health insurance and the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme: how effective has recent government policy been?

Science.gov (United States)

Richardson, Jeff R J; Segal, Leonie

2004-01-01

The cost to government of the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme (PBS) is rising at over 10 percent per annum. The government subsidy to Private Health Insurance (PHI) is about $2.4 billion and rising. Despite this, the queues facing public patients - which were the primary justification for the assistance to PHI - do not appear to be shortening. Against this backdrop, we seek to evaluate recent policies. It is shown that the reason commonly given for the support of PHI - the need to preserve the market share of private hospitals and relieve pressure upon public hospitals - is based upon a factually incorrect analysis of the hospital sector in the last decade. It is similarly true that the 'problem' of rising pharmaceutical expenditures has been exaggerated. The common element in both sets of policies is that they result in cost shifting from the public to the private purse and have little to do with the quality or quantity of health services.

Governing Board of the Pension Fund

CERN Multimedia

2007-01-01

The Governing Board of the Pension Fund held its penultimate (158th) and final (159th) meetings in its current form on 24 September and 25 October 2007 respectively. A number of items, notably the triennial actuarial review and the Fund's Budget for 2008, appeared on the agenda of both meetings. The Governing Board took note of the Fund's financial position as at 30 June 2007 on the basis of the intermediate closing of the accounts on that date. In the first half of 2007, the Fund had achieved a satisfactory return on its assets compared with the position on 1 January 2007. Regarding the indexation of pensions, at the second of its two meetings, the Governing Board took note of the inflation rate in Geneva between August 2006 and August 2007 - no rise was observed in the cost-of-living during the period under consideration. As a consequence, the adjustment rate for the forthcoming three-year period, calculated by the Actuary pursuant to Article II 1.15 – Anne...

Governing Board of the Pension Fund

CERN Multimedia

HR Department

2007-01-01

The Governing Board of the Pension Fund held its penultimate (158th) and final (159th) meetings in its current form on 24 September and 25 October 2007 respectively. A number of items, notably the triennial actuarial review and the Fund’s Budget for 2008, appeared on the agenda of both meetings. The Governing Board took note of the Fund’s financial position as at 30 June 2007 on the basis of the intermediate closing of the accounts on that date. In the first half of 2007, the Fund had achieved a satisfactory return on its assets compared with the position on 1 January 2007. Regarding the indexation of pensions, at the second of its two meetings, the Governing Board took note of the inflation rate in Geneva between August 2006 and August 2007 - no rise was observed in the cost-of-living during the period under consideration. As a consequence, the adjustment rate for the forthcoming three-year period, calculated by the Actuary pursuant to Article II 1.15 – Annex C of the...

Cities and Sea Level Rise: A Roadmap for Flood Hazard Adaptation

Science.gov (United States)

Horn, D. P.; Cousins, A.

2015-12-01

Coastal cities will face a range of increasingly severe challenges as sea level rises, and adaptation to future flood risk will require more than structural defences. Many cities will not be able to rely solely on engineering structures for protection and will need to develop a suite of policy responses to increase their resilience to impacts of rising sea level. Local governments generally maintain day-to-day responsibility and control over the use of the vast majority of property at risk of flooding, and the tools to promote flood risk adaptation are already within the capacity of most cities. Policy tools available to address other land-use problems can be refashioned and used to adapt to sea level rise. This study reviews approaches for urban adaptation through case studies of cities which have developed flood adaptation strategies that combine structural defences with innovative approaches to living with flood risk. The aim of the overall project is to produce a 'roadmap' to guide practitioners through the process of analysing coastal flood risk in urban areas. Technical knowledge of flood risk reduction measures is complemented with a consideration of the essential impact that local policy has on the treatment of coastal flooding and the constraints and opportunities that result from the specific country or locality characteristics in relation to economic, political, social and environmental priorities, which are likely to dictate the approach to coastal flooding and the actions proposed. Detailed analyses of the adaptation strategies used by Rotterdam (Netherlands), Bristol (UK), and Norfolk (Virginia) are used to draw out a range of good practice elements that promote effective adaptation to sea level rise. These can be grouped into risk reduction, governance issues, and insurance, and can be used to provide examples of how other cities could adopt and implement flood adaptation strategies from a relatively limited starting position. Most cities will

International Advisory Councils and Internationalization of Governance: A Qualitative Analysis

Science.gov (United States)

Mihut, Georgiana; Altbach, Philip G.; Salmi, Jamil

2016-01-01

This paper discusses the emergence of international advisory councils (IACs) at universities around the world and introduces the concept of internationalization of governance. Global trends in the field of higher education, such as the quest to create world-class universities and advance in global rankings, the rise of new public management, and…

Navigating Polycentric Governance from a Citizen’s Perspective: The Rising New Middle Classes Respond

OpenAIRE

Fowler, Alan; Biekart, Kees

2015-01-01

markdownabstractA global growth in the middle class is anticipated to influence development choices and the evolution of domestic polities associated with a ‘rising‘ South. Responding to the local effects of a multipolar world order will add to a citizen’s existing need to navigate national polycentrism. Exploration of this citizen-centric phenomenon introduces a new, comprehensive analytic framework that combines public with private governance, the latter categorised as modern, traditional a...

Bench-marking effects in the blaming of professionals for incidents of aggression and assault.

Science.gov (United States)

Carifio, J; Lanza, M

1994-01-01

This study compared all possible orders of responding to three vignettes describing incidents between a male patient and a female nurse in which the nurse is mildly assaulted, severely assaulted, or verbally abused by the patient (the control condition). Subjects were 32 female senior-year nursing students and 28 practicing nurses. It was found that response levels to a given vignette could predict a respondent's response to the other vignettes. Also, a significant "bench-marking" effect was found: if a subject responded to the mild assault vignette first, the subject's overall response pattern best fit the general nonlinear assignment-of-blame pattern observed, but if the subject responded to the severe assault or control vignette first, this vignette set a bench mark for responding from which the subject's subsequent responses did not deviate greatly, which slightly distorted the subject's V-shaped nonlinear response pattern.

PERSPECTIVE: The tripping points of sea level rise

Science.gov (United States)

Hecht, Alan D.

2009-12-01

, according to Titus et al, is for communities to develop a common vision about which lands will be protected and which lands will yield to the rising sea, similar to the way land use plans identify commercial, residential, agricultural, and conservation lands. The supplementary material in their paper (as well as a related web site suggested by the peer review process of this journal) provides maps that depict the likelihood of shore protection based on existing land use data and the assessment of the local governments. Such maps, they suggest, might be used as a starting point to promote dialogue within communities about which lands should be protected and which lands are allowed to become submerged. A second tripping point relates to conflict between existing environmental laws and their collective ability to respond to the impacts of global warming. For example, property owners are automatically issued permits for construction of hard shore-protection structures (e.g. bulkheads and revetments) without an assessment of their environmental impact. Normally, under the Clean Water Act, the impact of each permit is assessed separately, but there is a special expedited process for activities with no cumulative impact. The Corps of Engineers concluded that shore protection does not have a cumulative impact, and that might be true if shore erosion was rare and stable shores the general rule. But once we recognize that the sea level is rising, then shore erosion becomes the general rule and a cumulative impact is likely. Under the National Environmental Protection Act (NEPA), cumulative impacts have been defined as `the impacts of an activity ``added to other past present and reasonably future actions'' regardless of who takes the other actions'. If the NEPA were actually evoked, it would considerably delay permit approvals and substantially impact the Corps of Engineers' process for issuing permits. The potential impact of sea level rise clearly requires a holistic approach to

ASPECTS OF ECONOMIC CRISIS IN THE ADMINISTRATION OF GOVERNMENT DEBT

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

UDRIŞTIOIU ANCA ROXANA

2012-06-01

Full Text Available The recent years have been characterized by the general influence of the crisis on the economic growth of the states, thus triggering the significant rise in the level of budget deficit and public debt. Under these circumstances, it is highly important that we know the real causes of the rise in public debt, its effects, and also the management strategy of the government public debt. What we aim to do is to take a glimpse into the real economic situation of the country, and in order to understand the crisis impact on it, we will review the economic facts of the last 10 years.

Housing in China: State Governance, Market and Public Perception

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Emile Kok-Kheng Yeoh

2017-04-01

Full Text Available Chinese house prices have been receiving huge coverage in both the domestic and the international media. Although the Chinese government has implemented many policies to control house prices, especially in the big cities, it is obvious that there is disequilibrium between demand for and supply of houses. Even though numerous housing policies have been put in place to overcome that, house prices in China are still rising. Many Chinese citizens from the low- and middle-incomes group find it difficult to purchase a house in the cities due to high house prices. This paper covers the current situation of the house prices in China, introduces the existing state of affairs about the Chinese housing market, explores a series of important reasons for high house prices, examines various public policies the Chinese government is using to control real estate, as well as reveals the citizens’ perceptions related to rising house prices. To gauge citizens’ perception of the current state of affairs in this regard, a questionnaire survey was conducted to gather information with a final sample of 256 respondents from more than ten cities of different tiers in the different regions of China.

Public Sector Wage Growth in Alberta

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ken Boessenkool

2012-01-01

Full Text Available In recent years, Alberta’s fiscal stance has shifted from large surpluses to deficits, and a large part of the blame appears to be due to rising public sector salaries. Since 2000, the province’s public sector wage bill has shot up by 119 percent — almost double the rate of growth in the rest of Canada. Wages, previously roughly at par with the rest of the country, are now higher (in many cases very substantially across all public sector categories, including health care, social services, education and government, consuming 95 percent of the increase in provincial revenues over the past decade. At the same time, the number of public sector employees has grown faster than the overall population; it is difficult to attribute this sharp uptick to a rise in productivity, or the need to compete with private industry for skilled workers. This paper breaks down the increases in every category, arguing that if the provincial government is looking to trim expenditures, public sector salaries are a good place to start. The authors make their case using detailed Statistics Canada data, throwing down the gauntlet to defenders of the status quo and challenging them to justify these disparate increases.

Rising tides, rising gates: The complex ecogeomorphic response of coastal wetlands to sea-level rise and human interventions

Science.gov (United States)

Sandi, Steven G.; Rodríguez, José F.; Saintilan, Neil; Riccardi, Gerardo; Saco, Patricia M.

2018-04-01

Coastal wetlands are vulnerable to submergence due to sea-level rise, as shown by predictions of up to 80% of global wetland loss by the end of the century. Coastal wetlands with mixed mangrove-saltmarsh vegetation are particularly vulnerable because sea-level rise can promote mangrove encroachment on saltmarsh, reducing overall wetland biodiversity. Here we use an ecogeomorphic framework that incorporates hydrodynamic effects, mangrove-saltmarsh dynamics, and soil accretion processes to assess the effects of control structures on wetland evolution. Migration and accretion patterns of mangrove and saltmarsh are heavily dependent on topography and control structures. We find that current management practices that incorporate a fixed gate for the control of mangrove encroachment are useful initially, but soon become ineffective due to sea-level rise. Raising the gate, to counteract the effects of sea level rise and promote suitable hydrodynamic conditions, excludes mangrove and maintains saltmarsh over the entire simulation period of 100 years

Governance Strategies for a Sustainable Digital World

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Igor Linkov

2018-02-01

Full Text Available Digitalization is changing society by the increased connectivity and networking that digital technologies enable, such as enhancing communication, services, and trade. Increasingly, policymakers within various national governments and international organizations such as the United Nations (UN and Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD are examining the original sustainability policy concepts applied within the Brundtland Report of 1987 through the lens of digitalization. While the growth of a digital economy may increase productivity and benefit local and global economies, digitalization also raises potential sustainability challenges pertaining to social (i.e., the benefits or costs imposed by disruptive digital technologies upon social networks and ways of life, including threats to economic sustainability and the rise of economic disparity and environmental wellbeing (i.e., natural resource stewardship and concern for future generations driven by the automation of information processing and delivery of services. Various perspectives have been raised regarding how the process of digitalization might be governed, and national governments remain at odds regarding a single best strategy to promote sustainable digitalization using the Brundtland concept to meet the development needs of the present without compromising the needs of future generations (i.e., social and environmental well-being. This paper reviews three governance strategies that countries can use in conjunction with adaptive governance to respond to digitalization sustainability threats: (i a laissez-faire, industry-driven approach; (ii a precautionary and preemptive strategy on the part of government; and (iii a stewardship and “active surveillance” approach by government agencies that reduce the risks derived from digitalization while promoting private sector innovation. Regardless of a state’s digital governance response and how it is shaped by

Superphenix set to rise again

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Dorozynski, A.

1993-01-01

Superphenix, France's seemingly jinxed fast breeder reactor, which has not produced a single kilowatt of energy in more than 3 years, looks set to rise up next year like the mythical bird it is named after. The $5 billion reactor, the largest fast breeder in the world, has just been given the seal of approval by a public commission ordered by the government to look at the pros and cons of restarting. It still has hoops to jump through: a safety check and approval from the ministries of industries and environment. But the consortium of French, Italian, and German power utilities that run the plant are confident they can get it running by next summer. The Superphenix that rises out of the ashes will, however, be a different species of bird from the one planned 20 years ago. The consortium plans to turn the reactor into a debreeder, one that will incinerate more plutonium than it produces and so eat into Europe's plutonium stockpile. Calculations by Superphenix staff and the Atomic Energy Commission indicate that a plutonivorous fast breeder could incinerate 15 to 25 kilograms of plutonium while producing 1 billion kilowatt-hours of electricity-scarcely enough to make a dent in the tonnes of plutonium produced by Electricite de France's reactors each year. The Superphenix consortium is anxious to get the reactor back on line. The annual cost of upkeep and repair of the idle plant and salaries for its 700 staff may reach $140 million this year, 20% more than if the plant was running normally. If restarted, the existing core and a second one ready on the shelf will generate electricity worth $1.3 billion

Challenging the Chain : Governing the Automated Exchange and Processing of Business Information

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Bharosa, N.; Van Wijk, R.; De Winne, N.; Janssen, M.F.W.H.A.

2015-01-01

What is digital business reporting? Why do we need it? And how can we improve it? This book aims to address these questions by illustrating the rise of system-to-system information exchange and the opportunities for improving transparency and accountability. Governments around the world are looking

Shifting blame/selling health: corporate social responsibility in the age of obesity.

Science.gov (United States)

Herrick, Clare

2009-01-01

This paper examines how and why health has become a Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) strategy for the global food and drink industry (FDI) in the context of current governmental and public calls to address mounting obesity rates. It argues that, despite the current prominence of health within CSR, there has not been a reciprocal interest by those adopting sociological approaches to the study of health and illness in the implications of this strategic uptake of health or in the viability and legitimacy of the state's own public health role. This omission is addressed through an empirical exploration of three contentions: first, that health and wellbeing may be used to secure brand value and consumer goodwill at a time when mounting obesity rates demand new levels of accountability from the FDI. Secondly, that the food industry, through CSR, may promote a narrow epidemiological understanding of obesity, shifting blame from 'foods' to 'diet' and from 'diet' to 'sedentarism'. Thirdly, that CSR reporting and its associated practices have enabled the food industry to assume some responsibility for obesity prevention, thereby problematising the state's role in addressing its own 'public health' crisis.

A dual-motive model of scapegoating: displacing blame to reduce guilt or increase control.

Science.gov (United States)

Rothschild, Zachary K; Landau, Mark J; Sullivan, Daniel; Keefer, Lucas A

2012-06-01

The authors present a model that specifies 2 psychological motives underlying scapegoating, defined as attributing inordinate blame for a negative outcome to a target individual or group, (a) maintaining perceived personal moral value by minimizing feelings of guilt over one's responsibility for a negative outcome and (b) maintaining perceived personal control by obtaining a clear explanation for a negative outcome that otherwise seems inexplicable. Three studies supported hypotheses derived from this dual-motive model. Framing a negative outcome (environmental destruction or climate change) as caused by one's own harmful actions (value threat) or unknown sources (control threat) both increased scapegoating, and these effects occurred indirectly through feelings of guilt and perceived personal control, respectively (Study 1), and were differentially moderated by affirmations of moral value and personal control (Study 2). Also, scapegoating in response to value threat versus control threat produced divergent, theoretically specified effects on self-perceptions and behavioral intentions (Study 3). 2012 APA, all rights reserved

Our winters of discontent : addressing the problem of rising home heating costs

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hughes, L.; Wysocki, A.

2006-03-01

The cost of space heating may soon increase due to rising fuel prices in international energy markets and the absence of federal and provincial energy security policies. This report examined the benefits and disadvantages of 2 approaches to assist those with limited incomes to meet heating requirements: (1) offering Low Income Fuel Assistance (LIFA) as a one-time payment during the heating season; and (2) the elimination of taxes for home heating fuels. The cost of home heating fuels and their impacts on consumers and governments were considered. A review of the Nova Scotia government's Keep the Heat program noted that the program was not responsive to increases in the price of home heating fuel, particularly if increases in a year exceeded the level of assistance. It was suggested that the removal of heating sales taxes could provide unnecessary windfalls to households with large homes, as well as windfall profits for landlords if savings were not passed on to tenants. Using Nova Scotia as a case study, an alternative support system was considered that guaranteed a set price for heating fuel for those in need. It was suggested that this approach could cost less than a lump-sum payment or the elimination of taxes on home-heating fuel. In addition, the approach would provide low-income consumers with predictable and affordable prices. It was concluded that as space heating energy costs continue to rise, all government fuel assistance programs run the risk of becoming larger and more costly. Other solutions included reducing Canada's dependence on fossil fuels through the use of solar energy; the reduction of residential energy demand; and the promotion of district heating. 26 refs., 9 tabs., 3 figs

Natural resources and government revenue : recent trends in Saskatchewan

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Warnock, J.W.

2005-01-01

This document discusses recent trends in Saskatchewan regarding natural resources and government revenue. It discusses the history of politics in terms of government expenditure and investment in natural resources; the polarization between urban and rural areas; natural resources and capital accumulation and economic rent and royalties from resource extraction. The document also discusses several industries in Saskatchewan including petroleum, natural gas discovery and extraction. Uranium and coal mining activities were also documented along with other minerals such as gold, diamonds, and sodium sulphate. The article focused on the share of economic rent going to the general public compared to the amount going to private corporations. The author argued that with rising prices for natural resources, the provincial government has been transferring billions of dollars of resources rent to private investors by reducing royalties, fees and taxes. This has resulted in less revenue for the provincial government to spend on programs such as health, education and public services. The author suggested that concerted efforts must be put forward to put the issue of the public role in resource development back on the government agenda. 99 refs., 7 tabs

The Imperative to Protect Data and the Rise of Surveillance Cameras in Administering National Testing in Russia

Science.gov (United States)

Piattoeva, Nelli

2016-01-01

This article discusses the effects of the datafication and digitalisation of education policy in the context of the Russian Federation. It taps into the policies and practices invented as a result of rising audit cultures and the scientisation and datafication of education governance. These processes turn sites of public examinations into sites of…

Genome-driven evolutionary game theory helps understand the rise of metabolic interdependencies in microbial communities.

Science.gov (United States)

Zomorrodi, Ali R; Segrè, Daniel

2017-11-16

Metabolite exchanges in microbial communities give rise to ecological interactions that govern ecosystem diversity and stability. It is unclear, however, how the rise of these interactions varies across metabolites and organisms. Here we address this question by integrating genome-scale models of metabolism with evolutionary game theory. Specifically, we use microbial fitness values estimated by metabolic models to infer evolutionarily stable interactions in multi-species microbial "games". We first validate our approach using a well-characterized yeast cheater-cooperator system. We next perform over 80,000 in silico experiments to infer how metabolic interdependencies mediated by amino acid leakage in Escherichia coli vary across 189 amino acid pairs. While most pairs display shared patterns of inter-species interactions, multiple deviations are caused by pleiotropy and epistasis in metabolism. Furthermore, simulated invasion experiments reveal possible paths to obligate cross-feeding. Our study provides genomically driven insight into the rise of ecological interactions, with implications for microbiome research and synthetic ecology.

Federal government and the domestic uranium market: an application of the theory of rational expectations

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Larsen, M.W.

1978-01-01

Domestic uranium prices began to rise dramatically in 1973 after having experienced virtually no change for nearly seven years. This thesis puts forth the proposal that the cause of the increase was the simultaneous occurrence of several unanticipated events. It is argued here that the government's aboutface decision not to sell uranium from its stockpiles, the sudden unavailability of low-cost foreign uranium, and the coincidental occurrence of the Arab oil embargo and widespread materials shortages, caused uranium prices to rise faster and higher than was or could have been anticipated at the time. A sudden change in the federal government's enrichment contracting procedure triggered the initial increases in early 1973. The sequence of events suggest that the instability witnessed in the market was due to the occurrence of unanticipated events, in general, and unexpected changes in government policies, in particular. The policy problem is due to the fact that the federal government has, from the inception of the domestic uranium industry, shaped its structure and direction. It is clear that this influence is likely to continue. To the extent that the hypothesis is correct, the government needs to better evaluate the indirect impact of its policies upon people's expectations. In order to evaluate the hypothesis an econometric model of the domestic uranium market incorporating the theory of rational expectations is developed

Water Scarcity in England and Wales as a Failure of (metaGovernance

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Gareth Walker

2014-06-01

Full Text Available The water crisis is often said to be a crisis of governance failure rather than of availability per se; yet the sources of this failure are poorly understood. This paper examines contemporary water scarcity in England and Wales as a failure of ecological modernity, in which technical and institutional innovation is promoted as a means of increasing economic efficiency in the allocation and use of water resources. The role of the state in fostering this innovation is explored through exploring a shift from 'government' to 'governance'. The paper employs Jessopʼs theory of meta-governance to examine governance failure. Meta-governance represents the capacity of the state to flank or support the emergence of specific forms of governance through mobilising material or symbolic resources. Three sources of governance failure are explored: (1 the nature of capitalist exchange and its resulting production of nature, (2 the political dimensions implicit in meta-governance, and (3 the nature of governance as a task of self-organisation. The model is then applied to the rise of water scarcity in England and Wales from the 1970s to the present day. The utility of the model in analysing governance failure is discussed.

Effect of sea-level rise on salt water intrusion near a coastal well field in southeastern Florida.

Science.gov (United States)

Langevin, Christian D; Zygnerski, Michael

2013-01-01

A variable-density groundwater flow and dispersive solute transport model was developed for the shallow coastal aquifer system near a municipal supply well field in southeastern Florida. The model was calibrated for a 105-year period (1900 to 2005). An analysis with the model suggests that well-field withdrawals were the dominant cause of salt water intrusion near the well field, and that historical sea-level rise, which is similar to lower-bound projections of future sea-level rise, exacerbated the extent of salt water intrusion. Average 2005 hydrologic conditions were used for 100-year sensitivity simulations aimed at quantifying the effect of projected rises in sea level on fresh coastal groundwater resources near the well field. Use of average 2005 hydrologic conditions and a constant sea level result in total dissolved solids (TDS) concentration of the well field exceeding drinking water standards after 70 years. When sea-level rise is included in the simulations, drinking water standards are exceeded 10 to 21 years earlier, depending on the specified rate of sea-level rise. Published 2012. This article is a U.S. Government work and is in the public domain in the USA.

The orthopaedist's role in healthcare system governance.

Science.gov (United States)

Probe, Robert A

2013-06-01

Historically, physicians as participants in healthcare governance were shunned because of perceived potential for conflict of interest. This maxim is being revisited as health systems begin to appreciate the value presented by physician leaders. This overview of the orthopaedist's role in healthcare governance will be addressed in three sections: first to identify the need for change in American healthcare, second to examine the role that physicians should play in governing over this inevitable change, and third to outline strategies for effective participation for those physicians wishing to play a role in healthcare governance. The PubMed data set was queried applying the search commands "governance AND (healthcare OR hospital) AND (doctor OR physician OR surgeon)" for the time period 1969 to 2012. In addition, the bibliographies of relevant articles were reviewed. This search strategy returned 404 titles. Abstract and article review identified 19 relevant to the topic. Bibliographic review identified five more articles of relevance forming the foundation for this review. The delivery of American health care will require change to face current economic realities. Organizations that embrace this change guided by the insight of physician governors are well positioned to recognize the simultaneous improvement in value and quality. Although few physicians are formally trained for these roles, multiple paths to becoming effective governors are available. In this environment of rapid change in healthcare delivery, the medical insight of physician leadership will prove invaluable. Governing bodies should reach out to talented physicians and administratively talented physicians should rise to this challenge.

The effects of local government investment on economic growth and employment: evidence from transitional China

Institute of Scientific and Technical Information of China (English)

Zhang Weiguo; Hou Yongjian

2009-01-01

Based on the panel data of 28 provinces in the year of 1987-2001,this paper examines the effects of the local government investment on economic growth and employment.The empirical result shows that the local government investment plays a significant positive role in economic growth and emplovment.However,while the proportion of local government investment to GDP had a remarkable rise after 1998.the elasticity of local government investment on economic growth declined,which shows that there is a hig room for raising the efficiency of local government mvestment.Moreover,the empirical examination shows that although local government investment had positive effect on employment,the elasticity had a decrease after 1994 when the tax-sharing system reform was put into practice.This shows that the positive role of local government investment on emplovment is also limited.This paper argues that the role of local governments as investors must be weakened,and local governments of different levels should lessen direct economic intervention and concentrate on public regulation.

'Good Governance' dan 'Governability'

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

- Pratikno

2005-03-01

Full Text Available The article endeavors to trace the outset of governance concept, its dominant meanings and discourse, and its implication towards governability. The central role of government in the governing processes has predominantly been adopted. The concept of governance was emerged precisely in the context of the failure of government as key player in regulation, economic redistribution and political participation. Governance is therefore aimed to emphasize pattern of governing which are based both on democratic mechanism and sound development management. However, practices of such good governance concept –which are mainly adopted and promoted by donor states and agencies– tend to degrade state and/or government authority and legitimacy. Traditional function of the state as sole facilitator of equal societal, political and legal membership among citizens has been diminished. The logic of fair competition has been substituted almost completely by the logic of free competition in nearly all sectors of public life. The concept and practices of good governance have resulted in decayed state authority and failed state which in turn created a condition for "ungovernability". By promoting democratic and humane governance, the article accordingly encourages discourse to reinstall and bring the idea of accountable state back in.

Paternal exposure not to blame

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Doll, R.; Darby, S.C.; Evans, H.J.

1994-01-01

The report ten years ago of an unexpectedly large number of cases of leukaemia in young people in Seascale, a small town 3 km south of the Sellafield nuclear reprocessing plant in northwest England, has given rise to much public concern and much scientific research. The idea that the increased number of cases might have been due to local pollution from radioactive waste did not seem likely, and interest focused instead on an alternative explanation that has come to be called ''Gardner's hypothesis''. This hypothesis postulated that the men's exposure to ionizing radiation in the course of their work led to mutations in their sperm which increased substantially the risk of leukaemia in their children. This led to a court case in which two families sought compensation from the company which operates the plant, British Nuclear Fuels. In the course of the case a great deal of new evidence became available which justifies the conclusion that the hypothesis is wrong. (author)

Global sea-level rise is recognised, but flooding from anthropogenic land subsidence is ignored around northern Manila Bay, Philippines.

Science.gov (United States)

Rodolfo, Kelvin S; Siringan, Fernando P

2006-03-01

Land subsidence resulting from excessive extraction of groundwater is particularly acute in East Asian countries. Some Philippine government sectors have begun to recognise that the sea-level rise of one to three millimetres per year due to global warming is a cause of worsening floods around Manila Bay, but are oblivious to, or ignore, the principal reason: excessive groundwater extraction is lowering the land surface by several centimetres to more than a decimetre per year. Such ignorance allows the government to treat flooding as a lesser problem that can be mitigated through large infrastructural projects that are both ineffective and vulnerable to corruption. Money would be better spent on preventing the subsidence by reducing groundwater pumping and moderating population growth and land use, but these approaches are politically and psychologically unacceptable. Even if groundwater use is greatly reduced and enlightened land-use practices are initiated, natural deltaic subsidence and global sea-level rise will continue to aggravate flooding, although at substantially lower rates.

Near East/South Asia Report, No. 2750

National Research Council Canada - National Science Library

1983-01-01

Partial COntents: Organization Members, Arrested, Relations, Government Blamed, Agricultural Sector, High Technology Industry, First Thermoplastics, Energy, Export,World Bank, Liabilities, Economy, New Grants...

Governance by Diffusion: Transnational Municipal Networks and the Spread of Local Climate Strategies in Europe

OpenAIRE

Lukas Hakelberg

2014-01-01

Cities have become crucial actors for the global governance of climate change. Their increased activity in this field is reflected by the rising number of adoptions of local climate strategies in an original sample of 274 European cities from 1992 to 2009. Using event history analysis, I find that this spread is promoted by transnational municipal networks (TMNs) successfully deploying strategies for governance by diffusion, their impact exceeding that of most alternative explanatory factors ...

The territoriality of spatial-economic governance in historical perspective: the case of the Netherlands

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Lagendijk, A.; Boekema, F.W.M.; Arts, B.J.M.; Lagendijk, A.; Houtum, H.J. van

2009-01-01

This chapter explores how shifts in governmentality and the rise of new forms of governance in the field of regional innovation policies have impacted upon perspectives on territoriality and practices of territorialisation. The debate centres on two dominant perspectives, both endorsed by

When network governance is needed to control IT-applications used in coordination and innovation

NARCIS (Netherlands)

de Graaf, Frank Jan; Velthuijsen, Hugo

2010-01-01

IT-based networking trends such as the rise of social media, crowd sourcing, open innovation, and cloud computing enable a profoundly different way of working and collaborating that challenges significantly traditional approaches of companies towards governance, i.e. the mechanisms a company employs

Implementing information technology in government: An empirical assessment of the role of local partnerships

NARCIS (Netherlands)

O'Toole, Laurence J.; Brown, Mary Maureen; Brudney, Jeffrey L.

1998-01-01

As managers have turned to advanced technologies to promote service delivery, partnership arrangements have attracted great attention. Given the struggle between limited fiscal capacities and rising public expectations, the use of partnerships has emerged as a strategy of government leaders who wish

Governability in Contemporary Mexico

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Leonardo Curzio Gutiérrez

1998-04-01

Full Text Available Given the difficulties to establish a concept of governability and the frequent ideological usage of the term, it is much more operative to turn to the principle of governability, in the broad sense, which supports itself on five pillars: the political legitimacy of the government, the governmental efficiency to attend to the demands of society, the existence of shared social project, the agreement with the principle special interest groups, and international viability. The analysis of the structure and relevance of these five points during the long period of political transition that Mexico underwent between 1988 and 1997 shows how it was possible for this country to play off certain factors against each other in order to secure governability and safeguard against the consequences of any resultant imbalances. Between 1998-1993, the government of Salinas de Gotari based itself on the viability of a neoliberal project within an international context, and on this projectís attention to domestic demands as well as on the governmentís pact with elites. Institutional integration and legitimacy made up, then, for a process of discreet liberalization and the lack of democratic electoral commitment, which culminated in the PRI’s 1994 elections victory.The assassination of Colosia, though, and the appearance of the EZLN and the subsequent crisis surrounding the peso’s devaluation that accompanied Ernesto Zedilloís rise to power soon led to the collapse of those pillars of support. Crowning the process of the silenttransition were the elections of 1997, which makes it possible to say that in Mexico today there are now smooth elections, but that reform of the State is still unresolved —a subject that includes the reduction of the president’s competence. Seen in the short term, the most direct threats to Mexico’s governability will come as a result of the lack of attention to those demands of society’s underprivileged and the ill

The dilemas of the new left-wing governments in Latin America

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Carlos Moreira

2007-12-01

Full Text Available After two decades of neoliberalism, a wave of leftist governments shakes Latin America. In just one half a decade, they have been transforming the political geography and raising four questions: 1. In what sense can one speak about homogeneous left-wave of new Latin American governments?; 2. Will they mean a change in the ways of making politics?; 3. To what extent will they give an efficient solution to the social crisis of the post market reforms stage?; and 4. Which are the main ideas and principles in order to govern a big part of Latin America from now to the next future? In order to approach these questions, do we explore "models of governability" that rise in Latin American, taking into account three dimensions: the institutional, the public policy dimension and the symbolic one. Conclusions –temporary given the recent events-, state that we are in front of a decisive process for the history of the Latin American left.

Theories of coalition formation: An empirical test using data from Danish local government

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Skjæveland, Asbjørn; Serritzlew, Søren; Blom-Hansen, Jens

2007-01-01

Theories of coalition formation represent a diverse set of arguments about why some government coalitions form while others do not. In this article, the authors present a systematic empirical test of the relative importance of the various arguments. The test is designed to avoid a circularity...... problem present in many coalition studies - namely that the theories are tested on data of national government coalitions in postwar Europe: the very data that gave rise to the theories in the first place. Instead, the authors focus on government coalitions at the municipal level. They base their analysis...... on office and policy motives. At the same time, the analysis raises the question of whether actors really seek minimal coalitions....

A Study of the BRICS Bank from the Perspective of Global Financial Governance

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Bo, Peng

2014-01-01

The transition of the global financial governance system is a history of the rise and fall of the Western advanced countries in the post-war international political and economic system. Since the end of the Second World War, the International Monetary Foundation and the World Bank have always taken...... the dominant role in the field of global financial governance. However, after the beginning of the global financial crisis in 2008, many drawbacks have become apparent concerning these two significant institutions, such as the lack of representatives, the slow and ineffective response to the crisis, etc...

The Politics of Surprise Devaluations: Modelling Motives for Giving Up a Peg

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Bohn, F.

2013-01-01

Planned ‘‘surprise’’ devaluations are often spurred by non-economic circumstances: a rentseeking government; political instability; or the opportunity to put the blame on a predecessor government. In this paper, these aspects are incorporated in the monetary and fiscal policy framework first

Sea Level Rise in the 21st Century: Will projections ever become reliable?

Science.gov (United States)

Willis, J. K.

2014-12-01

Global sea level rise has the potential to become one of the most costly and least well predicted impacts of human caused climate change. Unlike global surface temperature, the spread of possible scenarios (as little as 1 foot and as much as 6 feet by 2100) is not due to uncertainty about future rates of greenhouse gas emissions, but rather by a fundamental lack of knowledge about how the major ice sheets will behave in a warming climate. Clearly improved projections of sea level rise should become a major research priority in the next decade. At present, controversial techniques based on comparison with historical analogs and rates of recent warming and sea level rise are often used to create projections for the 21st Century. However, many in the scientific community feel that reliable projections must be based on a sound knowledge of the physics governing sea level rise, and particularly ice sheet behavior. In particular, large portions of the West Antarctic Ice Sheet and parts of the Greenland Ice Sheet rest on solid earth that sits below sea level. These regions may be threatened, not by atmospheric warming or changes in precipitation, but rather by direct forcing from the ocean. Fledgling efforts to understand these ocean ice interactions are already underway, as are efforts to make improved models of ice sheet behavior. However a great deal of work is still needed before widely accepted projections of sea level rise become a reality. This paper will highlight the hurdles to making such projections today and suggest ways forward in this critical area of research.

Climate change and energy policies in Shanghai: A multilevel governance perspective

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Francesch-Huidobro, Maria

2016-01-01

Highlights: • Multilevel governance is a useful framework to understand how resources, tasks and power are distributed for decision making. • Shifts in national climate and energy policy mandate local governments to develop climate change and energy policies. • Local governments have greater autonomy for incorporating climate and energy issues into development goals. • Climate mitigation and energy policy is dominated by hierarchical governance. - Abstract: Despite growing interest in China’s response to climate change and energy security, studies undertaken at the subnational level are rare. In the context of the multilevel governance paradigm, this article examines the governance of climate change and energy policy in Shanghai, a rapidly growing Chinese megacity highly vulnerable to the effects of climate change. Although the energy and carbon intensity of Shanghai’s economy have fallen significantly since China launched its economic reforms, overall carbon emissions in the municipality continue to rise. Through examining the Shanghai case, this article argues that Chinese subnational climate mitigation policy is dominated by hierarchical governance arrangements. Nevertheless, shifts in national climate and energy policy since 2007 have mandated provincial-level governments, including Shanghai, to develop their own climate and energy policies while offering greater local autonomy for incorporating climate and energy issues into development goals: is this attributable to a decentred form of multilevel governance? The article concludes that Shanghai’s climate mitigation and energy policy is dominated by hierarchical governance whereby policies are ‘downloaded’ from the central government. Perspectives for other cities and insights for policymakers are discussed.

Plume rise from multiple sources

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Briggs, G.A.

1975-01-01

A simple enhancement factor for plume rise from multiple sources is proposed and tested against plume-rise observations. For bent-over buoyant plumes, this results in the recommendation that multiple-source rise be calculated as [(N + S)/(1 + S)]/sup 1/3/ times the single-source rise, Δh 1 , where N is the number of sources and S = 6 (total width of source configuration/N/sup 1/3/ Δh 1 )/sup 3/2/. For calm conditions a crude but simple method is suggested for predicting the height of plume merger and subsequent behavior which is based on the geometry and velocity variations of a single buoyant plume. Finally, it is suggested that large clusters of buoyant sources might occasionally give rise to concentrated vortices either within the source configuration or just downwind of it

A systems approach to accepted standards of care: Shifting the blame

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

David G. Glance

2011-09-01

Full Text Available In healthcare, from a legal perspective, the standard ofacceptable practice has been generally set by the courts anddefined as healthcare professionals acting in a manner thatis widely accepted by their peers as meeting an acceptablestandard of care. This view, however, reflects the state ofhow practice “is” rather than what it “ought to be”. What isought to be depends on whether you take a “person” or“system” oriented approach to practice.The increasing pressures of lack of money and resources,and an ever-increasing need for care are bringing pressureon the health services to move to a system approach andthis is gaining acceptance both with clinicians and thuseventually the courts.A systems-type approach to healthcare will, by necessity,embrace clinical protocols and guidelines supported byclinical information systems. It will also see blame for errorsshifting from clinicians to the organisations that employthem.This paper argues that a continued use of a person-basedapproach to healthcare, developed through an historicalrecord of practice by individual clinicians, is no longeradequate defence in a case of supposed negligence.When the healthcare system has codified clinical guidelinesand digital data gathered across thousands of clinicians andtheir patients, it is possible to compute adequate levels ofcare and expect clinicians and the healthcare system ingeneral to meet these minimum standards.Future negligence decisions will rely on a systems-basedbest practice standard of care determined through evidencerather than opinion

State and local governments plan for development of most land vulnerable to rising sea level along the US Atlantic coast

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Titus, J G; Hudgens, D E; Kassakian, J M; Trescott, D L; Craghan, M; Nuckols, W H; Hershner, C H; Linn, C J; Merritt, P G; McCue, T M; O'Connell, J F; Tanski, J; Wang, J

2009-01-01

Rising sea level threatens existing coastal wetlands. Overall ecosystems could often survive by migrating inland, if adjacent lands remained vacant. On the basis of 131 state and local land use plans, we estimate that almost 60% of the land below 1 m along the US Atlantic coast is expected to be developed and thus unavailable for the inland migration of wetlands. Less than 10% of the land below 1 m has been set aside for conservation. Environmental regulators routinely grant permits for shore protection structures (which block wetland migration) on the basis of a federal finding that these structures have no cumulative environmental impact. Our results suggest that shore protection does have a cumulative impact. If sea level rise is taken into account, wetland policies that previously seemed to comply with federal law probably violate the Clean Water Act.

Innovations in Sub-National Government in Europe Innovations in Sub-National Government in Europe

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Linze Schaap

2010-12-01

Full Text Available La mejora del gobierno se encuentra arraigada con frecuencia en los niveles descentralizados. En este artículo es el cambio dentro del gobierno mismo, principalmente la emergencia de la “gobernanza” y el cambio en el tamaño administrativo. Las reformas estructurales adoptan formas diversas: el aumento del tamaño para mejorar la capacidad del sistema, el aumento del tamaño para favorecer la participación ciudadana, y la reducción del tamaño para favorecer asimismo la participación ciudadana. Además, se advierten nuevas formas de acción dentro de los mismos gobiernos: cooperación transfronteriza, cooperación intermunicipal y nuevas formas de evaluación del rendimiento y de la gestión financiera. Los autores concluyen el artículo mencionando algunos desafíos para los académicos y para los gobiernos.Improvement in government is often rooted in decentralised layers of government. In this article the authors discuss the recent history of innovations in sub-national government in Europe. They focus on two general trends and developments. Cases of interesting practices and developments illustrate the general trends. For each general trend a distinction is made between two kinds of innovations: structural reforms and new ways of working within existing institutional settings. The first trend concerns changing relations between government, civil society and citizens, in response to the increased contestation of the nature of traditional representative democracy. Examples of structural reforms are: increased citizen participation, the expanded use of referenda and the introduction of the directly elected mayor. New ways of working are: forms of coproduction between the public sector and the third sector. The second trend described in this article is change within government itself, mainly the rise of ‘governance’ and changing administrative scales. Structural reforms take several forms: scale enlargement to enhance system capacity

Social Management of Gender Imbalance in China: A Holistic Governance Framework.

Science.gov (United States)

Shuzhuo, Li; Zijuan, Shang; Feldman, Marcus W

2013-08-31

Since the 1980s, the sex ratio at birth (abbreviated as SRB) in China has been rising and has remained extremely high. With rapid social transition, gender imbalance has become one of the most significant issues of China's social management and has raised many problems and challenges. Innovation in the management principles and public policies of social management urgently needs a new perspective of holistic governance framework. Based on the latest trends in gender imbalance, using data from China's 2010 Population Census, this paper firstly reviews China's strategic policy responses and actions concerning the governance of the male-skewed SRB. With holistic governance theory, we focus on China's "Care for Girls" campaign to analyze the current public policy system. This paper then reveals fragmentation in the current management of China's gender imbalance. Finally we propose a social management framework for addressing China's gender imbalance. The public system needs to be strengthened, and the Chinese government should focus more on vulnerable groups such as forced bachelors in rural areas, and try to bring those groups into the policy framework for governance of gender imbalance. The proposed theoretical framework may help Chinese governments at various levels to design and implement improved social management of gender imbalance issues.

Environmental governance in China: Interactions between the state and "nonstate actors".

Science.gov (United States)

Guttman, Dan; Young, Oran; Jing, Yijia; Bramble, Barbara; Bu, Maoliang; Chen, Carmen; Furst, Kathinka; Hu, Tao; Li, Yifei; Logan, Kate; Liu, Lingxuan; Price, Lydia; Spencer, Michael; Suh, Sangwon; Sun, Xiaopu; Tan, Bowen; Wang, Harold; Wang, Xin; Zhang, Juan; Zhang, Xinxin; Zeidan, Rodrigo

2018-08-15

In the West, limited government capacity to solve environmental problems has triggered the rise of a variety of "nonstate actors" to supplement government efforts or provide alternative mechanisms for addressing environmental issues. How does this development - along with our efforts to understand it - map onto environmental governance processes in China? China's efforts to address environmental issues reflect institutionalized governance processes that differ from parallel western processes in ways that have major consequences for domestic environmental governance practices and the governance of China "going abroad." China's governance processes blur the distinction between the state and other actors; the "shadow of the state" is a major factor in all efforts to address environmental issues. The space occupied by nonstate actors in western systems is occupied by shiye danwei ("public service units"), she hui tuanti ("social associations") and e-platforms, all of which have close links to the state. Meanwhile, international NGOs and multinational corporations are also significant players in China. As a result, the mechanisms of influence that produce effects in China differ in important ways from mechanisms familiar from the western experience. This conclusion has far-reaching implications for those seeking to address global environmental concerns, given the importance of China's growing economy and burgeoning network of trade relationships. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Revolution, Constitutions and Government in the Eighteenth Century: Hume and Bentham

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Paola Rudan

2014-12-01

Full Text Available We asked a series of questions to Luca Cobbe and Paola Rudan, authors of two books foregrounding the turning point of the 18th century by which, moving from the experience of the revolution, the structure of the constitution and configuration of government were deeply rethought. The two works, respectively about David Hume and Jeremy Bentham, contribute significantly to illuminate the way by which obedience has been reconsidered when society and opinion became the sources of political legitimation. This dialogue at distance clearly shows the presence of a plurality of constitutional registers which were necessary for the affirmation of the centrality of government in the era of the rising popular sovereignty.

Fate of water pumped from underground and contributions to sea-level rise

Science.gov (United States)

Wada, Yoshihide; Lo, Min-Hui; Yeh, Pat J.-F.; Reager, John T.; Famiglietti, James S.; Wu, Ren-Jie; Tseng, Yu-Heng

2016-08-01

The contributions from terrestrial water sources to sea-level rise, other than ice caps and glaciers, are highly uncertain and heavily debated. Recent assessments indicate that groundwater depletion (GWD) may become the most important positive terrestrial contribution over the next 50 years, probably equal in magnitude to the current contributions from glaciers and ice caps. However, the existing estimates assume that nearly 100% of groundwater extracted eventually ends up in the oceans. Owing to limited knowledge of the pathways and mechanisms governing the ultimate fate of pumped groundwater, the relative fraction of global GWD that contributes to sea-level rise remains unknown. Here, using a coupled climate-hydrological model simulation, we show that only 80% of GWD ends up in the ocean. An increase in runoff to the ocean accounts for roughly two-thirds, whereas the remainder results from the enhanced net flux of precipitation minus evaporation over the ocean, due to increased atmospheric vapour transport from the land to the ocean. The contribution of GWD to global sea-level rise amounted to 0.02 (+/-0.004) mm yr-1 in 1900 and increased to 0.27 (+/-0.04) mm yr-1 in 2000. This indicates that existing studies have substantially overestimated the contribution of GWD to global sea-level rise by a cumulative amount of at least 10 mm during the twentieth century and early twenty-first century. With other terrestrial water contributions included, we estimate the net terrestrial water contribution during the period 1993-2010 to be +0.12 (+/-0.04) mm yr-1, suggesting that the net terrestrial water contribution reported in the IPCC Fifth Assessment Report report is probably overestimated by a factor of three.

Regional approaches in high-rise construction

Science.gov (United States)

Iconopisceva, O. G.; Proskurin, G. A.

2018-03-01

The evolutionary process of high-rise construction is in the article focus. The aim of the study was to create a retrospective matrix reflecting the tasks of the study such as: structuring the most iconic high-rise objects within historic boundaries. The study is based on contemporary experience of high-rise construction in different countries. The main directions and regional specifics in the field of high-rise construction as well as factors influencing the further evolution process are analyzed. The main changes in architectural stylistics, form-building, constructive solutions that focus on the principles of energy efficiency and bio positivity of "sustainable buildings", as well as the search for a new typology are noted. The most universal constructive methods and solutions that turned out to be particularly popular are generalized. The new typology of high-rises and individual approach to urban context are noted. The results of the study as a graphical scheme made it possible to represent the whole high-rise evolution. The new spatial forms of high-rises lead them to new role within the urban environments. Futuristic hyperscalable concepts take the autonomous urban space functions itself and demonstrate us how high-rises can replace multifunctional urban fabric, developing it inside their shells.

Soil Structure Interaction Effect on High Rise and Low Rise Buildings

OpenAIRE

Divya Pathak; PAresh H. SHAH

2000-01-01

Effect of supporting soil on the response of structure has been analyzed in the present study. A low rise (G+ 5 storey) and a high rise (G+12 storey) building has been taken for the analysis. For both type of buildings, the response of building with and without consideration of soil structure interaction effect has been compared.Without interaction case is the case in which ends of the structure are assumed to be fixed while in interaction case, structure is assumed to be...

Thoughts on the Role of Government in the Development of World-Class Universities in China

Science.gov (United States)

Guangcai, Yan

2011-01-01

Looking at the rise of world-class universities through history, creating an institutional environment in which universities are relatively autonomous, while also ensuring effective material support from the government is essential for the formation of world-class universities. It is worth examining the deteriorating academic environment in China…

Relationship between government expenditure and output in the problematic regions in the European Union

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Irena Szarowská

2013-12-01

Full Text Available Economic and debt crisis has increased the attention paid to the development of government expenditure in problematic regions in the European Union. The goal of the article is to provide direct empirical evidence on cyclicality and the long-term and short-term relationship between government expenditure and output in the Portugal, Ireland, Italy, Greece and Spain in a period 1995–2011. We have applied Johansen cointegration test and the error correction model on adjusted annual data of GDP and government expenditure in compliance with the COFOG international standard. Research confirms procyclical development of government expenditure functions on GDP in the selected countries; this procyclicality is in line with development typical for developing countries. Moreover, output and government expenditure are cointegrated for at least six of the expenditure categories in every country and it implies a long-term relationship between government expenditure and output consistent with Wagner’s law. The values of the coefficients for the short-run relationship between expenditure and output confirm the voracity hypothesis, as they suggest that in response to a given shock to real GDP, government expenditure rises by even more in percentage points.

HiRISE: The People's Camera

Science.gov (United States)

McEwen, A. S.; Eliason, E.; Gulick, V. C.; Spinoza, Y.; Beyer, R. A.; HiRISE Team

2010-12-01

The High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment (HiRISE) camera, orbiting Mars since 2006 on the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO), has returned more than 17,000 large images with scales as small as 25 cm/pixel. From it’s beginning, the HiRISE team has followed “The People’s Camera” concept, with rapid release of useful images, explanations, and tools, and facilitating public image suggestions. The camera includes 14 CCDs, each read out into 2 data channels, so compressed images are returned from MRO as 28 long (up to 120,000 line) images that are 1024 pixels wide (or binned 2x2 to 512 pixels, etc.). This raw data is very difficult to use, especially for the public. At the HiRISE operations center the raw data are calibrated and processed into a series of B&W and color products, including browse images and JPEG2000-compressed images and tools to make it easy for everyone to explore these enormous images (see http://hirise.lpl.arizona.edu/). Automated pipelines do all of this processing, so we can keep up with the high data rate; images go directly to the format of the Planetary Data System (PDS). After students visually check each image product for errors, they are fully released just 1 month after receipt; captioned images (written by science team members) may be released sooner. These processed HiRISE images have been incorporated into tools such as Google Mars and World Wide Telescope for even greater accessibility. 51 Digital Terrain Models derived from HiRISE stereo pairs have been released, resulting in some spectacular flyover movies produced by members of the public and viewed up to 50,000 times according to YouTube. Public targeting began in 2007 via NASA Quest (http://marsoweb.nas.nasa.gov/HiRISE/quest/) and more than 200 images have been acquired, mostly by students and educators. At the beginning of 2010 we released HiWish (http://www.uahirise.org/hiwish/), opening HiRISE targeting to anyone in the world with Internet access, and already more

Evaluating e-Government and Good Governance Correlation

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Suhardi Suhardi

2016-03-01

Full Text Available Assessing the achievement of Indonesian government institutions in implementing e-government has been conducted since around a decade ago. Several national assessments are available with almost the same ranking results. There is an agreement that the ultimate goal of e-government implementation is to achieve good government governance (GGG, while success stories of e-government require good governance practices. This study explored the correlation between e-government achievement and GGG achievement in Indonesia. Spearman’s rank correlation was used to characterize the relationship strength between e-government assessment results and good governance assessment results. The data were collected from institutions that participated in e-government and good governance assessments. The results showed that the correlation between these two entities is not very strong. Most cases showed that e-government implementation and the achievement of good governance have only a moderate positive correlation and none of the studied cases indicated a significant connection. This result can be attributed to the lack of emphasis on goals achievement in the assessments. Thus, it is recommended that future Indonesian e-government assessments should involve impact indicators.

Control mechanisms in corporate governance

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Jovanović-Zattila Milena

2016-01-01

Full Text Available The structure of corporate governance is determined by the distribution of rights and responsibilities among different actors in the company structure. Organizationally complex structure of corporate entities, established as a reflection of composite forms of business corporations, give rise to the conflict of interest between the owners, the board of directors and managers, which is generally known as the principal-agency problem. Given the fact that operations of modern companies include interaction with a large number of stakeholders, matters of ethics and accountability to the owners, employees, creditors and the state are the basic postulates which have been subject to re-examination lately. The reasons for reassessing these issues are to be sought in numerous abuses by companies, which are on the other hand highly active in their effors to protect themselves from similar abuses (mainy cyber crime. In order to respond to new challenges and requirements, which include providing for the interests of both shareholders and stakeholders, corporate management is required to establish an adequate system of internal control covering all company activities. Contemporary trends in the development of internal audit, as a mechanism of good corporate governance, are reflected in providing advice in respect of anticipated future risks and risk management.

Assessing Sea Level Rise Impacts on the Surficial Aquifer in the Kennedy Space Center Region

Science.gov (United States)

Xiao, H.; Wang, D.; Hagen, S. C.; Medeiros, S. C.; Warnock, A. M.; Hall, C. R.

2014-12-01

Global sea level rise in the past century due to climate change has been seen at an average rate of approximately 1.7-2.2 mm per year, with an increasing rate over the next century. The increasing SLR rate poses a severe threat to the low-lying land surface and the shallow groundwater system in the Kennedy Space Center in Florida, resulting in saltwater intrusion and groundwater induced flooding. A three-dimensional groundwater flow and salinity transport model is implemented to investigate and evaluate the extent of floods due to rising water table as well as saltwater intrusion. The SEAWAT model is chosen to solve the variable-density groundwater flow and salinity transport governing equations and simulate the regional-scale spatial and temporal evolution of groundwater level and chloride concentration. The horizontal resolution of the model is 50 m, and the vertical domain includes both the Surficial Aquifer and the Floridan Aquifer. The numerical model is calibrated based on the observed hydraulic head and chloride concentration. The potential impacts of sea level rise on saltwater intrusion and groundwater induced flooding are assessed under various sea level rise scenarios. Based on the simulation results, the potential landward movement of saltwater and freshwater fringe is projected. The existing water supply wells are examined overlaid with the projected salinity distribution map. The projected Surficial Aquifer water tables are overlaid with data of high resolution land surface elevation, land use and land cover, and infrastructure to assess the potential impacts of sea level rise. This study provides useful tools for decision making on ecosystem management, water supply planning, and facility management.

Rise of an argon bubble in liquid steel in the presence of a transverse magnetic field

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Jin, K.; Kumar, P.; Vanka, S. P., E-mail: spvanka@illinois.edu [Department of Mechanical Science and Engineering, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, Illinois 61801 (United States); Thomas, B. G. [Department of Mechanical Science and Engineering, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, Illinois 61801 (United States); Department of Mechanical Engineering, Colorado School of Mines, Brown Hall W370-B, 1610 Illinois Street, Golden, Colorado 80401 (United States)

2016-09-15

The rise of gaseous bubbles in viscous liquids is a fundamental problem in fluid physics, and it is also a common phenomenon in many industrial applications such as materials processing, food processing, and fusion reactor cooling. In this work, the motion of a single argon gas bubble rising in quiescent liquid steel under an external magnetic field is studied numerically using a Volume-of-Fluid method. To mitigate spurious velocities normally generated during numerical simulation of multiphase flows with large density differences, an improved algorithm for surface tension modeling, originally proposed by Wang and Tong [“Deformation and oscillations of a single gas bubble rising in a narrow vertical tube,” Int. J. Therm. Sci. 47, 221–228 (2008)] is implemented, validated and used in the present computations. The governing equations are integrated by a second-order space and time accurate numerical scheme, and implemented on multiple Graphics Processing Units with high parallel efficiency. The motion and terminal velocities of the rising bubble under different magnetic fields are compared and a reduction in rise velocity is seen in cases with the magnetic field applied. The shape deformation and the path of the bubble are discussed. An elongation of the bubble along the field direction is seen, and the physics behind these phenomena is discussed. The wake structures behind the bubble are visualized and effects of the magnetic field on the wake structures are presented. A modified drag coefficient is obtained to include the additional resistance force caused by adding a transverse magnetic field.

Rise of an argon bubble in liquid steel in the presence of a transverse magnetic field

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Jin, K.; Kumar, P.; Vanka, S. P.; Thomas, B. G.

2016-01-01

The rise of gaseous bubbles in viscous liquids is a fundamental problem in fluid physics, and it is also a common phenomenon in many industrial applications such as materials processing, food processing, and fusion reactor cooling. In this work, the motion of a single argon gas bubble rising in quiescent liquid steel under an external magnetic field is studied numerically using a Volume-of-Fluid method. To mitigate spurious velocities normally generated during numerical simulation of multiphase flows with large density differences, an improved algorithm for surface tension modeling, originally proposed by Wang and Tong [“Deformation and oscillations of a single gas bubble rising in a narrow vertical tube,” Int. J. Therm. Sci. 47, 221–228 (2008)] is implemented, validated and used in the present computations. The governing equations are integrated by a second-order space and time accurate numerical scheme, and implemented on multiple Graphics Processing Units with high parallel efficiency. The motion and terminal velocities of the rising bubble under different magnetic fields are compared and a reduction in rise velocity is seen in cases with the magnetic field applied. The shape deformation and the path of the bubble are discussed. An elongation of the bubble along the field direction is seen, and the physics behind these phenomena is discussed. The wake structures behind the bubble are visualized and effects of the magnetic field on the wake structures are presented. A modified drag coefficient is obtained to include the additional resistance force caused by adding a transverse magnetic field.

GOVERNING BOARD OF THE PENSION FUND

CERN Multimedia

2000-01-01

The Governing Board held its 97th meeting on 5 December. On this occasion, it took note of the Draft Resolution on the Conclusions of the Five-Yearly Review 2000, one of which relates to the adjustment of the contribution rates to the Pension Fund which would rise from 9.37 % to 10.12 % of the reference salary for the members and fall from 21 % to 20.25 % of the reference salary for the Organization with effect from 1.1.2001. The Governing Board noted that those adjustments would not alter the overall contribution rate, which remains at 30.37 %. Consequently, it agreed to the proposed changes. The corresponding amendments to the Rules and Regulations of the Pension Fund will come into force with effect from 1.1.2001. The Board also took note of a request in the draft Resolution relating to three studies in addition to the triennial actuarial review as at 1.1.2001, namely 1) to study the financial consequences for the Fund of the proposed increase in the staff of 170 posts over the period 2002-2008, 2) to asse...

Exploring information-seeking processes by business: analyzing source and channel choices in business-to-government service interactions

NARCIS (Netherlands)

van den Boer, Yvon; Pieterson, Willem Jan; van Dijk, Johannes A.G.M.; Arendsen, R.

2016-01-01

With the rise of electronic channels it has become easier for businesses to consult various types of information sources in information-seeking processes. Governments are urged to rethink their role as reliable information source and the roles of their (electronic) service channels to provide

Investigation of wind behaviour around high-rise buildings

Science.gov (United States)

Mat Isa, Norasikin; Fitriah Nasir, Nurul; Sadikin, Azmahani; Ariff Hairul Bahara, Jamil

2017-09-01

A study on the investigation of wind behaviour around the high-rise buildings is done through an experiment using a wind tunnel and computational fluid dynamics. High-rise buildings refer to buildings or structures that have more than 12 floors. Wind is invisible to the naked eye; thus, it is hard to see and analyse its flow around and over buildings without the use of proper methods, such as the use of wind tunnel and computational fluid dynamics software.The study was conducted on buildings located in Presint 4, Putrajaya, Malaysia which is the Ministry of Rural and Regional Development, Ministry of Information Communications and Culture, Ministry of Urban Wellbeing, Housing and Local Government and the Ministry of Women, Family, and Community by making scaled models of the buildings. The parameters in which this study is conducted on are, four different wind velocities used based on the seasonal monsoons, and wind direction. ANSYS Fluent workbench software is used to compute the simulations in order to achieve the objectives of this study. The data from the computational fluid dynamics are validated with the experiment done through the wind tunnel. From the results obtained through the use of the computation fluid dynamics, this study can identify the characteristics of wind around buildings, including boundary layer of the buildings, separation flow, wake region and etc. Then analyses is conducted on the occurance resulting from the wind that passes the buildings based on the velocity difference between before and after the wind passes the buildings.

Rise, stagnation, and rise of Danish women's life expectancy

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Lindahl-Jacobsen, Rune; Rau, Roland; Jeune, Bernard

2016-01-01

Health conditions change from year to year, with a general tendency in many countries for improvement. These conditions also change from one birth cohort to another: some generations suffer more adverse events in childhood, smoke more heavily, eat poorer diets, etc., than generations born earlier...... favor forecasts that hinge on cohort differences. We use a combination of age decomposition and exchange of survival probabilities between countries to study the remarkable recent history of female life expectancy in Denmark, a saga of rising, stagnating, and now again rising lifespans. The gap between...... female life expectancy in Denmark vs. Sweden grew to 3.5 y in the period 1975-2000. When we assumed that Danish women born 1915-1945 had the same survival probabilities as Swedish women, the gap remained small and roughly constant. Hence, the lower Danish life expectancy is caused by these cohorts...

Towards a behavioral vaccine: Exposure to accessible temptation when self-regulation is endorsed enhances future resistance to similar temptations in children

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Boer, de C.; Ridder, de D.T.D.; Vet, de E.W.M.L.; Grubliauskiene, A.; Dewitte, S.

2015-01-01

Background: Access to temptation is blamed for the rising prevalence of obesity in children. A popular way to counter this is to restrict physical access to temptation. As restrictions cannot be widely applied and may have adverse long-term effects, we examine whether accessible temptations in

Adapting to rates versus amounts of climate change: a case of adaptation to sea-level rise

Science.gov (United States)

Shayegh, Soheil; Moreno-Cruz, Juan; Caldeira, Ken

2016-10-01

Adaptation is the process of adjusting to climate change in order to moderate harm or exploit beneficial opportunities associated with it. Most adaptation strategies are designed to adjust to a new climate state. However, despite our best efforts to curtail greenhouse gas emissions, climate is likely to continue changing far into the future. Here, we show how considering rates of change affects the projected optimal adaptation strategy. We ground our discussion with an example of optimal investment in the face of continued sea-level rise, presenting a quantitative model that illustrates the interplay among physical and economic factors governing coastal development decisions such as rate of sea-level rise, land slope, discount rate, and depreciation rate. This model shows that the determination of optimal investment strategies depends on taking into account future rates of sea-level rise, as well as social and political constraints. This general approach also applies to the development of improved strategies to adapt to ongoing trends in temperature, precipitation, and other climate variables. Adaptation to some amount of change instead of adaptation to ongoing rates of change may produce inaccurate estimates of damages to the social systems and their ability to respond to external pressures.

An EFQM excellence model for integrated healthcare governance.

Science.gov (United States)

Favaretti, Carlo; De Pieri, Paolo; Torri, Emanuele; Guarrera, Giovanni; Fontana, Fabrizio; Debiasi, Franco; Flor, Luciano

2015-01-01

The purpose of this paper is to account for a ten-year experience with the European Foundation for Quality Management (EFQM) Excellence Model implemented in the Trento Healthcare Trust. Since 2000, the EFQM Excellence Model provided an overarching framework to streamline business process governance, to support and improve its enablers and results. From 2000 to 2009, staff performed four internal (self) and four external EFQM-based assessments that provided guidance for an integrated management system. Over the years, key controls and assurances improved service quality through business planning, learning and practice cycles. Rising assessment ratings and improving results characterized the journey. The average self-assessment score (on a 1,000 points scale) was 290 in 2001, which increased to 610 in 2008. Since 2006, the Trust has been Recognized for Excellence (four stars). The organization improved significantly on customer satisfaction, people results and key service delivery and outcomes. The EFQM Model can act as an effective tool to meet governance demands and promote system-level results. The approach to integrated governance discussed here may support similar change processes in comparable organizations. The paper describes a unique experience when implementing EFQM within a large Italian healthcare system, which had a broader reach and lasted longer than any experience in Italian healthcare.

Canadian inquiry assesses blame for tainted blood supply.

Science.gov (United States)

1997-12-26

A commission of inquiry, headed by Justice Horace Krever of the Ontario Court of Appeal, found that hundreds of hemophiliacs and blood transfusion recipients could have avoided HIV if the government regulators and medical suppliers had taken precautions in the early 1980s to protect Canada's blood supply. The report documents an inventory of errors and misjudgments that resulted in the infection of more than 1,200 people with HIV and roughly 60,000 with hepatitis C. The report noted that one U.S. blood fractionator, Armour Pharmaceutical, violated Canadian law by not informing government regulators in 1985 that its products might be tainted with HIV. Other findings conclude that the Red Cross, the agency with principal responsibility for protecting Canada's blood supply, put forth a halfhearted and ineffective response, and little effort was made to promote the use of safer blood clotting agents for hemophiliacs. Canada only began testing its blood supply for HIV eight months after the U.S. initiated ELISA testing. The commission recommends compensating all past and future recipients of contaminated blood and blood products.

New Kids on the Block: the Rise of the BRIC and the Reconfiguration of Global Economic Ties

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Martin Müller

2011-12-01

Full Text Available This contribution examines the rise of the BRICs (Brazil-Russia-India-China through the lens of central socio-economic indicators, including the World Bank Worldwide Governance Indicators and the World Values Survey. It charts the shift in economic weight and emerging reconfiguration of economic ties as evidenced in foreign direct investment (FDI and the emergence of transnational corporations (TNCs and considers the resulting challenges for intercultural contact at different scale levels through two brief case studies.

Mental health issues from rising sea level in a remote coastal region of the Solomon Islands: current and future.

Science.gov (United States)

Asugeni, James; MacLaren, David; Massey, Peter D; Speare, Rick

2015-12-01

There is little published research about mental health and climate change in the Pacific, including Solomon Islands. Solomon Islands has one of the highest rates of sea-level rise globally. The aim of this research was to document mental health issues related to sea-level rise for people in East Malaita, Solomon Islands. A cross-sectional study was carried out in six low-lying villages in East Malaita, Solomon Islands. The researcher travelled to villages by dugout canoe. In addition to quantitative, closed-ended questions, open-ended questions with villagers explored individual and community responses to rising sea level. Of 60 people asked, 57 completed the questionnaire. Of these, 90% reported having seen a change in the weather patterns. Nearly all participants reported that sea-level rise is affecting them and their family and is causing fear and worry on a personal and community level. Four themes emerged from the qualitative analysis: experience of physical impacts of climate change; worry about the future; adaptation to climate change; government response needed. Given predictions of ongoing sea-level rise in the Pacific it is essential that more research is conducted to further understand the human impact of climate change for small island states which will inform local, provincial and national-level mental health responses. © The Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Psychiatrists 2015.

Final project memorandum: sea-level rise modeling handbook: resource guide for resource managers, engineers, and scientists

Science.gov (United States)

Doyle, Thomas W.

2015-01-01

Coastal wetlands of the Southeastern United States are undergoing retreat and migration from increasing tidal inundation and saltwater intrusion attributed to climate variability and sea-level rise. Much of the literature describing potential sea-level rise projections and modeling predictions are found in peer-reviewed academic journals or government technical reports largely suited to reading by other Ph.D. scientists who are more familiar or engaged in the climate change debate. Various sea-level rise and coastal wetland models have been developed and applied of different designs and scales of spatial and temporal complexity for predicting habitat and environmental change that have not heretofore been synthesized to aid natural resource managers of their utility and limitations. Training sessions were conducted with Federal land managers with U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, National Park Service, and NOAA National Estuarine Research Reserves as well as state partners and nongovernmental organizations across the northern Gulf Coast from Florida to Texas to educate and to evaluate user needs and understanding of concepts, data, and modeling tools for projecting sea-level rise and its impact on coastal habitats and wildlife. As a result, this handbook was constructed from these training and feedback sessions with coastal managers and biologists of published decision-support tools and simulation models for sea-level rise and climate change assessments. A simplified tabular context was developed listing the various kinds of decision-support tools and ecological models along with criteria to distinguish the source, scale, and quality of information input and geographic data sets, physical and biological constraints and relationships, datum characteristics of water and land elevation components, utility options for setting sea-level rise and climate change scenarios, and ease or difficulty of storing, displaying, or interpreting model output. The handbook is designed

Sun Radio Interferometer Space Experiment (SunRISE)

Science.gov (United States)

Kasper, Justin C.; SunRISE Team

2018-06-01

The Sun Radio Interferometer Space Experiment (SunRISE) is a NASA Heliophysics Explorer Mission of Opportunity currently in Phase A. SunRISE is a constellation of spacecraft flying in a 10-km diameter formation and operating as the first imaging radio interferometer in space. The purpose of SunRISE is to reveal critical aspects of solar energetic particle (SEP) acceleration at coronal mass ejections (CMEs) and transport into space by making the first spatially resolved observations of coherent Type II and III radio bursts produced by electrons accelerated at CMEs or released from flares. SunRISE will focus on solar Decametric-Hectometric (DH, 0.1 space before major SEP events, but cannot be seen on Earth due to ionospheric absorption. This talk will describe SunRISE objectives and implementation. Presented on behalf of the entire SunRISE team.

Europe - on air : interwar projects for radio broadcasting

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Lommers, S.B.

2012-01-01

In the eyes of the ruling international elites, the Great War had been driven by a rising nationalism that left Europe’s civilization in shambles. The elites argued that a new modernism, combined with a world that was increasingly technologically interconnected, was to blame for the ruins, anguish,

Rise of a cold plume

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kakuta, Michio

1977-06-01

The rise of smoke from the stacks of two research reactors in normal operation was measured by photogrametric method. The temperature of effluent gas is less than 20 0 C higher than that of the ambient air (heat emission of the order 10 4 cal s -1 ), and the efflux velocity divided by the wind speed is between 0.5 and 2.8 in all 16 smoke runs. The field data obtained within downwind distance of 150m are compared with those by plume rise formulas presently available. Considering the shape of bending-over plume, the Briggs' formula for 'jet' gives a reasonable explanation of the observed plume rise. (auth.)

E-Government Partnerships Across Levels of Government

OpenAIRE

Charbit, Claire; Michalun, Varinia

2009-01-01

E-government Partnerships across Levels of Government, is an overview of the challenges and approaches to creating a collaborative and cooperative partnership across levels of government for e-government development and implementation.

The potential of mobile phones for increasing public participation in local government in South Africa

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Hannah Thinyane

2015-12-01

Full Text Available This paper presents a critical discussion on the current use of technology and participation in local government. It discusses the rise in popularity of mobile devices, and how they have been used in ICT for development. The paper describes the results of a baseline study undertaken in a city within Makana Municipality in the Eastern Cape of South Africa, to empirically investigate how residents are currently using mobile phones and participating with local government around the area of service delivery. The findings illustrate the current state of mobile phone usage and capabilities, and the potential for using the mobile platform to increase participation in local government in South Africa. The paper also can be used to inform and guide project stakeholders on how best to implement m-participation strategies.

On Capillary Rise and Nucleation

Science.gov (United States)

Prasad, R.

2008-01-01

A comparison of capillary rise and nucleation is presented. It is shown that both phenomena result from a balance between two competing energy factors: a volume energy and a surface energy. Such a comparison may help to introduce nucleation with a topic familiar to the students, capillary rise. (Contains 1 table and 3 figures.)

Renewable energy diffusion in Asia: Can it happen without government support?

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Dulal, Hari Bansha; Shah, Kalim U.; Sapkota, Chandan; Uma, Gengaiah; Kandel, Bibek R.

2013-01-01

The dramatically increasing population of Asia necessitates equally as dramatic increase in energy supply to meet demand. Rapidly increasing energy demand is a major concern for Asian countries because the increase in demand is being met through the increased use of fossil fuel supply, largely domestic coal and imported fuel. Renewable energy supply presents a lower emission pathway that could be a viable option for steering off the higher emissions path. However, several market, economic, institutional, technical, and socio-cultural barriers hinder countries in moving from high to low emission pathway. Following a discussion on the rising demand for energy in Asia and the prospects of partly satisfying it with renewable energy, we outline the reasons for government support to tackle the barriers for widespread diffusion of grid-based renewable energy. Additionally, we also discuss workable models for strategic government intervention to support diffusion of grid-based renewable energy in Asia. - Highlights: • Barriers to the diffusion of renewable energy technologies are identified. • Argues that renewable energy policy frameworks are inadequate in Asia. • Models for strategic government intervention are suggested

the effect of the War Measures Acts on Political Struggles within

African Journals Online (AJOL)

Setup

Political Struggles within the South African Mine Workers' Union, 1939-1947 .... by white workers was prohibited, and compulsory arbitration of industrial disputes was ..... blamed the UP government's refusal to mediate in the strike as being ...

Strategic advantages of high-rise construction

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Yaskova Natalya

2018-01-01

Full Text Available Traditional methods to assess the competitiveness of different types of real estate in the context of huge changes of new technological way of life don’t provide building solutions that would be correct from a strategic perspective. There are many challenges due to changes in the consumers’ behavior in the housing area. A multiplicity of life models, a variety of opportunities and priorities, traditions and new trends in construction should be assessed in terms of prospective benefits in the environment of the emerging new world order. At the same time, the mane discourse of high-rise construction mainly relates to its design features, technical innovations, and architectural accents. We need to clarify the criteria for economic evaluation of high-rise construction in order to provide decisions with clear and quantifiable contexts. The suggested approach to assessing the strategic advantage of high-rise construction and the prospects for capitalization of high-rise buildings poses new challenges for the economy to identify adequate quantitative assessment methods of the high-rise buildings economic efficiency, taking into account all stages of their life cycle.

Strategic advantages of high-rise construction

Science.gov (United States)

Yaskova, Natalya

2018-03-01

Traditional methods to assess the competitiveness of different types of real estate in the context of huge changes of new technological way of life don't provide building solutions that would be correct from a strategic perspective. There are many challenges due to changes in the consumers' behavior in the housing area. A multiplicity of life models, a variety of opportunities and priorities, traditions and new trends in construction should be assessed in terms of prospective benefits in the environment of the emerging new world order. At the same time, the mane discourse of high-rise construction mainly relates to its design features, technical innovations, and architectural accents. We need to clarify the criteria for economic evaluation of high-rise construction in order to provide decisions with clear and quantifiable contexts. The suggested approach to assessing the strategic advantage of high-rise construction and the prospects for capitalization of high-rise buildings poses new challenges for the economy to identify adequate quantitative assessment methods of the high-rise buildings economic efficiency, taking into account all stages of their life cycle.

The state of HIV sector local governance in Malawi and Zambia: Evidence from five districts

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Justin Steyn

2014-07-01

Full Text Available This paper encapsulates the outputs of a Swiss Agency for Development Cooperation (SDC funded project that aimed to improve the levels of HIV governance at the district level in Malawi and Zambia by encouraging public participation in an effort to more effective use of local resources. The methodology for this project, developed by the Institute for Democracy in Africa (Idasa and SDC, included a barometer which assessed perceptions of district HIV governance among key stakeholders. Perceptions were gathered on governance principles of effectiveness, efficiency, rule of law, accountability, participation and equity. The stakeholders ranged from administrators, political representatives, community-based organisations and the private sector on the supply side and citizens on the demand or beneficiary side. The findings of the research indicate specific sector governance issues that may be generalised to governance. Communication and transparency appear to be major issues underpinning the bottlenecks and shortcomings in the HIV sector governance at the district level. Information gaps have given rise to accountability deficits and coordination deficiencies. Addressing these matters would make more effective use of resources and lessen dependence on external funding sources.

Chemostratigraphy at DSDP Sites 386 (Bermuda Rise) and 144 (Demerara Rise), Implications for Euxinic Conditions During OAE-2

Science.gov (United States)

Horst, P. A.; Maurrasse, F. J.; Sinninghe-Damsté, J. S.; Sandler, A.

2008-05-01

). Biomarker data indicate that during OAE 2 similar paleoceanographic conditions prevailed at both DSDP Sites, 144 on the Demerara Rise and 386 on the Bermuda Rise. A. Forster, H. Sturt, P.A. Meyers, et al., in preliminary shipboard results from Sites 1257 and 1258, Leg 207, J. Erbacher, D.C. Mosher, M.J. Malone, et al., Proc. ODP, Init.Repts.207,1-22 [Online]: http://wwwodp.tamu.edu/publications/207_IR/VOLUME/ CHAPTERS/IR207_10.PDF. [Cited 2006-02-09] M.M.M. Kuypers, et al., Paleoceanography, 17, 4, 1051-1063 (2002) B.R.T. Simoneit, in Initial Reports of the Deep Sea Drilling Project, Vol. 43, Tucholke, B.E., Vogt, P.R., et al., 1979, Eds, Washington (U.S. Government Printing Office), pp. 643-650 (1979) B.R.T. Simoneit and D.H.Stuermer, in Cretaceous Oceans, S.O. Schlanger and M.B. Cita, Eds, Academic Press, New York, pp. 145-163 (1982)

Ethical and legal challenges in bioenergy governance: Coping with value disagreement and regulatory complexity

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Gamborg, Christian; Anker, Helle Tegner; Sandøe, Peter

2014-01-01

The article focuses on the interplay between two factors giving rise to friction in bioenergy governance: profound value disagreements (e.g. the prioritizing of carbon concerns like worries over GHG emissions savings over non-carbon related concerns) and regulatory complexity (in terms of regulatory measures and options). We present ethical and legal analyses of the current stalemate on bioenergy governance in the EU using two illustrative cases: liquid biofuels for transport and solid biomass-based bioenergy. The two cases disclose some similarities between these two factors, but the remaining differences may partly explain, or justify, contrasting forms of governance. While there seems to be no easy way in which the EU and national governments can deal with the multiple sustainability issues raised by bioenergy, it is argued that failure to deal explicitly with the underlying value disagreements, or to make apparent the regulatory complexity, clouds the issue of how to move forward with governance of bioenergy. We suggest that governance should be shaped with greater focus on the role of value disagreements and regulatory complexity. There is a need for more openness and transparency about such factors, and about the inherent trade-offs in bioenergy governance. - Highlights: • Ethical and legal challenges in governance of liquid biofuels and wood pellets. • EU sustainability criteria legal and ethical analysis—EU bioenergy policy options. • Analysis of interplay between carbon and non-carbon concerns and regulatory options. • Governance must cope with value disagreement and regulatory complexity

Clinical Specificities in Obesity Care: The Transformations and Dissolution of ‘Will’ and ‘Drives’

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Vogel, E.

2016-01-01

Public debate about who or what is to blame for the rising rates of obesity and overweight shifts between two extreme opinions. The first posits overweight as the result of a lack of individual will, the second as the outcome of bodily drives, potentially triggered by the environment. Even though

Foreign Animation Films and the Rising of Anti-Multiculturalism among Parents

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Leslie Retno Angeningsih

2014-12-01

Full Text Available As the impact of globalization, foreign animation films such as Shin Chan from Japan, Krishna from India, Upin-Ipin from Malaysia, Batman and many others from the US are very popular in Indonesia. Those films supposed represent cultures of each nation, so that people can learn multiculturalism. However, those films create inversely. This study aims to know how foreign animation films affect on the rising of anti-multiculturalism among Indonesian parents. Survey is conducted on parents with kindergarten or elementary children in Yogyakarta. The results show that children prefer to watch foreign animation films compare to domestic one. They are more likely to imitate their favorite animation stars by behaving violently, speaking harshly, and disrespectfully to parents.  As a result parents tend to blame their children changing behavior on foreign cultures as bad and impolite compare to their own culture. Instead of encouraging better understanding on multiculturalism, foreign animation films has raised anti-multiculturalism among parents.Sebagai dampak globalisasi, film animasi asing seperti Shin Chan dari Jepang, Krishna dari India, Upin Ipin - dari Malaysia, Batman dan banyak lainnya dari Amerika Serikat sangat populer di Indonesia. Film-film seharusnya mewakili budaya masing-masing negara, sehingga orang dapat belajar multikulturalisme. Namun, film-film ini dapat pula berakibat sebaliknya. Penelitian ini bertujuan untuk mengetahui bagaimana film animasi dari luar bisa berpengaruh pada peningkatan anti-multikulturalisme pada orang tua di Indonesia. Survey dilakukan pada orang tua yang memiliki anak TK atau SD  di Yogyakarta. Hasil menunjukkan bahwa anak-anak lebih memilih untuk menonton film animasi asing dibandingkan dengan film dalam negeri. Mereka lebih cenderung untuk meniru bintang animasi favorit mereka dengan berperilaku keras, berbicara kasar, dan tidak hormat kepada orang tua. Akibatnya, orang tua cenderung menyalahkan anak

Using simulations to forecast homeowner response to sea level rise in South Florida: Will they stay or will they go?

Science.gov (United States)

Treuer, G.

2017-12-01

Sea level rise threatens coastal communities around the world, including South Florida which may be the most financially vulnerable region in the world. Proactive investments in sea level rise adaptive flood protections could reduce South Florida's financial vulnerability. However, it is unclear if local governments and homeowners will be willing to make those investments before it is too late. Our research explores this issue by reporting the results of a novel online simulation that accelerates 348 South Florida homeowners thirty-five years into the future so that they can `live' the effects of sea level rise. The results contain a mix of optimism and caution for the prospects of future adaptation. On the positive side over 75% of participants indicated a willingness to support bond issues to pay for adaptation, even as the costs of the measures and effects of sea level rise increased over the years. Likewise, we find little evidence that politically conservative residents who normally have more skeptical views about climate change would be any less inclined to support adaptation, or only look to information sources that downplay the threat. On the negative side, homeowner interest in moving out of the region increases steadily over time as the sea level rises. This is driven by an increase in worry associated with viewing more information within the simulation.

Introduction – Political Governance and Strategic Relations: Domestic-Foreign Policy Nexus and China’s Rise in the Global System

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Emile Kok-Kheng Yeoh

2016-04-01

Full Text Available Recent years have witnessed several momentous developments in the political economy of the People’s Republic of China (PRC both on the domestic front and in her foreign relations. Deriving correct interpretation of such fast-paced developments and changes has preoccupied much of the circles of China-watchers these days, with political scientists, economists, sociologists and international relations experts focusing their respective attentions on either the domestic transformation occurring within the PRC or on her foreign relations. While the volatile series of incidents involving a year of crackdowns on domestic civil societal movements, civil rights lawyers, labour activists and Hong Kong’s book publishers and distributors were unfolding dramatically, the year also witnessed the continued rise of China’s economic might culminating in the realisation of her initiative for the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB that started operation on 25th December 2015 and the continued progress of her “One Belt, One Road” (OBOR proposal after the creation of the State-owned Silk Road Fund on 29th December 2014. Such developments on China’s domestic and global fronts have to be properly placed in the overall context of China’s domestic-foreign policy nexus that has uniquely evolved during her recent decades of continuous, astounding economic tour de force amidst the stagnation of the modernisation and democratisation of her political structure and sociopolitical power configuration, and the rise of her influence in the global system.

Introduction – Political Governance and Strategic Relations: Domestic-Foreign Policy Nexus and China’s Rise in the Global System

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Emile Kok-Kheng Yeoh

2016-04-01

Full Text Available Recent years have witnessed several momentous developments in the political economy of the People’s Republic of China (PRC both on the domestic front and in her foreign relations. Deriving correct interpretation of such fast-paced developments and changes has preoccupied much of the circles of China-watchers these days, with political scientists, economists, sociologists and international relations experts focusing their respective attention on either the domestic transformation occurring within the PRC or on her foreign relations. While the volatile series of incidents involving a year of crackdowns on domestic civil societal movements, civil rights lawyers, labour activists and Hong Kong’s book publishers and distributors were unfolding dramatically, the year also witnessed the continued rise of China’s economic might culminating in the realisation of her initiative for the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB that started operation on 25th December 201 5 and the continued progress of her “One Belt, One Road” (OBOR proposal after the creation of the State-owned Silk Road Fund on 29th December 201 4. Such developments on China’s domestic and global fronts has to be properly placed in the overall context of China’s domestic-foreign policy nexus that has uniquely evolved during from her recent decades of continuous, astounding economic tour de force amidst the stagnation of the modernisation and democratisation of her political structure and sociopolitical power configuration, and the rise of her influence in the global system.

Cycle of Bad Governance and Corruption

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Mohammed Nuruddeen Suleiman

2015-03-01

Full Text Available This article argues that bad governance and corruption particularly in the Northern part of Nigeria have been responsible for the persistent rise in the activities of Jama’atu Ahlis Sunna Lidda’awati wal-Jihad (JASLWJ, Arabic for “people committed to the propagation of the tradition and jihad.” It is also known as “Boko Haram,” commonly translated as “Western education is sin.” Based on qualitative data obtained through interviews with Nigerians, this article explicates how poor governance in the country has created a vicious cycle of corruption, poverty, and unemployment, leading to violence. Although JASLWJ avows a religious purpose in its activities, it takes full advantage of the social and economic deprivation to recruit new members. For any viable short- or long-term solution, this article concludes that the country must go all-out with its anti-corruption crusade. This will enable the revival of other critical sectors such as agriculture and manufacturing, likely ensuring more employment. Should the country fail to stamp out corruption, it will continue to witness an upsurge in the activities of JASLWJ, and perhaps even the emergence of other violent groups. The spillover effects may be felt not only across Nigeria but also within the entire West African region.

Making partner relationship management systems work: The role of partnership governance mechanisms

OpenAIRE

Storey, C.; Kocabasoglu-Hillmer, C.

2013-01-01

While the adoption of Partner Relationship Management (PRM) systems by suppliers to manage and monitor its network of partners (i.e. resellers) has been on the rise, the performance improvements have not been consistently realized. Governance theory suggests this may be due to how the PRM system builds on the mechanisms employed by the supplier to oversee their partners. This study investigates how the two capabilities of PRM systems (relationship and fulfillment capabilities) and two partner...

What governs governance, and how does it evolve? The sociology of governance-in-action.

Science.gov (United States)

Fox, Nick J; Ward, Katie J

2008-09-01

Governance addresses a wide range of issues including social, economic and political continuity, security and integrity, individual and collective safety and the liberty and rights to self-actualization of citizens. Questions to be answered include how governance can be achieved and sustained within a social context imbued with cultural values and in which power is distributed unevenly and dynamically, and how governance impacts on individuals and institutions. Drawing on Gramscian notions of hegemony and consent, and recent political science literatures on regulation and meta-regulation, this paper develops a sociological model of governance that emphasizes a dynamic and responsive governance in action. Empirical data from a study of pharmaceutical governance is used to show how multiple institutions and actors are involved in sustaining effective governance. The model addresses issues of how governance is sustained in the face of change, why governance of practices varies from setting to setting, and how governance is achieved without legislation.

Systemic Management of Schools: The OECD's Professionalisation and Dissemination of Output Governance in the 1960s

Science.gov (United States)

Bürgi, Regula

2016-01-01

At present, European education policy, research and administration is dominated by a specific concept of reform, namely so-called output governance, whose rise to prominence in national contexts in the 1990s coincided with the advance of international tests of school performance such as PISA. In this article it is argued that there is much more to…

Reflexivity, Position, and the Ambivalent Public Space: The Politics of Educational Policy in Taiwan's Local Governments

Science.gov (United States)

Huang, Teng; Ou, Yung-Sheng

2017-01-01

The rise of reflexivity and neoliberalism has led to a change in the nature of the public sphere and policy management. Thus, focusing only on analyses of state-initiated policy and the actions of central government is not conducive to understanding the complex process of policy implementation today. Hence, this study aims to analyse the politics…

Effects of an oil price rise on inflation, output, and the exchange rate in the case of subsidization policy

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Zandi, F R

1982-01-01

Since the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries raised the price of oil by 400% in 1974, the theory of supply inflation has received a great deal of attention. This study analyses the short and long run effects of an oil price rise on output, inflation, and the exchange rate. The study also analyses dynamic adjustments to the oil price rise in cases where oil-price subsidies are provided and where no subsidies are provided. In the no-subsidy case it is shown that the oil price rise can be inflationary or deflationary. The implications of the policy of subsidizing the price of oil is highlighted by taking account of a government budget constraint which in turn leads to the possibility of monetization as a source of financing the deficit, and thereby to higher output relative to the no subsidy case. As to the price level, the possibility is illustrated that subsidization can actually be more inflationary. The important element giving rise to the above possibility is the subsidy induced increase in the money supply. Exchange-rate flexibility is shown not to insulate the domestic price level against an oil price rise. In the long run the rate of inflation and exchange-rate variations are determined by the rate of growth of the money supply. The dynamic adjustment path of price and output is shown to be determined by the rate of adjustment of inflationary expectations.

Realism under Hegemony: Theorizing the Rise of Brazil

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Kurt Weyland

2016-01-01

Full Text Available What light can international relations theory shed on how developing countries such as Brazil have achieved regional leadership and international influence? This comprehensive examination of Brazilian foreign policy over the last few decades argues that Realism provides a better account of Brazil’s strategy than Liberalism and Constructivism. Despite changes of government and regime, Brasília has persistently pursued relative political gain, especially international influence. However, because this rising country has faced an established hegemon in the form of the United States, it has not been able to employ conventionally Realist instruments and tactics. Its subordinate position in the current power constellation has forced Brazil to forego political or military confrontation and instead use economic cooperation, both with the hegemon and its weaker neighbors. Through this collaboration, Brazil hopes to derive disproportionate benefits that will enhance its relative power. By elucidating these complex calculations, the present essay explains the Realist strategy that ambitious nations such as Brazil have pursued and helps design a version of Realism that captures recent power dynamics in the international system.

The rise of author-performed song in Tuva (1921–1944

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Valentina Yu. Suzukey

2016-09-01

Full Text Available This is a study of author-performed song in Tuva, the history of which begins when the People’s Republic of Tuva was declared in 1921. This crucial moment in the history of the region, which bore a strong influence of the October Revolution in Russia and of the following years of social change, had a profound impact on songwriting in the 1920s. The songs expressed gratitude to the October Revolution, Lenin and the Russian people for helping Tuvans get rid of the socially oppressive system (“The Glorious International”, “Freedom from Torment”, “The Great River”, “The Emergency Session of the Khural”, “No More Oppression”, etc.. New songs glorified such iconic features of new life as the first schools, the birth of national literature and the new system of writing, the change in attitude to women, the rise of the new generation of authors, the construction of a new automobile road, etc. In the 1930s further socioeconomic transformation gave rise to songs like “I Am a Kolkhoz Member”; “The Tractor Driver”, “The Propagandist”, “The Beautiful Soviet Land”, etc. By the end of the 1930s Tuva got its first amateur composers and author-performed songs. The arrival of theater, dance and music professionals from the USSR at the beginning of the 1940s at the bequest of PRT’s government led to a sea change in professionalization of Tuvan performing arts. In 1951 A. Chyrgal-ool became the first Tuvan student to join a conservatoire in Kazan which he graduated from in 1957. His works composed in 1950s marked a new stage in the rise of professional music in the region. Thus Tuvan song art featured almost the same trends and developments as most other ethnic groups in the Soviet Union.

Sea-level rise: towards understanding local vulnerability

Science.gov (United States)

Rahmstorf, Stefan

2012-06-01

Projections of global sea-level rise into the future have become more pessimistic over the past five years or so. A global rise by more than one metre by the year 2100 is now widely accepted as a serious possibility if greenhouse gas emissions continue unabated. That is witnessed by the scientific assessments that were made since the last IPCC report was published in 2007. The Delta Commission of the Dutch government projected up to 1.10 m as a 'high-end' scenario (Vellinga et al 2009). The Scientific Committee on Antarctic Research (SCAR) projected up to 1.40 m (Scientific Committee on Antarctic Research 2009), and the Arctic Monitoring and Assessment Programme (AMAP) gives a range of 0.90-1.60 m in its 2011 report (Arctic Monitoring and Assessment Programme 2011). And recently the US Army Corps of Engineers recommends using a 'low', an 'intermediate' and a 'high' scenario for global sea-level rise when planning civil works programmes, with the high one corresponding to a 1.50 m rise by 2100 (US Army Corps of Engineers 2011). This more pessimistic view is based on a number of observations, most importantly perhaps the fact that sea level has been rising at least 50% faster in the past decades than projected by the IPCC (Rahmstorf et al 2007, IPCC 2007). Also, the rate of rise (averaged over two decades) has accelerated threefold, from around 1 mm yr-1 at the start of the 20th century to around 3 mm yr-1 over the past 20 years (Church and White 2006), and this rate increase closely correlates with global warming (Rahmstorf et al 2011). The IPCC projections, which assume almost no further acceleration in the 20th century, thus look less plausible. And finally the observed net mass loss of the two big continental ice sheets (Van den Broeke et al 2011) calls into question the assumption that ice accumulation in Antarctica would largely balance ice loss from Greenland in the course of further global warming (IPCC 2007). With such a serious sea-level rise on the horizon

Socioecological Aspects of High-rise Construction

Science.gov (United States)

Eichner, Michael; Ivanova, Zinaida

2018-03-01

In this article, the authors consider the socioecological problems that arise in the construction and operation of high-rise buildings. They study different points of view on high-rise construction and note that the approaches to this problem are very different. They also analyse projects of modern architects and which attempts are made to overcome negative impacts on nature and mankind. The article contains materials of sociological research, confirming the ambivalent attitude of urban population to high-rise buildings. In addition, one of the author's sociological survey reveals the level of environmental preparedness of the university students, studying in the field of "Construction of unique buildings and structures", raising the question of how future specialists are ready to take into account socioecological problems. Conclusion of the authors: the construction of high-rise buildings is associated with huge social and environmental risks, negative impact on the biosphere and human health. This requires deepened skills about sustainable design methods and environmental friendly construction technologies of future specialists. Professor M. Eichner presents in the article his case study project results on implementation of holistic eco-sustainable construction principles for mixed-use high-rise building in the metropolis of Cairo.

The influence of corporate governance on project governance

OpenAIRE

Gonda, Pavel

2011-01-01

This work identifies the interaction between corporate governance and project management in project governance. It begins with introduction of basics of corporate governance and various principles of corporate governance in chosen countries and organizations. Further it introduces theoretical background of project governance and its connection and to corporate governance. In practical part work analyzes the level of compliancy with Swiss codex of best praxis in chosen company. The results con...

Twenty Years of Global Climatic Governance Impasse: For Another Order of Governmentality

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Dahan, Amy

2014-01-01

At once a scientific question and political problem, climate change has given rise to a complex system of arenas, institutions, experts and varied actors. They are all engaged in a process of world governance in the aim of finding solutions. That being the case, how is one to explain the fact that this process has achieved so little in the way of reducing greenhouse gas emissions? In order to answer this question, I focus on the manner in which the framing of the climate problem has been conceived, understood and embodied in negotiations. I review several of its characteristic elements: the pollution paradigm, globalization, the top-down strategy of 'burden sharing', market and compensation mechanisms, the specific interactions between science and politics, which entail various models of expertise and give rise to contradictory expectations, and, finally, the theme of adaptation, which has come to occupy an increasingly important place on the UN's governance agenda for reasons relating to reconfigurations of the geopolitics of climate. The failure of the Copenhagen Conference (2009), which was presented as a decisive moment for dealing with climate issues at a planetary level, challenges this framing, and calls for a rethinking of the order of governmentality of the climate problem. To that end, I put forward a few proposals and suggestions for future study

Engineering governance: introducing a governance meta framework.

OpenAIRE

Brand, N.; Beens, B.; Vuuregge, E.; Batenburg, R.

2011-01-01

There is a need for a framework that depicts strategic choices within an organisation with regard to potential governance structures. The governance meta framework provides the necessary structure in the current developments of governance. Performance as well as conformance are embedded in this framework and provide the balance for all governance domains. (aut.ref.)

The Impact of Sea Level Rise on Geodetic Vertical Datum of Peninsular Malaysia

Science.gov (United States)

Din, A. H. M.; Abazu, I. C.; Pa'suya, M. F.; Omar, K. M.; Hamid, A. I. A.

2016-09-01

Sea level rise is rapidly turning into major issues among our community and all levels of the government are working to develop responses to ensure these matters are given the uttermost attention in all facets of planning. It is more interesting to understand and investigate the present day sea level variation due its potential impact, particularly on our national geodetic vertical datum. To determine present day sea level variation, it is vital to consider both in-situ tide gauge and remote sensing measurements. This study presents an effort to quantify the sea level rise rate and magnitude over Peninsular Malaysia using tide gauge and multi-mission satellite altimeter. The time periods taken for both techniques are 32 years (from 1984 to 2015) for tidal data and 23 years (from 1993 to 2015) for altimetry data. Subsequently, the impact of sea level rise on Peninsular Malaysia Geodetic Vertical Datum (PMGVD) is evaluated in this study. the difference between MSL computed from 10 years (1984 - 1993) and 32 years (1984 - 2015) tidal data at Port Kelang showed that the increment of sea level is about 27mm. The computed magnitude showed an estimate of the long-term effect a change in MSL has on the geodetic vertical datum of Port Kelang tide gauge station. This will help give a new insight on the establishment of national geodetic vertical datum based on mean sea level data. Besides, this information can be used for a wide variety of climatic applications to study environmental issues related to flood and global warming in Malaysia.

THE IMPACT OF SEA LEVEL RISE ON GEODETIC VERTICAL DATUM OF PENINSULAR MALAYSIA

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

A. H. M. Din

2016-09-01

Full Text Available Sea level rise is rapidly turning into major issues among our community and all levels of the government are working to develop responses to ensure these matters are given the uttermost attention in all facets of planning. It is more interesting to understand and investigate the present day sea level variation due its potential impact, particularly on our national geodetic vertical datum. To determine present day sea level variation, it is vital to consider both in-situ tide gauge and remote sensing measurements. This study presents an effort to quantify the sea level rise rate and magnitude over Peninsular Malaysia using tide gauge and multi-mission satellite altimeter. The time periods taken for both techniques are 32 years (from 1984 to 2015 for tidal data and 23 years (from 1993 to 2015 for altimetry data. Subsequently, the impact of sea level rise on Peninsular Malaysia Geodetic Vertical Datum (PMGVD is evaluated in this study. the difference between MSL computed from 10 years (1984 – 1993 and 32 years (1984 – 2015 tidal data at Port Kelang showed that the increment of sea level is about 27mm. The computed magnitude showed an estimate of the long-term effect a change in MSL has on the geodetic vertical datum of Port Kelang tide gauge station. This will help give a new insight on the establishment of national geodetic vertical datum based on mean sea level data. Besides, this information can be used for a wide variety of climatic applications to study environmental issues related to flood and global warming in Malaysia.

The Influence of Institutional Shareholder Activism as a Corporate Governance Monitoring Mechanism in Malaysia

OpenAIRE

Maizatul A. Musa

2012-01-01

Not many studies have been undertaken on shareholder activism in emerging economies, including Malaysia. Shareholder activism in emerging economies is on the rise. This paper seeks to comprehend the elements of this activism that are unique to Malaysia, specifically with respect to how the agency problem is controlled through shareholder activism in improving corporate governance practices within target companies. Through shareholder activism, shareholders make contact with a target company t...

Governing the (Un)Healthy Child-Consumer in the Age of the Childhood Obesity Crisis

Science.gov (United States)

Powell, Darren

2018-01-01

In recent years, multinational food and drink corporations and their marketing practices have been blamed for the global childhood obesity 'crisis'. Unsurprisingly, these corporations have been quick to refute these claims and now position themselves as 'part of the solution' to childhood obesity. In this paper, I examine how and why corporations…

48 CFR 225.7303-3 - Government-to-government agreements.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-10-01

... Military Sales 225.7303-3 Government-to-government agreements. If a government-to-government agreement... support of a specifically defined weapon system, major end item, or support item, contains language in conflict with the provisions of this section, the language of the government-to-government agreement...

Government-to-Government E-Government: A Case Study of a Federal Financial Program

Science.gov (United States)

Faokunla, Olumide Adegboyega

2012-01-01

The problem with the study of the concept of electronic government (e-Gov) is that scholars in the field have not adequately explored various dimensions of the concept. Literature on e-Gov is replete with works on the form of government to consumer e-Gov. Much less work had been done on the government to government (G2G) e-Gov. This qualitative…

Socioecological Aspects of High-rise Construction

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Eichner Michael

2018-01-01

Full Text Available In this article, the authors consider the socioecological problems that arise in the construction and operation of high-rise buildings. They study different points of view on high-rise construction and note that the approaches to this problem are very different. They also analyse projects of modern architects and which attempts are made to overcome negative impacts on nature and mankind. The article contains materials of sociological research, confirming the ambivalent attitude of urban population to high-rise buildings. In addition, one of the author’s sociological survey reveals the level of environmental preparedness of the university students, studying in the field of "Construction of unique buildings and structures", raising the question of how future specialists are ready to take into account socioecological problems. Conclusion of the authors: the construction of high-rise buildings is associated with huge social and environmental risks, negative impact on the biosphere and human health. This requires deepened skills about sustainable design methods and environmental friendly construction technologies of future specialists. Professor M. Eichner presents in the article his case study project results on implementation of holistic eco-sustainable construction principles for mixed-use high-rise building in the metropolis of Cairo.

Implications of sea level rise scenarios on land use /land cover classes of the coastal zones of Cochin, India..

Digital Repository Service at National Institute of Oceanography (India)

ManiMurali, R.; DineshKumar, P.K.

, it’s worth to plan from the ground level involving government, NGO’s, Public and industries. Adaptation to sea level rise situations should go with the improved versions of integrated coastal zone management projects. Mostly, agricultural lands... stream_size 35402 stream_content_type text/plain stream_name J_Environ_Manage_148_124a.pdf.txt stream_source_info J_Environ_Manage_148_124a.pdf.txt Content-Encoding UTF-8 Content-Type text/plain; charset=UTF-8 Author...

Interactive governance

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Sørensen, Eva; Torfing, Jacob; Peters, B. Guy

Governance has become one of the most commonly used concepts in contemporary political science. It is, however, often used to mean a variety of different things. This book helps to clarify this conceptual muddle by concentrating on one variety of governance-interactive governance. The authors argue...... that although the state may remain important for many aspects of governing, interactions between state and society represent an important, and perhaps increasingly important, dimension of governance. These interactions may be with social actors such as networks, with market actors or with other governments......, but all these forms represent means of governing involving mixtures of state action with the actions of other entities.This book explores thoroughly this meaning of governance, and links it to broader questions of governance. In the process of explicating this dimension of governance the authors also...

Effects of a Municipal Government's Worksite Exercise Program on Employee Absenteeism, Health Care Costs, and Variables Associated with Participation.

Science.gov (United States)

Pruett, Angela W.; Howze, Elizabeth H.

The Blacksburg (Virginia) municipal government's worksite exercise program, developed in response to rising health insurance premiums, was evaluated to determine its effect on health care costs and employee absenteeism. Thirty-two employees who participated in the program for 4.5 years were compared to 32 nonparticipating employees. The program…

Rising Long-term Interest Rates

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Hallett, Andrew Hughes

Rather than chronicle recent developments in European long-term interest rates as such, this paper assesses the impact of increases in those interest rates on economic performance and inflation. That puts us in a position to evaluate the economic pressures for further rises in those rates......, the first question posed in this assignment, and the scope for overshooting (the second question), and then make some illustrative predictions of future interest rates in the euro area. We find a wide range of effects from rising interest rates, mostly small and mostly negative, focused on investment...... till the emerging European recovery is on a firmer basis and capable of overcoming increases in the cost of borrowing and shrinking fiscal space. There is also an implication that worries about rising/overshooting interest rates often reflect the fact that inflation risks are unequally distributed...

Avoid the Plague: Tips and Tricks for Preventing and Detecting Plagiarism

Science.gov (United States)

Bolkan, J. V.

2006-01-01

Plagiarism is an ugly word. Copying someone else's work and attempting to claim credit for one's self is an act that involves a number of ethical failings--theft, laziness, coveting, and lying among others. Many educators blame the Internet for what they perceive as the rise of plagiarism. Although the Internet certainly enables more efficient…

Canadian Medicare: prognosis guarded.

Science.gov (United States)

Naylor, C D; Fooks, C; Williams, J I

1995-08-01

Beset by unprecedented fiscal pressures, Canadian medicare has reached a crossroads. The authors review the impact of recent cuts in federal transfer payments on provincial health care programs and offer seven suggestions to policymakers trying to accommodate these reductions. (1) Go slowly: public health care spending is no longer rising and few provinces have the necessary systems in place to manage major reductions. (2) Target reductions, rewarding quality and efficiency instead of making across-the-board cuts. (3) Replace blame with praise:give health care professionals and institutions credit for their contributions. (4) Learn from the successful programs and policies already in place across the country. (5) Foster horizontal and vertical integration of services. (6) Promote physician leadership by rewarding efforts to promote the efficient use of resources. (7) Monitor the effects of cutbacks: physician groups should cooperate with government in maintaining a national "report card" on services, costs and the health status of Canadians.

UNCONVENTIONAL MONETARY POLICY: CHANGING EUROPEAN CENTRAL BANK’S PERSPECTIVE ON FINANCIAL GOVERNANCE

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Bogdan Munteanu

2017-06-01

Full Text Available The paper aims to look at the European Central Bank governance in terms of decisions taken to deploy a new kit of unconventional monetary policy measures, in order to respond to a new economic paradigm characterized by dynamic change in evolution, high volatility and enhanced financial risks. As an institution, the European Central Bank is led by the Governing Council and the decisions taken on how to use monetary policy impact an entire financial system. European Central Banking governance is about safeguarding the common currency and ensuring a future for the economic and monetary area to emerge stronger. For this purpose, when conventional monetary policies reach limits in their effects, it is time for the European Central Bank governance to analyse and assume the decision to deploy the arsenal of unconventional monetary policies. The experience of recent years showed a positive effect of the European Central Bank’s unconventional monetary measures, but costs could rise in case of extensive use of such measures. When these measures are used in combination, the effect is amplified and the European Central Bank needs to assess when it is time to withdraw the support, how to communicate and what exit strategy should use, what the costs are and impact can expect.

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

Science.gov (United States)

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

2018-05-01

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

A Study of the BRICS Bank from the Perspective of Global Financial Governance

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Bo Peng

2014-12-01

Full Text Available The transition of the global financial governance system is a history of the rise and fall of the Western advanced countries in the post-war international political and economic system. Since the end of the Second World War, the International Monetary Foundation and the World Bank have always taken the dominant role in the field of global financial governance. However, after the beginning of the global financial crisis in 2008, many drawbacks have become apparent concerning these two significant institutions, such as the lack of representatives, the slow and ineffective response to the crisis, etc. Following a strong appeal from the developing countries (with the emerging powers as their representatives, the global financial governance system has experienced several rounds of reforms which have yet to yield acceptable results. Therefore, it is highly necessary to create a new institution which can play a complementary role in the existing financial governance system rather than overthrow it. Complying with the tide of history, the official establishment of the BRICS Bank can be of great significance to the reform of current global financial governance systems such as diversifying the global financial governance bodies, representing the interests of developing countries in a better way, enhancing the status and improving the importance of emerging economies in the international political and economic order. Admittedly, the BRICS Bank also faces great challenges and limits such as the lack of a core leadership and the absence of a unified currency, etc.

Engineering governance: introducing a governance meta framework.

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Brand, N.; Beens, B.; Vuuregge, E.; Batenburg, R.

2011-01-01

There is a need for a framework that depicts strategic choices within an organisation with regard to potential governance structures. The governance meta framework provides the necessary structure in the current developments of governance. Performance as well as conformance are embedded in this

Government and governance strategies in medical tourism

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Ormond, M.E.; Mainil, T.

2015-01-01

This chapter provides an overview of current government and governance strategies relative to medical tourism development and management around the world. Most studies on medical tourism have privileged national governments as key actors in medical tourism regulation and, in some cases, even

Which type of government revenue leads government expenditure?

OpenAIRE

Abdi, Zeinab; Masih, Mansur

2014-01-01

This Malaysia is a developing Islamic state that faced government budget deficit since 1998. It is undeniable that a budget deficit or inability to cover government spending is not positively seen by external parties. The optimum level of government budget is the state where government spending is totally offset by government revenue and that can be achieved through an increase in tax revenue or decrease in spending. The paper aims to discover the existence of a theoretical relationship betwe...

BRICS STATES IN THE GLOBAL ECONOMIC GOVERNANCE: THE WTO CASE

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Aleksandra G. Koval

2017-06-01

Full Text Available The rise of emerging powers in the world economy has a significant impact on the transformation of global economic governance. The countries with emerging economies seek to enhance their role in international economic organizations and decision-making at the global level. The main players here are the BRICS countries. The contradictions between these countries and Western states represent a modern challenge to the functioning of the global governance. This is clearly demonstrated by the failure of the international trade negotiations under the WTO, which leads to the shift of member states’ priorities towards megaregional trade agreements and indicates the need for changes in the organization. The WTO cannot be seen today as a “rich men’s club” since emerging powers are eager to actively participate in trade negotiations, while recognizing the established rules and regulations. Despite the attempts of certain cooperation in their policies, BRICS countries differ in their trade interests. These states not only play different roles at the world markets of goods and services, but also apply various tariff and non-tariff measures. Moreover, a significant number of protectionist measures affects intra-BRICS trade. These differences complicate the cooperation of emerging powers in the international trading system and entangle the process of transformation of global economic governance.

Strand Plasticity Governs Fatigue in Colloidal Gels

Science.gov (United States)

van Doorn, Jan Maarten; Verweij, Joanne E.; Sprakel, Joris; van der Gucht, Jasper

2018-05-01

The repeated loading of a solid leads to microstructural damage that ultimately results in catastrophic material failure. While posing a major threat to the stability of virtually all materials, the microscopic origins of fatigue, especially for soft solids, remain elusive. Here we explore fatigue in colloidal gels as prototypical inhomogeneous soft solids by combining experiments and computer simulations. Our results reveal how mechanical loading leads to irreversible strand stretching, which builds slack into the network that softens the solid at small strains and causes strain hardening at larger deformations. We thus find that microscopic plasticity governs fatigue at much larger scales. This gives rise to a new picture of fatigue in soft thermal solids and calls for new theoretical descriptions of soft gel mechanics in which local plasticity is taken into account.

Will fluctuations in salt marsh-mangrove dominance alter vulnerability of a subtropical wetland to sea-level rise?

Science.gov (United States)

McKee, Karen L; Vervaeke, William C

2018-03-01

, subsidence), mangrove replacement of salt marsh, with or without disturbance, will not necessarily alter vulnerability to sea-level rise. Published 2017. This article is a U.S. Government work and is in the public domain in the USA.

The Rise of the Professional Field of Medicine in Sweden

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Carina Carlhed

2013-12-01

Full Text Available This article is an analysis of conditions enabling the rise of the professional field of medicine in Sweden. The analysis is based mainly on second- ary data, while the use of primary data is restricted to official statistics. Primarily, it aims to study the conditions promoting professionalization in medicine. Important exogenous conditions were derived from early emerging nation state administration structures concerning policy and governance of public health, as well as a delegated supervision of professional health activities to the medical profession and the organization of a public national health care system. Professionalization strategies such as social organization of the medical profession and their use of a variety of legitimizing resources as tools for jurisdictional claims are considered as endogenous conditions. Broadly, the analysis shows a close relationship between the growth of professionalization in the field of medicine and the development of state prosperity in the Swedish welfare state. 

Recovering childhood: play, pedagogy, and the rise of psychological knowledge in contemporary urban China.

Science.gov (United States)

Naftali, Orna

2010-01-01

In the past few decades, China has witnessed the emergence of a psychological discourse of childhood.This new discourse portrays children as persons with unique emotional needs and seeks to redefine childhood as a time of play and relaxation rather than study or toil. Drawing on the results of ethnographic fieldwork in Shanghai's schools and homes in 2004-2005, the present article describes the complex ways Shanghai's teachers and parents engage with this normalizing, developmental discourse. It argues that the rise of a psychological discourse of childhood signals a shift in Chinese modes of governing school and family life, and in current conceptualizations of the child-as-citizen and the child-as-subject in postsocialist, urban China.

Disposal of Kitchen Waste from High Rise Apartment

Science.gov (United States)

Ori, Kirki; Bharti, Ajay; Kumar, Sunil

2017-09-01

The high rise building has numbers of floor and rooms having variety of users or tenants for residential purposes. The huge quantities of heterogenous mixtures of domestic food waste are generated from every floor of the high rise residential buildings. Disposal of wet and biodegradable domestic kitchen waste from high rise buildings are more expensive in regards of collection and vertical transportation. This work is intended to address the technique to dispose of the wet organic food waste from the high rise buildings or multistory building at generation point with the advantage of gravity and vermicomposting technique. This innovative effort for collection and disposal of wet organic solid waste from high rise apartment is more economical and hygienic in comparison with present system of disposal.

External human factors in incident management team decisionmaking and their effect on large fire suppression expenditures

Science.gov (United States)

Janie Canton-Tompson; Krista M. Gebert; Brooke Thompson; Greg Jones; David Calkin; Geoff. Donovan

2008-01-01

Large wildland fires are complex, costly events influenced by a vast array of physical, climatic, and social factors. Changing climate, fuel buildup due to past suppression, and increasing populations in the wildland-urban interface have all been blamed for the extreme fire seasons and rising suppression expenditures of recent years. With each high-cost year comes a...

Trend analysis of modern high-rise construction

Science.gov (United States)

Radushinsky, Dmitry; Gubankov, Andrey; Mottaeva, Asiiat

2018-03-01

The article reviews the main trends of modern high-rise construction considered a number of architectural, engineering and technological, economic and image factors that have influenced the intensification of construction of high-rise buildings in the 21st century. The key factors of modern high-rise construction are identified, which are associated with an attractive image component for businessmen and politicians, with the ability to translate current views on architecture and innovations in construction technologies and the lobbying of relevant structures, as well as the opportunity to serve as an effective driver in the development of a complex of national economy sectors with the achievement of a multiplicative effect. The estimation of the priority nature of participation of foreign architectural bureaus in the design of super-high buildings in Russia at the present stage is given. The issue of economic expediency of construction of high-rise buildings, including those with only a residential function, has been investigated. The connection between the construction of skyscrapers as an important component of the image of cities in the marketing of places and territories, the connection of the availability of a high-rise center, the City, with the possibilities of attracting a "creative class" and the features of creating a large working space for specialists on the basis of territorial proximity and density of high-rise buildings.

China's rising hydropower demand challenges water sector.

Science.gov (United States)

Liu, Junguo; Zhao, Dandan; Gerbens-Leenes, P W; Guan, Dabo

2015-07-09

Demand for hydropower is increasing, yet the water footprints (WFs) of reservoirs and hydropower, and their contributions to water scarcity, are poorly understood. Here, we calculate reservoir WFs (freshwater that evaporates from reservoirs) and hydropower WFs (the WF of hydroelectricity) in China based on data from 875 representative reservoirs (209 with power plants). In 2010, the reservoir WF totaled 27.9 × 10(9) m(3) (Gm(3)), or 22% of China's total water consumption. Ignoring the reservoir WF seriously underestimates human water appropriation. The reservoir WF associated with industrial, domestic and agricultural WFs caused water scarcity in 6 of the 10 major Chinese river basins from 2 to 12 months annually. The hydropower WF was 6.6 Gm(3) yr(-1) or 3.6 m(3) of water to produce a GJ (10(9) J) of electricity. Hydropower is a water intensive energy carrier. As a response to global climate change, the Chinese government has promoted a further increase in hydropower energy by 70% by 2020 compared to 2012. This energy policy imposes pressure on available freshwater resources and increases water scarcity. The water-energy nexus requires strategic and coordinated implementations of hydropower development among geographical regions, as well as trade-off analysis between rising energy demand and water use sustainability.

Contemporary sea level rise.

Science.gov (United States)

Cazenave, Anny; Llovel, William

2010-01-01

Measuring sea level change and understanding its causes has considerably improved in the recent years, essentially because new in situ and remote sensing observations have become available. Here we report on most recent results on contemporary sea level rise. We first present sea level observations from tide gauges over the twentieth century and from satellite altimetry since the early 1990s. We next discuss the most recent progress made in quantifying the processes causing sea level change on timescales ranging from years to decades, i.e., thermal expansion of the oceans, land ice mass loss, and land water-storage change. We show that for the 1993-2007 time span, the sum of climate-related contributions (2.85 +/- 0.35 mm year(-1)) is only slightly less than altimetry-based sea level rise (3.3 +/- 0.4 mm year(-1)): approximately 30% of the observed rate of rise is due to ocean thermal expansion and approximately 55% results from land ice melt. Recent acceleration in glacier melting and ice mass loss from the ice sheets increases the latter contribution up to 80% for the past five years. We also review the main causes of regional variability in sea level trends: The dominant contribution results from nonuniform changes in ocean thermal expansion.

Rising equity

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Burr, M.T.

1992-01-01

This article reports on the results of a financial rankings survey of the independent energy industry indicating that lenders and investors provided more than five billion dollars in capital for new, private power projects during the first six months of 1992. The topics of the article include rising equity requirements, corporate finance, mergers and acquisitions, project finance investors, revenue bonds, project finance lenders for new projects, project finance lenders for restructurings, and project finance advisors

" Blaming, shaming, humiliation": Stigmatising medical interactions among people with non-epileptic seizures.

Science.gov (United States)

Robson, Catherine; Lian, Olaug S

2017-01-01

Background : People with non-epileptic seizures (NES) describe challenging relationships with health professionals, and explain negative interactions as common and expected. Despite these difficulties, little is known about how people with NES experience difficult healthcare encounters. Methods : Using a thematic discourse analysis approach, we analysed the free-text survey responses of 135 people with NES and asked: what kind of challenges do people living with this condition encounter when interacting with health professionals, and how do they experience the consequences of difficult interactions? We explore their experiences by interpreting the latent meaning of participants' texts from a social-constructionist perspective on health and illness. Results : The overarching narrative depicts a fundamental breakdown in patient-provider relationships. According to our data, the negative experiences of study participants emerge from more than practitioners' lack of awareness of NES and access to information about the condition - to the extent that it is available. In examining the challenges people with NES encounter when interacting with health professionals, their main experiences centre on blame and humiliation. When exploring their experiences, theories of stigma serve as a useful theoretical framework. Conclusions : Normative judgements arising from psychogenic understandings of NES are stigmatising and restrict professional displays of respectful (patient-centred) care. Those with the condition depict being negatively stereotyped, illegitimated and held morally culpable by health professionals. Perceived to lack medical, moral and credible status, participants describe practitioners who treat them with disrespect, and some recount conduct that defies all ethical and professional obligations and standards. These encounters can have wide-ranging adverse consequences for patients: emotionally, physically, and for their future healthcare. The quality of healthcare

Interactive Governance

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Bang, Henrik

2016-01-01

Governance analysis has exploded in recent years, and it has become nearly impossible to tell what difference the concept and practice of governance makes from those of government and state. In addition governance analysis has been placed more and more in the shadow of the new institutionalisms and...... and growth. However, interactive governance is not a property or effect of institutions; nor does it apply solely to those individuals who seek success above everything else. It is connective more than individualistic or collectivistic in nature; and it manifests a governability capacity which...

21 CFR 137.290 - Self-rising yellow corn meal.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-04-01

... 21 Food and Drugs 2 2010-04-01 2010-04-01 false Self-rising yellow corn meal. 137.290 Section 137... Cereal Flours and Related Products § 137.290 Self-rising yellow corn meal. Self-rising yellow corn meal conforms to the definition and standard of identity prescribed by § 137.270 for self-rising white corn meal...

INTEGRATED DOCUMENT MANAGEMENT SOLUTION FOR THE LOCAL GOVERNMENT

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Nistor Razvan

2013-07-01

Full Text Available In this paper we present system analysis and design elements for the integrated document management solution at local governing authorities in the rural areas. While specifically dealing with the actual management of the Agricultural Register, an important primary unitary evidence document, we also keep a general character of the discussion, in order to argue for the generality of the proposed solution. Hence, for the identified and described problem space we propose an administrative and software infrastructure solution. This work is an empirical research in which our aim is primarily to identify key problems within the local governing authorities from several perspectives concerning the management of the Agricultural Register then to address those problems with an integrated document management system. For the proposed solution we give and argue the general system architecture and describe the key-mechanisms that support quality requirements. The relevance of this research concern is given by the impact of the actual Agricultural Register management on important stakeholders. This can be measured as the satisfaction felt by taxpayers and the performance of the local governing authorities, the Financial Administration, the Agency of Payments and Intervention in Agriculture and the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development. This work is also intended as a start-point for a new, modern thinking of the governing authorities in their pursue to improve public services. For this, in our work we highlight the importance of complete system analysis at all administrative levels as a main priority concern for all public managers. Our aim is the improvement of the public service by rising the awareness of the decision makers on the necessity of using integrated document management solutions for the provided services. Also, our work aims at increasing the efficiency with which nowadays, governing authorities invest public funds in various IT projects

Crying wolf? Biosecurity and metacommunication in the context of the 2009 swine flu pandemic.

Science.gov (United States)

Nerlich, Brigitte; Koteyko, Nelya

2012-07-01

This article explores how the 2009 pandemic of swine flu (H1N1) intersected with issues of biosecurity in the context of an increasing entanglement between the spread of disease and the spread of information. Drawing on research into metacommunication, the article studies the rise of communication about ways in which swine flu was communicated, both globally and locally, during the pandemic. It examines and compares two corpora of texts, namely UK newspaper articles and blogs, written between 28 March and 11 June 2009, that is, the period from the start of the outbreak till the WHO announcement of the pandemic. Findings show that the interaction between traditional and digital media as well as the interaction between warnings about swine flu and previous warnings about other epidemics contributed to a heightened discourse of blame and counter-blame but also, more surprisingly, self-blame and reflections about the role the media in pandemic communication. The consequences of this increase in metacommunication for research into crisis communication are explored. Copyright © 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Sea level rise and the geoid: factor analysis approach

OpenAIRE

Song, Hongzhi; Sadovski, Alexey; Jeffress, Gary

2013-01-01

Sea levels are rising around the world, and this is a particular concern along most of the coasts of the United States. A 1989 EPA report shows that sea levels rose 5-6 inches more than the global average along the Mid-Atlantic and Gulf Coasts in the last century. The main reason for this is coastal land subsidence. This sea level rise is considered more as relative sea level rise than global sea level rise. Thus, instead of studying sea level rise globally, this paper describes a statistical...

Potential application of a centralized solar water-heating system for a high-rise residential building in Hong Kong

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Chow, T.T.; Fong, K.F.; Chan, A.L.S.; Lin, Z.

2006-01-01

There is a growing, government-led trend of applying renewable energy in Hong Kong. One area of interest lies in the wider use of solar-energy systems. The worldwide fast development of building-integrated solar technology has prompted the design alternative of fixing the solar panels on the external facades of buildings. In Hong Kong, high-rise buildings are found everywhere in the urban districts. How to make full use of the vertical facades of these buildings to capture the most solar radiation can be an important area in the technology promotion. In this numerical study, the potential application of a centralized solar water-heating system in high-rise residence was evaluated. Arrays of solar thermal collectors, that occupied the top two-third of the south and west facades of a hypothetical high-rise residence, were proposed for supporting the domestic hot-water system. Based on typical meteorological data, it was found that the annual efficiency of the vertical solar collectors could reach 38.4% on average, giving a solar fraction of 53.4% and a payback period of 9.2 years. Since the solar collectors were able to reduce the heat transmission through the building envelope, the payback was in fact even shorter if the energy saving in air-conditioner operation was considered

The Rising Frequency of IT Blackouts Indicates the Increasing Relevance of IT Emergency Concepts to Ensure Patient Safety.

Science.gov (United States)

Sax, Ulrich; Lipprandt, M; Röhrig, R

2016-11-10

As many medical workflows depend vastly on IT support, great demands are placed on the availability and accuracy of the applications involved. The cases of IT failure through ransomware at the beginning of 2016 are impressive examples of the dependence of clinical processes on IT. Although IT risk management attempts to reduce the risk of IT blackouts, the probability of partial/total data loss, or even worse, data falsification, is not zero. The objective of this paper is to present the state of the art with respect to strategies, processes, and governance to deal with the failure of IT systems. This article is conducted as a narrative review. Worst case scenarios are needed, dealing with methods as to how to survive the downtime of clinical systems, for example through alternative workflows. These workflows have to be trained regularly. We categorize the most important types of IT system failure, assess the usefulness of classic counter measures, and state that most risk management approaches fall short on exactly this matter. To ensure that continuous, evidence-based improvements to the recommendations for IT emergency concepts are made, it is essential that IT blackouts and IT disasters are reported, analyzed, and critically discussed. This requires changing from a culture of shame and blame to one of error and safety in healthcare IT. This change is finding its way into other disciplines in medicine. In addition, systematically planned and analyzed simulations of IT disaster may assist in IT emergency concept development.

Program governance

CERN Document Server

Khan, Muhammad Ehsan

2014-01-01

FOUNDATION OF GOVERNANCEGovernanceDefining GovernanceGovernance at Multiple LevelsSummaryReferencesTransaction Cost EconomicsTransactions-Core Elements and Attributes     Behavioral Assumptions     Governance Structure AttributesHazards of Concern     Incomplete Contracting     Bilateral Dependency and Fundamental Transformation     Adaptation or MaladaptationLinking Governance, Governance Structures, and ContractsThe Impact of Asset Specificity and Behavioral Assumptions on ContractsAp

Alignment between business process governance and IT governance

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Rahimi, Fatemeh; Møller, Charles; Hvam, Lars

2014-01-01

frameworks to enable business-IT strategic alignment, efficient process and IT requirements specification, and IT-enabled business value realization. We examine the actuality of this alignment in practice through a case study conducted in a relatively mature multinational corporation. The findings indicate......The importance of business processes and the increasing centrality of IT to an organization's performance have called for a specific focus on business process governance and IT governance in contemporary enterprises. Despite the wide scope of business process management, which covers both business...... and IT domains, and the profound impact of IT on process innovations, the association between business process governance and IT governance remains under-explored. Analyzing the constituting elements of the two governance concepts, we propose the necessity of alignment between business process and IT governance...

Why do mainland Chinese firms succeed in some sectors and fail in others? A critical view of the Chinese system of innovation

OpenAIRE

Tylecote, Andrew; Cai, [Unknown; Liu, Jing; Jiajia, [Unknown

2010-01-01

Domestically owned firms in mainland China have shown disappointing technological performance in higher-technology sectors. We argue that deficiencies in the systems of finance and corporate governance are largely to blame. Private firms have been starved of financial resources. The key weakness of Chinese State-Owned Enterprises (SOEs), lies in their corporate governance: the officials monitoring them have been 'disengaged', with the consequence that the investment of money and effort, which...

Rise and Shock: Optimal Defibrillator Placement in a High-rise Building.

Science.gov (United States)

Chan, Timothy C Y

2017-01-01

Out-of-hospital cardiac arrests (OHCA) in high-rise buildings experience lower survival and longer delays until paramedic arrival. Use of publicly accessible automated external defibrillators (AED) can improve survival, but "vertical" placement has not been studied. We aim to determine whether elevator-based or lobby-based AED placement results in shorter vertical distance travelled ("response distance") to OHCAs in a high-rise building. We developed a model of a single-elevator, n-floor high-rise building. We calculated and compared the average distance from AED to floor of arrest for the two AED locations. We modeled OHCA occurrences using floor-specific Poisson processes, the risk of OHCA on the ground floor (λ 1 ) and the risk on any above-ground floor (λ). The elevator was modeled with an override function enabling direct travel to the target floor. The elevator location upon override was modeled as a discrete uniform random variable. Calculations used the laws of probability. Elevator-based AED placement had shorter average response distance if the number of floors (n) in the building exceeded three quarters of the ratio of ground-floor OHCA risk to above-ground floor risk (λ 1 /λ) plus one half (n ≥ 3λ 1 /4λ + 0.5). Otherwise, a lobby-based AED had shorter average response distance. If OHCA risk on each floor was equal, an elevator-based AED had shorter average response distance. Elevator-based AEDs travel less vertical distance to OHCAs in tall buildings or those with uniform vertical risk, while lobby-based AEDs travel less vertical distance in buildings with substantial lobby, underground, and nearby street-level traffic and OHCA risk.

The corporate determinants of health: how big business affects our health, and the need for government action!

Science.gov (United States)

Millar, John S

2013-05-14

Corporations have a great effect on the health of Canadians.Good companies create jobs, sell valued products at market value, pay a living wage, empower employees, have progressive human resource policies (parental, mental health leaves, workplace wellness programs, day care), and pay their appropriate corporate taxes. They embrace corporate social responsibility and some have a triple bottom line - people, planet and profits. More good corporations are needed.But others are selling products that are damaging to health and the environment, at prices that do not account for these damaging effects and often target consumers that are ill-informed and susceptible (e.g., children). These include businesses involving tobacco, alcohol, drugs, junk foods and beverages, resource extraction, arms production and the electronic media.Governments have a responsibility to take action when the market mechanism fails in this way.A priority for action is the food and beverage sector. The overconsumption of sugar, fat and salt is causing a rising prevalence of all the major chronic diseases, rising health care costs and declining population health and productivity. Urgent government action is required: taxation, advertising and sales restrictions, and a salt reduction program.

Serbs in education during the Turkish government

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Parlić-Božović Jasna Lj.

2011-01-01

Full Text Available This paper aims to present opportunities cultural educational social policy and the Serbian people during the Turkish government. The intention is also to investigate the extent and level of education - literacy through the process of learning, reading, writing and acquiring new knowledge. The paper will also be discussed and the impact of other counters and their schools (Russia, Germany, Greece on the entire educational system in Serbia in the Serbian education period. Legal regulation and development of spiritual awareness and desire for literacy, will also find its place in this paper. Based on all the foregoing, it follows that the literacy during the Ottoman rule was very limited, and that the small number and percentage of population of certain social groups (nobility, clergy. There fore education was meager and insignificant, that and that, as concept, was reduced to literacy. Also, the church was the meeting place of all those who strove for literacy, and together with the monasteries of the first and only school in which they were taught reading and writing. During the First Serbian Uprising, except churches, the need for some kind of education begins to have, and government or authority which forms a first and basic institution of society. Looking at the wider development of literacy in Serbia can be concluded that education had its ups and downs, which are periodically changed depending on the social and political conditionally. Thus, at the close of the Middle Ages to the territorial possession of Despot Stefan Lazarevic (1389-1427 and its owner George Brankovic (1427-1456, with constant theats to the Turkish conquest occurred one interesting moment. Thjere is still an independent country, and despite the double vassalage to Turkey and Hungary, has seen a tumultuous economy and education rise, which was also the basis for the rise of Serbia culture. In the Serbian despots then we come to real cult of art and education, as earlier

Why does a spinning egg rise?

Science.gov (United States)

Cross, Rod

2018-03-01

Experimental and theoretical results are presented concerning the rise of a spinning egg. It was found that an egg rises quickly while it is sliding and then more slowly when it starts rolling. The angular momentum of the egg projected in the XZ plane changed in the same direction as the friction torque, as expected, by rotating away from the vertical Z axis. The latter result does not explain the rise. However, an even larger effect arises from the Y component of the angular momentum vector. As the egg rises, the egg rotates about the Y axis, an effect that is closely analogous to rotation of the egg about the Z axis. Both effects can be described in terms of precession about the respective axes. Steady precession about the Z axis arises from the normal reaction force in the Z direction, while precession about the Y axis arises from the friction force in the Y direction. Precession about the Z axis ceases if the normal reaction force decreases to zero, and precession about the Y axis ceases if the friction force decreases to zero.

E-Government for Good Governance in Developing Countries ...

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

E-Government and E-Governance Benefits ..... Morocco's central government promotes the use of ICT in the public sector in order to enhance ...... The project's mission is to develop low-cost laptops with educational value for African children.

Private Governance, Hegemonic Struggles, and Institutional Outcomes in the Transnational Cotton Commodity Chain

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Amy Quark

2015-08-01

Full Text Available Transnational firms have rolled out new forms of private governance at the same time as the rise of new economic powerhouses like China has fomented growing inter-state tensions. This points to critical questions: how does inter-state competition shape private governance of transnational commodity chains and how does private governance shape inter-state rivalries? I explore these questions by tracing the construction and dissolution of sectoral hegemonic coalitions that govern commodity chains. Drawing on the case of cotton quality governance from 2000-2012, I argue that a coalition of the U.S. state and transnational merchants has reconstituted its sectoral hegemony to allow expanded accumulation and accommodate their main rival~China. The U.S. state created standards with Chinese characteristics, while transnational merchants made the authority structure of their institutions more inclusive. However, this reconstituted hegemony remains unstable. Facing continued regulatory competition from China, the U.S. state has constructed new forms of meta-governance that could facilitate a shift to Chinese-led sectoral hegemony but under U.S. oversight. Moreover, these sectoral hegemonic struggles compelled Western transnational merchants to fracture their long-standing relationship with the U.S. state in the hegemonic coalition in order to position their private institutions as geopolitically neutral and thus compatible with the hegemonic leadership of either the U.S. or Chinese states in the sector. By tracing struggles among coalitions of leading firms and states for hegemony over the institutions governing particular commodity chain sectors, we can shed light on possible trajectories within broader world-system level hegemonic struggles that at once constitute and are constituted by these sectoral dynamics.

Constraining Government Regulatory Authority: Tobacco Industry Trade Threats and Challenges to Cigarette Package Health Warning Labels

OpenAIRE

Crosbie, Eric

2016-01-01

This dissertation investigates the rising authority of non-state actors vis-à-vis the state by examining how tobacco companies are using trade agreements to constrain governments from implementing progressive public health policies that require placing pictorial health warning labels (HWLs) on cigarette packages. In particular, the dissertation seeks to address two different but related puzzles. First, despite being developed countries and global health leaders, it is unclear why Australia ha...

Water tourism conflict resolution through good governance (story from Indonesia

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Zaini Rohmad

2016-01-01

Full Text Available This paper discuss good governance model for conflict resolution around water tourism area in Indonesia. This paper developed structural factors that influence water tourism such as the population, economic development, regional generated revenue, real-time sector revenue, poverty rates, and water management which is the focus of the study affected the rising of the water conflict. This study is field research qualitative study. The objects in this research are water tourism stakeholders which are composed of three different water tourism management in Karanganyar, Central Java, Indonesia, namely Grojogan Sewu, Jumog and Peblengan. This study conducted in Karanganyar as a district that has a natural beauty with huge potential to further develop its natural attractions. The data sampling is done by observation and interview. From the result of this study it can be concluded that (1 there needs to be a clear explanation for the villagers near the water tourism area that the natural resources of water needs to be preserved and used moderately ; (2 a communication needs to be established between the stakeholders and those using the water resource, for the sake of the villagers’ welfare as well as the economic improvement; (3 the government, both the regional government as well as the central government need to make regulation to keep the condition of the nature without ignoring the possibility of conflict ensuing because of water usage by the villagers; (4 increasing the role of the villagers in managing the water resource so that there will be no prolonged conflict in the future.

A Governing Framework for Climate Change Adaptation in the Built Environment

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Daniel A. Mazmanian

2013-12-01

Full Text Available Developing an approach to governing adaptation to climate change is severely hampered by the dictatorship of the present when the needs of future generations are inadequately represented in current policy making. We posit this problem as a function of the attributes of adaptation policy making, including deep uncertainty and nonstationarity, where past observations are not reliable predictors of future outcomes. Our research links organizational decision-making attributes with adaptation decision making and identifies cases in which adaptation actions cause spillovers, free riding, and distributional impacts. We develop a governing framework for adaptation that we believe will enable policy, planning, and major long-term development decisions to be made appropriately at all levels of government in the face of the deep uncertainty and nonstationarity caused by climate change. Our framework requires that approval of projects with an expected life span of 30 years or more in the built environment include minimum building standards that integrate forecasted climate change impacts from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC intermediate scenario. The intermediate IPCC scenario must be downscaled to include local or regional temperature, water availability, sea level rise, susceptibility to forest fires, and human habitation impacts to minimize climate-change risks to the built environment. The minimum standard is systematically updated every six years to facilitate learning by formal and informal organizations. As a minimum standard, the governance framework allows jurisdictions to take stronger actions to increase their climate resilience and thus maintain system flexibility.

Project governance: selected South African government experiments

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

G. van der Walt

2008-07-01

Full Text Available Some form of accountability and power structure binds all organisations. Such structures are typically referred to as the “governance” structure of the organisation. In organisations that have relatively mature project applications and methodologies in place, governance mechanisms are established on more permanent bases. With its focus on performance, results and outcomes, project governance establishes decision-making structures, as well as accountability and responsibility mechanisms in public institutions to oversee projects. As government institutions increasingly place emphasis on project applications for policy implementation and service delivery initiatives, mechanisms or structures should be established to facilitate clear interfaces between the permanent organisation and the temporary project organisation. Such mechanisms or structures should enhance the governance of projects, that is, the strategic alignment of projects, the decentralisation of decision- making powers, rapid resource allocation, and the participation of external stakeholders. The purpose of this article is to explore the concept “project governance”, and to highlight examples of project governance as applied in selected government departments in provincial and national spheres. This would enable the establishment of best practice examples and assist to develop benchmarks for effective project applications for service delivery improvement.

The social values at risk from sea-level rise

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Graham, Sonia; Barnett, Jon; Fincher, Ruth; Hurlimann, Anna; Mortreux, Colette; Waters, Elissa

2013-01-01

Analysis of the risks of sea-level rise favours conventionally measured metrics such as the area of land that may be subsumed, the numbers of properties at risk, and the capital values of assets at risk. Despite this, it is clear that there exist many less material but no less important values at risk from sea-level rise. This paper re-theorises these multifarious social values at risk from sea-level rise, by explaining their diverse nature, and grounding them in the everyday practices of people living in coastal places. It is informed by a review and analysis of research on social values from within the fields of social impact assessment, human geography, psychology, decision analysis, and climate change adaptation. From this we propose that it is the ‘lived values’ of coastal places that are most at risk from sea-level rise. We then offer a framework that groups these lived values into five types: those that are physiological in nature, and those that relate to issues of security, belonging, esteem, and self-actualisation. This framework of lived values at risk from sea-level rise can guide empirical research investigating the social impacts of sea-level rise, as well as the impacts of actions to adapt to sea-level rise. It also offers a basis for identifying the distribution of related social outcomes across populations exposed to sea-level rise or sea-level rise policies

The social values at risk from sea-level rise

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Graham, Sonia, E-mail: sonia.graham@unimelb.edu.au [Department of Resource Management and Geography, The University of Melbourne, 221 Bouverie St., Carlton, Victoria 3053 (Australia); Barnett, Jon, E-mail: jbarn@unimelb.edu.au [Department of Resource Management and Geography, The University of Melbourne, 221 Bouverie St., Carlton, Victoria 3053 (Australia); Fincher, Ruth, E-mail: r.fincher@unimelb.edu.au [Department of Resource Management and Geography, The University of Melbourne, 221 Bouverie St., Carlton, Victoria 3053 (Australia); Hurlimann, Anna, E-mail: anna.hurlimann@unimelb.edu.au [Faculty of Architecture, Building and Planning, The University of Melbourne, Architecture and Planning Building, Parkville, Victoria 3010 (Australia); Mortreux, Colette, E-mail: colettem@unimelb.edu.au [Department of Resource Management and Geography, The University of Melbourne, 221 Bouverie St., Carlton, Victoria 3053 (Australia); Waters, Elissa, E-mail: elissa.waters@unimelb.edu.au [Department of Resource Management and Geography, The University of Melbourne, 221 Bouverie St., Carlton, Victoria 3053 (Australia)

2013-07-15

Analysis of the risks of sea-level rise favours conventionally measured metrics such as the area of land that may be subsumed, the numbers of properties at risk, and the capital values of assets at risk. Despite this, it is clear that there exist many less material but no less important values at risk from sea-level rise. This paper re-theorises these multifarious social values at risk from sea-level rise, by explaining their diverse nature, and grounding them in the everyday practices of people living in coastal places. It is informed by a review and analysis of research on social values from within the fields of social impact assessment, human geography, psychology, decision analysis, and climate change adaptation. From this we propose that it is the ‘lived values’ of coastal places that are most at risk from sea-level rise. We then offer a framework that groups these lived values into five types: those that are physiological in nature, and those that relate to issues of security, belonging, esteem, and self-actualisation. This framework of lived values at risk from sea-level rise can guide empirical research investigating the social impacts of sea-level rise, as well as the impacts of actions to adapt to sea-level rise. It also offers a basis for identifying the distribution of related social outcomes across populations exposed to sea-level rise or sea-level rise policies.

PRACTICE OF GOOD GOVERNANCE AND CORPORATE GOVERNANCE

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Bălăceanu Cristina

2010-12-01

Full Text Available Corporate governance reforms are occurring in countries around the globe and potentially impacting the population of the entire planet. In developing countries, such reforms occur in a larger context that is primarily defined by previous attempts at promoting “development” and recent processes of economic globalization. In this context, corporate governance reforms (in combination with the liberalising reforms associated with economic globalization, in effect represent a new development strategy for third world countries. The most basic questions that arise with respect to this situation are what the prospects for this new development model are and whether alternatives should be considered. Keywords: governance, corporate governance, economic globalization, development.

Progressive Collapse of High-Rise Buildings from Fire

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Pershakov Valerii

2016-01-01

Full Text Available Considers ensuring the stability of structures of high-rise buildings against progressive collapse due to fire, proposed measures to ensure the stability of high-rise buildings due to progressive collapse. The analysis of large fires in high-rise buildings with progressive collapse and review of the literature on the issue of progressive collapse. The analysis of the Ukrainian normative documents on progressive collapse resistance.

Governance or Governing – the Missing Link?

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Luminiţa Maria Crăciun

2010-07-01

Full Text Available Governance and governing are two distinct concepts, but they intertwine. “Good governing” exercises good influence on development. “Good governance” supposes first a relationship of power focused on a series of reforms structured at three levels: the political – administrative level, the economic level, and the level of civil society. As this dimension is difficult to measure, the qualitative evaluation of the governing act raised the interest of the World Bank researchers, who elaborated and monitored the dynamics of a set of indicators, which includes six major dimensions of the governing. A retrospective concerning the image of governing in Romania during the period from 1996 to 2005 suggests a modest increase of the score: from -0.138 (1996 to 0.008 (2002; that was partially achieved based on the voice and responsibility index and on the political stability index, not on those that measure more directly the administrative performance or the integrity of the governing act. For a comparative study, we chose seven countries for the purposes of analysis (two new European Union member states: Romania and Bulgaria; two older member countries of the European Union: Slovenia and Latvia; three non-member states: Moldova, Ukraine, and Georgia, which reveal the quality of the governing from a comparative perspective. Corruption control completes the image created by the analyzed indicators. The mere formal accomplishment of commitments made in the pre-accession activity, doubled by recent internal evolutions, bring doubts about the credibility of the anticorruption reforms, as Romania continues to be considered the country with the highest CPI in the European Union. The pessimism of public opinion and the fact that only 34% of the Romanian people consider that the level of corruption will decrease in the following three years constitutes an alarm signal addressed to the governance, in view of the real reformation of the administration system

Plural Governance

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Mols, Niels Peter; Menard, Claude

2014-01-01

Plural governance is a form of governance where a firm both makes and buys similar goods or services. Despite a widespread use of plural governance there are no transaction cost models of how plural governance affects performance. This paper reviews the literature about plural forms and proposes...... a model relating transaction cost and resource-based variables to the cost of the plural form. The model is then used to analyze when the plural form is efficient compared to alternative governance structures. We also use the model to discuss the strength of three plural form synergies....

Auditing Government-nonprofit Relations in the Brazilian Post-reformist Context

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Alketa Peci

2012-10-01

Full Text Available Recent decades have been marked by a rising interaction between the State and nonprofits in order to addressincreasingly complex public issues. Government-nonprofit relations were guided by a complex and diverse legal framework, that transformed not only the implementation of public policies, but also the auditing practices and control of such relations. Previous studies have shown the influence of NPM reforms in auditing practices and institutions, of particular interest to this research is the Theory of the Audit Explosion (TEA. This paper analyzes the control of government-nonprofits relations, under the perspective of the TEA, specifically trying to comprehend if there is a causal relationship between the growth of government-nonprofit relations and the audit explosion in the Brazilian context, as predicted by the theory. A field research, based on documentary data and interviews, was undertaken in three Brazilian SAIs. The conclusions highlight the limitations of the explanatory capacity of TEA in Brazil. Although a formal audit explosion was observed, as predicted by TEA, there are substantive barriers to the audit explosion. This is mainly due to the organizational and institutional aspects related to governmental fund transfer entities. Such problems reflect the poor quality of the partnerships themselves and might be a consequence of political variables such as the spurious relationships of some parliamentary members or public employees with partner NGOs.

Adapting to Rising Sea Level: A Florida Perspective

Science.gov (United States)

Parkinson, Randall W.

2009-07-01

Global climate change and concomitant rising sea level will have a profound impact on Florida's coastal and marine systems. Sea-level rise will increase erosion of beaches, cause saltwater intrusion into water supplies, inundate coastal marshes and other important habitats, and make coastal property more vulnerable to erosion and flooding. Yet most coastal areas are currently managed under the premise that sea-level rise is not significant and the shorelines are static or can be fixed in place by engineering structures. The new reality of sea-level rise and extreme weather due to climate change requires a new style of planning and management to protect resources and reduce risk to humans. Scientists must: (1) assess existing coastal vulnerability to address short term management issues and (2) model future landscape change and develop sustainable plans to address long term planning and management issues. Furthermore, this information must be effectively transferred to planners, managers, and elected officials to ensure their decisions are based upon the best available information. While there is still some uncertainty regarding the details of rising sea level and climate change, development decisions are being made today which commit public and private investment in real estate and associated infrastructure. With a design life of 30 yrs to 75 yrs or more, many of these investments are on a collision course with rising sea level and the resulting impacts will be significant. In the near term, the utilization of engineering structures may be required, but these are not sustainable and must ultimately yield to "managed withdrawal" programs if higher sea-level elevations or rates of rise are forthcoming. As an initial step towards successful adaptation, coastal management and planning documents (i.e., comprehensive plans) must be revised to include reference to climate change and rising sea-level.

The new African way | CRDI - Centre de recherches pour le ...

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

In Africa, dependency has defined a political culture of blaming outsiders for problems — and looking to outsiders for solutions. The dependency syndrome has proven especially convenient for corrupt dictators, expertly negotiating for rich-country aid while deflecting onto those same donor governments responsibility for ...

Updating Maryland's sea-level rise projections

Science.gov (United States)

Boesch, Donald F.; Atkinson, Larry P.; Boicourt, William C.; Boon, John D.; Cahoon, Donald R.; Dalrymple, Robert A.; Ezer, Tal; Horton, Benjamin P.; Johnson, Zoe P.; Kopp, Robert E.; Li, Ming; Moss, Richard H.; Parris, Adam; Sommerfield, Christopher K.

2013-01-01

With its 3,100 miles of tidal shoreline and low-lying rural and urban lands, “The Free State” is one of the most vulnerable to sea-level rise. Historically, Marylanders have long had to contend with rising water levels along its Chesapeake Bay and Atlantic Ocean and coastal bay shores. Shorelines eroded and low-relief lands and islands, some previously inhabited, were inundated. Prior to the 20th century, this was largely due to the slow sinking of the land since Earth’s crust is still adjusting to the melting of large masses of ice following the last glacial period. Over the 20th century, however, the rate of rise of the average level of tidal waters with respect to land, or relative sea-level rise, has increased, at least partially as a result of global warming. Moreover, the scientific evidence is compelling that Earth’s climate will continue to warm and its oceans will rise even more rapidly. Recognizing the scientific consensus around global climate change, the contribution of human activities to it, and the vulnerability of Maryland’s people, property, public investments, and natural resources, Governor Martin O’Malley established the Maryland Commission on Climate Change on April 20, 2007. The Commission produced a Plan of Action that included a comprehensive climate change impact assessment, a greenhouse gas reduction strategy, and strategies for reducing Maryland’s vulnerability to climate change. The Plan has led to landmark legislation to reduce the state’s greenhouse gas emissions and a variety of state policies designed to reduce energy consumption and promote adaptation to climate change.

The advisability of high-rise construction in the city

Science.gov (United States)

Sergievskaya, Natalia; Pokrovskaya, Tatyana; Vorontsova, Natalya

2018-03-01

In this article there discusses the question of advisability high-rise construction, the reasons for its use, both positive and negative sides of it. On the one hand, a number of authors believe that it is difficult to avoid high-rise construction due to the limited areas in very large cities. On the other hand, a number of other authors draw attention to the problems associated with high-rise construction. The author of the article analyses examples of high-rise construction in several countries (UAE, Dubai "Burj Khalifa"; Japan "Tokyo Sky Tree"; United States of America, "Willis Tower"; Russia "Federation Tower") and proves the advisability of high-rise construction in the city.

Governing Forest Ecosystem Services for Sustainable Environmental Governance: A Review

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Shankar Adhikari

2018-05-01

Full Text Available Governing forest ecosystem services as a forest socio-ecological system is an evolving concept in the face of different environmental and social challenges. Therefore, different modes of ecosystem governance such as hierarchical, scientific–technical, and adaptive–collaborative governance have been developed. Although each form of governance offers important features, no one form on its own is sufficient to attain sustainable environmental governance (SEG. Thus, the blending of important features of each mode of governance could contribute to SEG, through a combination of both hierarchical and collaborative governance systems supported by scientifically and technically aided knowledge. This should be further reinforced by the broad engagement of stakeholders to ensure the improved well-being of both ecosystems and humans. Some form of governance and forest management measures, including sustainable forest management, forest certification, and payment for ecosystem services mechanisms, are also contributing to that end. While issues around commodification and putting a price on nature are still contested due to the complex relationship between different services, if these limitations are taken into account, the governance of forest ecosystem services will serve as a means of effective environmental governance and the sustainable management of forest resources. Therefore, forest ecosystem services governance has a promising future for SEG, provided limitations are tackled with due care in future governance endeavors.

"Blame it on the weeds": politics, poverty, and ecology in the new South Africa.

Science.gov (United States)

Neely, Abigail H

2010-01-01

In January of 2000, spectacular fires burned in the natural veld of Cape Town, South Africa. As the fire-fighting effort finished, a theory emerged: invasive alien species, trees from other countries, such as Australia and the United States, were to blame for the fires. While the invasive alien hypothesis captured the attention of media and policy makers alike, there was little ecological evidence to support it. This article places the fires of 2000 in a longer history of post-apartheid policy and science surrounding invasive alien floral species, arguing that the fires allowed for a synergy between concerns over poverty relief, nature conservation, and scientific research. The most visible example of this synergy was an increased commitment to the Working for Water programme on the Cape Peninsula, a large-scale employment programme utilising unskilled labour to clear invasive alien species in order to conserve South African water resources. In addition to providing employment for South Africa's poorest citizens, Working for Water provided funding for ecological research about invasive alien species. The studies that resulted from this funding focused on gathering information to make practical suggestions for invasive species control. Although the focus of these studies was on management, the science used was itself as rigorous as it had ever been. In the post-apartheid era, as poverty relief and nature conservation came together, scientists ensured that they would continue to play a role in nature conservation by making their research relevant to both invasive species control and to poverty relief.

Petra Governance Handbook - WP7 – Governance structures & business models : D7.3: Governance Handbook

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Veeneman, W.; Hirschhorn, F.; Klievink, A.J.; Steenhuisen, B.M.; van der Voort, H.G.

2017-01-01

This document represents the governance handbook on mobility data platforms for the PETRA project. The governance handbook provides metropolitan authorities contemplating the implementation of a mobility data platform in line with the PETRA project about governance issues and design.
The

Government, politics and health policy: A quantitative analysis of 30 European countries.

Science.gov (United States)

Mackenbach, Johan P; McKee, Martin

2015-10-01

Public health policies are often dependent on political decision-making, but little is known of the impact of different forms of government on countries' health policies. In this exploratory study we studied the association between a wide range of process and outcome indicators of health policy and four groups of political factors (levels of democracy, e.g. voice and accountability; political representation, e.g. voter turnout; distribution of power, e.g. constraints on the executive; and quality of government, e.g. absence of corruption) in contemporary Europe. Data on 15 aspects of government and 18 indicators of health policy as well as on potential confounders were extracted from harmonized international data sources, covering 30 European countries and the years 1990-2010. In a first step, multivariate regression analysis was used to relate cumulative measures of government to indicators of health policy, and in a second step panel regression with country fixed effects was used to relate changes in selected measures of government to changes in indicators of health policy. In multivariate regression analyses, measures of quality of democracy and quality of government had many positive associations with process and outcome indicators of health policy, while measures of distribution of power and political representation had few and inconsistent associations. Associations for quality of democracy were robust against more extensive control for confounding variables, including tests in panel regressions with country fixed effects, but associations for quality of government were not. In this period in Europe, the predominant political influence on health policy has been the rise of levels of democracy in countries in the Central & Eastern part of the region. In contrast to other areas of public policy, health policy does not appear to be strongly influenced by institutional features of democracy determining the distribution of power, nor by aspects of political

Planning of Low-rise Urban Housing Areas

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Svensson, O.

In many countries industrialization of house building has led to the building of large, monotonous housing areas with high-rise construction. In Denmark, however, smaller, varied housing areas with low-rise construction and urban features have become predominant. This report contains guidelines...... for the planning of such housing areas....

Rising trends of gastric cancer and peptic ulcer in the 19th century.

Science.gov (United States)

Sonnenberg, A; Baron, J H

2010-10-01

The risk of dying from gastric cancer appears to have increased among consecutive generations born during the 19th century. To follow the time trends of hospitalization for gastric cancer and test whether they confirm such increase. Inpatient records of the last two centuries from four hospitals in Scotland and three US hospitals were analysed. Proportional rates of hospitalization for gastric cancer, gastric ulcer and duodenal ulcer were calculated during consecutive 5-year periods. The data from all seven cities revealed strikingly similar patterns. No hospital admissions for gastric cancer or peptic ulcer were recorded prior to 1800. Hospital admissions for gastric cancer increased in an exponential fashion throughout the 19th and the beginning of the 20th century. In a majority of cities, the rise in hospitalization for gastric cancer preceded a similar rise in hospitalization for gastric ulcer. Hospitalization for these two latter diagnoses clearly preceded hospitalization for duodenal ulcer by 20-40 years. The occurrence of gastric cancer, gastric ulcer and duodenal ulcer markedly increased during the 19th century. Improvements in hygiene may have resulted in the decline of infections by other gastrointestinal organisms that had previously kept concomitant infection by Helicobacter pylori suppressed. Published 2010. This article is a US Government work and is in the public domain in the USA.

Governance and Institutional Autonomy: Governing and Governance in Portuguese Higher Education

Science.gov (United States)

Magalhaes, Antonio; Veiga, Amelia; Ribeiro, Filipa; Amaral, Alberto

2013-01-01

This paper aims at looking at governance instruments beyond managerial technicality. It intends to do so by analysing the impact of governance reforms on the universities autonomy assumed as a regulation instrument to politically steer systems and institutions. The regulation efforts undertaken at the European and national levels reflect a trend…

The Rise of Iran

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Jakobsen, Peter Viggo; Rahigh-Aghsan, Ali

2010-01-01

Iran is viewed by many as a rising power that poses an increasing threat to regional and even global security. This view is wrong for three reasons. Iran's hard and soft power is exaggerated by most accounts; it is too limited to allow the Iranians to dominate the Persian Gulf let alone the Middle...... East, and its brand of Shi‘ism has very limited appeal outside of Iran. Second, growing internal political and economic instability will seriously limit Iran's bid for regional dominance. Third, the failure to stop the Iranian nuclear program has led analysts to underestimate the ability of the other...... regional powers and the West to balance Iran and contain its influence, even if it acquires nuclear weapons. If these limitations on Iranian power are taken into account the rise seems destined to be a short one....

Who governs energy? The challenges facing global energy governance

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Florini, Ann; Sovacool, Benjamin K.

2009-01-01

This article conceptualizes the energy problems facing society from a global governance perspective. It argues that a notion of 'global energy governance,' taken to mean international collective action efforts undertaken to manage and distribute energy resources and provide energy services, offers a meaningful and useful framework for assessing energy-related challenges. The article begins by exploring the concepts of governance, global governance, and global energy governance. It then examines some of the existing institutions in place to establish and carry out rules and norms governing global energy problems and describes the range of institutional design options available to policymakers. It briefly traces the role of a selection of these institutions, from inter-governmental organizations to summit processes to multilateral development banks to global action networks, in responding to energy issues, and points out their strengths and weaknesses. The article concludes by analyzing how the various approaches to global governance differ in their applicability to addressing the conundrums of global energy problems.

Who governs energy? The challenges facing global energy governance

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Florini, Ann; Sovacool, Benjamin K. [Centre on Asia and Globalisation, Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy, National University of Singapore, Singapore 259772 (Singapore)

2009-12-15

This article conceptualizes the energy problems facing society from a global governance perspective. It argues that a notion of 'global energy governance,' taken to mean international collective action efforts undertaken to manage and distribute energy resources and provide energy services, offers a meaningful and useful framework for assessing energy-related challenges. The article begins by exploring the concepts of governance, global governance, and global energy governance. It then examines some of the existing institutions in place to establish and carry out rules and norms governing global energy problems and describes the range of institutional design options available to policymakers. It briefly traces the role of a selection of these institutions, from inter-governmental organizations to summit processes to multilateral development banks to global action networks, in responding to energy issues, and points out their strengths and weaknesses. The article concludes by analyzing how the various approaches to global governance differ in their applicability to addressing the conundrums of global energy problems. (author)

Leasing instruments of high-rise construction financing

Science.gov (United States)

Aleksandrova, Olga; Ivleva, Elena; Sukhacheva, Viktoria; Rumyantseva, Anna

2018-03-01

The leasing sector of the business economics is expanding. Leasing instruments for high-rise construction financing allow to determine the best business behaviour in the leasing economy sector, not only in the sphere of transactions with equipment and vehicles. Investments in high-rise construction have a multiplicative effect. It initiates an active search and leasing instruments use in the economic behaviour of construction organizations. The study of the high-rise construction sector in the structure of the leasing market participants significantly expands the leasing system framework. The scheme of internal and external leasing process factors influence on the result formation in the leasing sector of economy is offered.

Shapes and rising velocities of single bubbles rising through an inner subchannel

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Tomiyama, Akio; Nakahara, Yusuke; Adachi, Yoshihiro; Hosokawa, Shigeo

2003-01-01

Shapes and velocities of single air bubbles rising through stagnant and flowing waters in an inner subchannel are measured by making use of fluorocarbon tubes. It is confirmed that (1) bubble shapes and motions in the subchannel are by far different from those in simple geometry, and they depend on the ratio λ of the bubble diameter to the subchannel hydraulic diameter, (2) when λ > 0.9, a part of a bubble intrudes into neighboring subchannels, and thereby a kind of void drift takes place even with a single bubble, (3) the terminal velocity V T of a small bubble (λ T for cell-Taylor bubbles (λ > 0.9) is presented, and (5) the rising velocity V B in laminar an turbulent flow conditions are well evaluated by substituting the proposed V T models and the ratio of the maximum liquid velocity to the mean liquid velocity into the Nicklin correlation. (author)

THE EVOLUTION OF LOCAL GOVERNMENT AND SELF-GOVERNMENT IN RUSSIA

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Tatiana Yashchuk

2017-01-01

Full Text Available УДК 34The article highlights the main stages in the development of local government and self-gov-ernment in Russia. It shows the specifics of each stage. The formation of the Russian state was accompanied by the synthesis of the princely power and the community self-government. The genesis autocracy was accompanied by a struggle with the self-government institutions. The creation of rural and urban self-government in the second half of the XIX century was accom-panied by a debate on the social and public origin of these institutions.The Soviet state was based on the unity of the Soviet system. It concluded the discrete de-velopment of local self-government in Russia. There is no historical strong tradition of local government in this system.Objective of the article is to identify and characterize the main stages of development of local government and self-government in Russia. Show the discrete nature of the develop-ment of local self-government in Russia.The formation of the Russian state was accompanied by the synthesis of princely power and community self-government. Genesis autocracy was accompanied by a struggle with self-government institutions. The absence of territorial self-government in Russia was offset by the presence of social class municipality for a long time. Caste traditions tradition had a negative impact after the establishment of rural and urban self-government in the second half of the XIX century.During the preparation of the reforms and their implementation were discussions of the rela-tionship between the state and the community began in management. As a result, there is the inclusion of local authorities in the sphere of active state regulation. The desire of the county public to the political activity was suppressed by autocracy. The Provisional Government at-tempt to rely on the local self-government to create new authorities ended in failure.The Soviet state was based on a single management system. Certain powers

E-Government Dimension

OpenAIRE

Rosiyadi, Didi; Suryana, Nana; Cahyana, Ade; Nuryani, Nuryani

2007-01-01

Makalah ini mengemukakan E-Government Dimension yang merupakan salah satu hasil TahapanPengumpulan Data, dimana tahapan ini adalah bagian dari penelitian kompetitif di Lembaga Ilmu PengetahuanIndonesia 2007 yang sekarang sedang dilakukan. Data E-Government Dimension ini didapatkan dari berbagaisumber yang meliputi E-Government beberapa Negara di dunia, E-Government yang dibangun oleh beberapapenyedia aplikasi E-Government. E-Government Dimension terdiri dari tiga dimensi yaitu DemocraticDimen...

Management Strategies of Perceived Challenges and Problems of Old People in Ihitte-Uboma Local Government Area of Imo State, Nigeria

Science.gov (United States)

Ojukwu, M. O.; Woko, S. I.

2016-01-01

It has been revealed that over the years, the number of the aged in the world has been on a steady increase. This rising number has great implications for government, researchers, families, youth and the society at large. There is therefore, the proper need for the understanding of the nature problems and challenges as well as the management…

Beam Induced Pressure Rise at RHIC

CERN Document Server

Zhang, S Y; Bai, Mei; Blaskiewicz, Michael; Cameron, Peter; Drees, Angelika; Fischer, Wolfram; Gullotta, Justin; He, Ping; Hseuh Hsiao Chaun; Huang, Haixin; Iriso, Ubaldo; Lee, Roger C; Litvinenko, Vladimir N; MacKay, William W; Nicoletti, Tony; Oerter, Brian; Peggs, Steve; Pilat, Fulvia Caterina; Ptitsyn, Vadim; Roser, Thomas; Satogata, Todd; Smart, Loralie; Snydstrup, Louis; Thieberger, Peter; Trbojevic, Dejan; Wang, Lanfa; Wei, Jie; Zeno, Keith

2005-01-01

Beam induced pressure rise in RHIC warm sections is currently one of the machine intensity and luminosity limits. This pressure rise is mainly due to electron cloud effects. The RHIC warm section electron cloud is associated with longer bunch spacings compared with other machines, and is distributed non-uniformly around the ring. In addition to the countermeasures for normal electron cloud, such as the NEG coated pipe, solenoids, beam scrubbing, bunch gaps, and larger bunch spacing, other studies and beam tests toward the understanding and counteracting RHIC warm electron cloud are of interest. These include the ion desorption studies and the test of anti-grazing ridges. For high bunch intensities and the shortest bunch spacings, pressure rises at certain locations in the cryogenic region have been observed during the past two runs. Beam studies are planned for the current 2005 run and the results will be reported.

OPEC Middle East plans for rising world demand amid uncertainty

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ismail, I.A.H.

1996-01-01

The Middle Eastern members of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries must plan for huge increases in oil production capacity yet wonder whether markets for the new output will develop as expected. With worldwide oil consumption rising and non-OPEC output likely to reach its resource limits soon, OPEC member countries face major gains in demand for their crude oil. To meet the demand growth, those with untapped resources will have to invest heavily in production capacity. Most OPEC members with such resources are in the Middle East. But financing the capacity investments remains a challenge. Some OPEC members have opened up to foreign equity participation in production projects, and others may eventually do so as financial pressures grow. That means additions to the opportunities now available to international companies in the Middle East. Uncertainties, however, hamper planning and worry OPEC. Chief among them are taxation and environmental policies of consuming-nation governments. This paper reviews these concerns and provides data on production, pricing, capital investment histories and revenues

Global Health Governance Challenges 2016 - Are We Ready?

Science.gov (United States)

Kickbusch, Ilona

2016-02-29

The year 2016 could turn out to be a turning point for global health, new political realities and global insecurities will test governance and financing mechanisms in relation to both people and planet. But most importantly political factors such as the global power shift and "the rise of the rest" will define the future of global health. A new mix of health inequity and security challenges has emerged and the 2015 humanitarian and health crises have shown the limits of existing systems. The global health as well as the humanitarian system will have to prove their capacity to respond and reform. The challenge ahead is deeply political, especially for the rising political actors. They are confronted with the consequences of a model of development that has neglected sustainability and equity, and was built on their exploitation. Some direction has been given by the path breaking international conferences in 2015. Especially the agreement on the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and the Paris agreement on climate change will shape action. Conceptually, we will need a different understanding of global health and its ultimate goals - the health of people can no longer be seen separate from the health of the planet and wealth measured by parameters of growth will no longer ensure health. © 2016 by Kerman University of Medical Sciences.

Coal prices rise

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

McLean, A.

2001-01-01

Coking and semi hard coking coal price agreements had been reached, but, strangely enough, the reaching of common ground on semi soft coking coal, ultra low volatile coal and thermal coal seemed some way off. More of this phenomenon later, but suffice to say that, traditionally, the semi soft and thermal coal prices have fallen into place as soon as the hard, or prime, coking coal prices have been determined. The rise and rise of the popularity of the ultra low volatile coals has seen demand for this type of coal grow almost exponentially. Perhaps one of the most interesting facets of the coking coal settlements announced to date is that the deals appear almost to have been preordained. The extraordinary thing is that the preordination has been at the prescience of the sellers. Traditionally, coking coal price fixing has been the prerogative of the Japanese Steel Mills (JSM) cartel (Nippon, NKK, Kawasaki, Kobe and Sumitomo) who presented a united front to a somewhat disorganised force of predominantly Australian and Canadian sellers. However, by the time JFY 2001 had come round, the rules of the game had changed

Paying the price: a cross-sectional survey of Australian socioeconomically disadvantaged smokers' responses to hypothetical cigarette price rises.

Science.gov (United States)

Guillaumier, Ashleigh; Bonevski, Billie; Paul, Christine; D'Este, Catherine; Doran, Christopher; Siahpush, Mohammad

2014-03-01

Increases in tobacco taxation can lead to reductions in tobacco consumption and prevalence of use across social groups. However, use of price-minimisation strategies to manage current and future tobacco use and the role of financial stress is less understood. This study aimed to measure the effect of cigarette price increases on price-minimisation strategy endorsement and financial stress among socioeconomically disadvantaged smokers. Community service organisation welfare recipients in NSW, Australia completed a touchscreen survey. Smoking history, financial stress, highest price to quit and responses to hypothetical cigarette price increases were assessed. Participants were 354 smokers (response rate = 79%). Most participants received income from a government pension (95%), earned price rises, significantly more participants endorsed trying to quit in response to the larger increase scenario (P price-minimisation strategies (e.g. switching to cheaper brands/products) were endorsed, but remained constant across hypothetical scenarios; level of financial stress appeared to have little influence. Smokers indicating they would not change their smoking in response to price rises had higher levels of nicotine dependence. Socially disadvantaged smokers endorsed numerous price-minimising strategies to maintain smoking at hypothetically increased costs. Larger cigarette price rises motivated more smokers to consider quitting, while price-resistant smokers appeared to have a more entrenched smoker status. © 2013 Australasian Professional Society on Alcohol and other Drugs.

Beyond just sea-level rise: considering macroclimatic drivers within coastal wetland vulnerability assessments to climate change.

Science.gov (United States)

Osland, Michael J; Enwright, Nicholas M; Day, Richard H; Gabler, Christopher A; Stagg, Camille L; Grace, James B

2016-01-01

Due to their position at the land-sea interface, coastal wetlands are vulnerable to many aspects of climate change. However, climate change vulnerability assessments for coastal wetlands generally focus solely on sea-level rise without considering the effects of other facets of climate change. Across the globe and in all ecosystems, macroclimatic drivers (e.g., temperature and rainfall regimes) greatly influence ecosystem structure and function. Macroclimatic drivers have been the focus of climate change-related threat evaluations for terrestrial ecosystems, but largely ignored for coastal wetlands. In some coastal wetlands, changing macroclimatic conditions are expected to result in foundation plant species replacement, which would affect the supply of certain ecosystem goods and services and could affect ecosystem resilience. As examples, we highlight several ecological transition zones where small changes in macroclimatic conditions would result in comparatively large changes in coastal wetland ecosystem structure and function. Our intent in this communication is not to minimize the importance of sea-level rise. Rather, our overarching aim is to illustrate the need to also consider macroclimatic drivers within vulnerability assessments for coastal wetlands. Published 2015. This article is a U.S. Government work and is in the public domain in the USA.

Leadership, Governance

Science.gov (United States)

: Environmental Documents, Reports LANL Home Calendar Search Contacts About » Leadership, Governance Leadership national security and energy challenges. Leadership, Governance Ethics, Accountability Los Alamos National . Director's Office terry wallace in leadership, governance Director Terry C. Wallace, Jr. Terry C. Wallace, Jr

Introduction: New Frontiers of Ecological Knowledge: Co-producing Knowledge and Governance in Asia

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Shubhra Gururani

2014-01-01

Full Text Available This essay makes a case for centering the questions of ecological knowledge in order to understand how environmental governance and resource access are being remade in the frontier ecologies of Asia. These frontiers, consisting of the so-called uplands and coastal zones, are increasingly subject to new waves of extractive and conservation activities, prompted in part by rising values attached to these ecologies by new actors and actor coalitions. Drawing on recent writings in science and technology studies, we examine the coproduction (Jasanoff 2004 of ecological knowledge and governance at this conjuncture of neoliberal interventions, land grabs, and climate change. We outline the complex ways through which the involvement of new actors, new technologies, and practices of boundary work, territorialisation, scale-making, and expertise transform the dynamics of the coproduction of knowledge and governance. Drawing on long term field research in Asia, the articles in this special section show that resident peoples are often marginalised from the production and circulation of ecological knowledge, and thus from environmental governance. While attentive to the entry of new actors and to the shifts in relations of authority, control, and decision-making, the papers also present examples of how this marginalisation can be challenged, by highlighting the limits of boundary-work and expertise in such frontier ecologies.

“ Blaming, shaming, humiliation”: Stigmatising medical interactions among people with non-epileptic seizures

Science.gov (United States)

Robson, Catherine; Lian, Olaug S.

2017-01-01

Background: People with non-epileptic seizures (NES) describe challenging relationships with health professionals, and explain negative interactions as common and expected. Despite these difficulties, little is known about how people with NES experience difficult healthcare encounters. Methods: Using a thematic discourse analysis approach, we analysed the free-text survey responses of 135 people with NES and asked: what kind of challenges do people living with this condition encounter when interacting with health professionals, and how do they experience the consequences of difficult interactions? We explore their experiences by interpreting the latent meaning of participants’ texts from a social-constructionist perspective on health and illness. Results: The overarching narrative depicts a fundamental breakdown in patient-provider relationships. According to our data, the negative experiences of study participants emerge from more than practitioners’ lack of awareness of NES and access to information about the condition - to the extent that it is available. In examining the challenges people with NES encounter when interacting with health professionals, their main experiences centre on blame and humiliation. When exploring their experiences, theories of stigma serve as a useful theoretical framework. Conclusions: Normative judgements arising from psychogenic understandings of NES are stigmatising and restrict professional displays of respectful (patient-centred) care. Those with the condition depict being negatively stereotyped, illegitimated and held morally culpable by health professionals. Perceived to lack medical, moral and credible status, participants describe practitioners who treat them with disrespect, and some recount conduct that defies all ethical and professional obligations and standards. These encounters can have wide-ranging adverse consequences for patients: emotionally, physically, and for their future healthcare. The quality of healthcare

Challenges in developing e-government for good governance in North Sumatra

Science.gov (United States)

Siahaan, AY

2017-01-01

E-government as one form of public administration reform in Indonesia is increasingly related to the pursuance of good governance. This paper examines the relationship between of e-government and good governance by utilizing the case study design on the implementation of e-procurement in North Sumatra. It reveals centrality of local politics and business culture in understanding resistances of both local government officials and local business which creates loopholes’ for the practice of ‘bad governance’ in all phases of e-procurement in North Sumatra province. Data transparency does not equate and guarantee the realization of good governance. Public knowledge and understanding on government decision making processes and accountability (process and policy transparency) are central to achieve good governance through e-procurement. E-procurement system does not automatically change organizational and working culture of the implementers and suppliers. This paper provides insight to the attitude and the perception of private sector engage in e-procurement towards government in implementing e-government. Resistance, digital divide and local politics interrelatedly obstruct the realization of pursuing good governance through e-procurement.

Rising workload or rising work pressure in general practice in the Netherlands.

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Bakker, D.H. de; Hutten, J.B.F.; Steultjens, M.; Schellevis, F.

2002-01-01

Background: General practice in the Netherlands seems to be in a crisis. Worries about shortages of GP's, the first strike of general practitioners in 2001 and the rapid increase of triage systems in out of hours care are signs that work pressure and/or workload are rising. But systematic evidence

Numerical modelling of rise and fall of a dense layer in salt diapirs

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Chemia, Zurab; Koyi, H.; Schmeling, H.

2008-01-01

Numerical models are used to study the entrainment of a dense anhydrite layer by a diapir. The anhydrite layer is initially horizontally embedded within a viscous salt layer. The diapir is down-built by aggradation of non-Newtonian sediments (n = 4, constant temperature) placed on the top...... of the salt layer. Several parameters (sedimentation rate, salt viscosity, perturbation width and stratigraphic position of the anhydrite layer) are studied systematically to understand their role in governing the entrainment of the anhydrite layer. High sedimentation rates during the early stages...... of the diapir evolution bury the initial perturbation and, thus, no diapir forms. The anhydrite layer sinks within the buried salt layer. For the same sedimentation rate, increasing viscosity of the salt layer decreases the rise rate of the diapir and reduces the amount (volume) of the anhydrite layer...

Open government and municipalities: Beyond e-governement

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Christian Cruz Meléndez

2017-11-01

Full Text Available This article’s purpose is to analyze egovernment and open government as tolos to strengthen the role of municipal government. It reviews the evolution of both tolos in Mexico and contains a conceptual analysis of both terms to gain an understanding of their meaning and of the reason why they are promoted for the benefit of local governments. Finally, it explores the availability of these tools in the municipalities, and how they contribute to each municipality in the fulfillment of its responsibilities.

Director remuneration, corporate governance and performance: A comparison between government linked companies vs non government linked companies

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Nazrul Hisyam Ab Razak

2014-07-01

Full Text Available This study has examined the relationship between director’s remuneration, corporate governance structure and performance of a sample of 150 companies listed on the Bursa Malaysia from year 2008 until 2013. The sample was selected to provide matched-pair of government linked companies (GLCs and non-government linked companies (non-GLCs, as it was anticipated that these group would have different governance structure, the key difference being government ownership. The result holds even when we control for company specific characteristic such as corporate governance, company size, leverage, director’s remuneration, board size and auditors. This study uses panel based regression model to examine the impact of government control mechanism on company performance using two important measurers. These are accounting based measure proxies by ROA and non-accounting based measures by Tobin’s Q. Statistically significant relationships were found across the groupings and for different performance measures. Findings appear to suggest that there is a significant impact of government ownership on company performance after controlling for company specific characteristics.

21 CFR 137.270 - Self-rising white corn meal.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-04-01

... 21 Food and Drugs 2 2010-04-01 2010-04-01 false Self-rising white corn meal. 137.270 Section 137... Cereal Flours and Related Products § 137.270 Self-rising white corn meal. (a) Self-rising white corn meal is an intimate mixture of white corn meal, sodium bicarbonate, and one or both of the acid-reacting...

The impact of financial globalization and financialization on the economy in the current crisis through banking corporate governance

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Juan Antonio Azkunaga

2013-10-01

Full Text Available This work analyzes the role of governance of financial entities in the current crisis. Neoliberal economic policies, deregulation and liberalization have characterized financial globalization, giving rise to the financialization of the economy. This paper, using the analysis-synthesis method, shows that the corporate governance of entities has adapted to the new social environment under the influence of the interests of the investors. The results of this paper suggest the need to monitor the over-emphasis on the maximization of short-term shareholder value without relativizing the risk taken to achieve it, as such, the emphasis on short-term shareholder value is considered a crucial contributing factor to the present crisis.

Electronic Government

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Wimmer, Maria A.; Traunmüller, Roland; Grönlund, Åke

This book constitutes the refereed proceedings of the 4th International Conference on Electronic Government, EGOV 2005, held in Copenhagen, Denmark, in August 2005. The 30 revised papers presented were carefully reviewed and selected from numerous submissions, and assess the state-of-the-art in e-government/e-governance...

WHY DOES GOVERNMENT GROW?THE SOURCESOF GOVERNMENT GROWTHFROM PUBLIC CHOICEPERSPECTIVE

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Coskun Can Aktan, PhD

2017-01-01

Full Text Available Many empirical studies that examined the government spending concludes that the sizeand scope of government has grown considerably since the beginning of the twentiethcentury in most developed countries. If this is the fact, then we must ask and explore thefollowing questions: Why does government grow? What are the main sources ofgovernment growth? What are the main reasons of the expansion of government? Thisintroductory paper aims to answerthose and other questions regarding governmentgrowth. The paperismostlydependon public choice literature of government growth.

The Russia Corporate Governance Manual : Part I. Corporate Governance Introduced

OpenAIRE

International Finance Corporation; U.S. Department of Commerce

2004-01-01

The Russia corporate governance manual has been divided into and is published in six parts: (i) corporate governance introduced; (ii) good board practices; (iii) shareholder rights; (iv) information disclosure and transparency; (v) special focus section; and (vi) annexes model corporate governance documents. The first four parts contain chapters that focus on core corporate governance issu...

E-Government, Audit Opinion, and Performance of Local Government Administration in Indonesia

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Bambang Sutopo

2017-12-01

Full Text Available Local governments (LGs have an important role in providing services to the community. Nevertheless, some local governments still show relatively low performance. Scores of e-government implementation and audit opinions obtained by some local governments are also relatively low. This study examines whether there are relationships between e-government, the dimensions of e-government, and audit opinion and the performance of the local government administration. There are five dimensions of the e-government i.e. policy, institutions, infrastructure, applications, and planning. The sample used in this study includes 246 local governments from 2012 to 2014. Using regression analysis, the results of this study show that e-government has a positive association with the performance of the local government administration. This is supported by the positive association of e-government’s dimensions with performance. The audit opinion is also positively associated with performance as expected. These results suggest that e-government and audit opinion can be used as indicators of the performance of local government administration.

Special considerations for testing rising rotating stem MOVs

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Moffa, A.

1992-01-01

Rising stem gate and globe valves have one plane of motion: linear. The stem is either pushed or pulled into position. For rising and rotating stems however, there are two planes of motion: linear and rotational. The stem is twisted in addition to being pushed or pulled into position. Typical motor operated valve (MOV) sizing equations account only for the linear requirements of the valve to open or close. Theoretical calculations performed for a two-dimensional system predict that in the running load region, rotational torque requirements far exceed the linear requirements. To validate the theoretical model, torque testing of rising rotating stem valves was preformed, using Liberty Technologies Valve Operation Test and Evaluation System (VOTES). Theoretical and empirical data have produced a new perspective for operational requirements and a guideline for testing rising rotating stem valves

Cities and Sea Level Rise: A Roadmap for Flood Hazard Adaptation

Science.gov (United States)

Horn, Diane; Cousins, Ann

2016-04-01

Coastal cities will face a range of increasingly severe challenges as sea level rises, and adaptation to future flood risk will require more than structural defences. Many cities will not be able to rely solely on engineering structures for protection and will need to develop a suite of policy responses to increase their resilience to impacts of rising sea level. The tools to promote flood risk adaptation are already within the capacity of most cities, with an assortment of policy tools available to address other land-use problems which can be refashioned and used to adapt to sea level rise. This study reviews approaches for urban adaptation through detailed analyses of case studies of cities which have developed flood adaptation strategies that combine structural defences with innovative approaches to living with flood risk. The aim of the overall project is to produce a 'roadmap' to guide practitioners through the process of analysing coastal flood risk in urban areas. Methodologies and tools to estimate vulnerability to coastal flooding, damages suffered, and the assessment of flood defences and adaptation measures are complemented with a discussion on the essential impact that local policy has on the treatment of coastal flooding and the constraints and opportunities that result from the specific country or locality characteristics in relation to economic, political, social and environmental priorities, which are likely to dictate the approach to coastal flooding and the actions proposed. Case studies of adaptation strategies used by Rotterdam, Bristol, Ho Chi Minh City and Norfolk, Virginia, are used to draw out a range of good practice elements that promote effective adaptation to sea level rise. These can be grouped into risk reduction, governance issues, and insurance, and can be used to provide examples of how other cities could adopt and implement flood adaptation strategies from a relatively limited starting position. Most cities will neither be able to

Why Governments Intervene

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Knudsen, Jette Steen; Brown, Dana

2015-01-01

Why are national governments increasingly adopting policies on corporate social responsibility (CSR)? Government CSR policies have been explained either as a means of substituting or supporting (mirroring) domestic political-economic institutions and policies, or as a means for government...... to promote international competitiveness of domestic businesses. Both sets of explanations see governments as driving CSR policies to meet particular national government goals. Support is found for the thesis that CSR policies are often related to international competitiveness, yet our findings suggest...... that government goals in this regard are not necessarily pre-defined....

Can molluscan assemblages give insights into Holocene environmental changes other than sea level rise? A case study from a macrotidal bay (Marennes-Oleron, France)

OpenAIRE

Poirier, Clement; Sauriau, Pierre-guy; Chaumillon, Eric; Allard, Jonathan

2009-01-01

During the Late Holocene, the rate of sea level rise decreased and climate changes, hydrodynamic processes or anthropogenic impacts became predominant parameters governing the sedimentary infill of estuarine environments. The aim of this study is to describe the response of past benthic mollusc communities to these forcing factors. Mollusc skeletal remains were sampled from three 8000, 5500 and 2600 year-long sedimentary records in the Marennes-Oleron Bay (Atlantic Coast, France), where envir...

Coastal sea level rise with warming above 2 °C.

Science.gov (United States)

Jevrejeva, Svetlana; Jackson, Luke P; Riva, Riccardo E M; Grinsted, Aslak; Moore, John C

2016-11-22

Two degrees of global warming above the preindustrial level is widely suggested as an appropriate threshold beyond which climate change risks become unacceptably high. This "2 °C" threshold is likely to be reached between 2040 and 2050 for both Representative Concentration Pathway (RCP) 8.5 and 4.5. Resulting sea level rises will not be globally uniform, due to ocean dynamical processes and changes in gravity associated with water mass redistribution. Here we provide probabilistic sea level rise projections for the global coastline with warming above the 2 °C goal. By 2040, with a 2 °C warming under the RCP8.5 scenario, more than 90% of coastal areas will experience sea level rise exceeding the global estimate of 0.2 m, with up to 0.4 m expected along the Atlantic coast of North America and Norway. With a 5 °C rise by 2100, sea level will rise rapidly, reaching 0.9 m (median), and 80% of the coastline will exceed the global sea level rise at the 95th percentile upper limit of 1.8 m. Under RCP8.5, by 2100, New York may expect rises of 1.09 m, Guangzhou may expect rises of 0.91 m, and Lagos may expect rises of 0.90 m, with the 95th percentile upper limit of 2.24 m, 1.93 m, and 1.92 m, respectively. The coastal communities of rapidly expanding cities in the developing world, and vulnerable tropical coastal ecosystems, will have a very limited time after midcentury to adapt to sea level rises unprecedented since the dawn of the Bronze Age.

Transitions governance: Towards a new governance paradigm

NARCIS (Netherlands)

N. Frantzeskaki (Niki); D.A. Loorbach (Derk)

2009-01-01

textabstractThis paper presents a framework for governance in the context of large scale and long term societal change (transitions). We argue that existing theories of governance offer interesting descriptive insights for such a framework, but do not present innovative prescriptive ideas

Gobernanza Versus Gobierno Governance Versus Government

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Dany-Robert Dufour

2009-06-01

Full Text Available El desplazamiento del término moderno de gobierno por el postmoderno de gobernanza, pone de manifiesto un nuevo lenguaje postmoderno en el que se deja entrever que ambas nociones, gobierno y gobernanza, tienden a oponerse. La gobernanza corporativa designa la toma del poder del capitalismo financiero sobre el capitalismo industrial, que no es otra cosa que, por un lado, propender por la rentabilidad máxima para los accionistas, valorizar todo en el mercado sin consideraciones morales, obligar a los actores a la búsqueda de riesgo permanente y flexibilizar las relaciones jerárquicas en la Administración de la empresa; y por el otro, la marginación de la clase obrera. La gobernanza ha llegado a los asuntos políticos convirtiéndose en modelo de gestión pública por excelencia, ella trata que el gobierno reducido a su mínima expresión guie a una sociedad civil que adquiere un papel importante en la creación y seguimiento de las diferentes políticas, es decir, que el gobierno adquiere una forma flexible de regulación, es allá donde la gobernanza política nos conduce, a la supuesta autorregulación de los intereses privados que sumados pasan a configurar el interés general. En realidad se trata de una nueva forma de dominación marcada por un desvanecimiento político, donde la sociedad civil juega en contra del Estado. La gobernanza le está tendiendo una temible trampa a la democracia, en tanto se presenta como una ampliación de la democracia materializada en una mejor participación de la sociedad civil, destruyendo la persona pública que se forma por la unión de todos los otros y convirtiéndola en representante de intereses particulares.The displacement of the modern term of government for the postmodern one of governance, reveals a new postmodern language in which one is left to guess that both notions, government and governance, tend to be opposed. Corporate governance signifies the seizure of power of financial capitalism

Sea level rise and the geoid: factor analysis approach

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Alexey Sadovski

2013-08-01

Full Text Available Sea levels are rising around the world, and this is a particular concern along most of the coasts of the United States. A 1989 EPA report shows that sea levels rose 5-6 inches more than the global average along the Mid-Atlantic and Gulf Coasts in the last century. The main reason for this is coastal land subsidence. This sea level rise is considered more as relative sea level rise than global sea level rise. Thus, instead of studying sea level rise globally, this paper describes a statistical approach by using factor analysis of regional sea level rates of change. Unlike physical models and semi-empirical models that attempt to approach how much and how fast sea levels are changing, this methodology allows for a discussion of the factor(s that statistically affects sea level rates of change, and seeks patterns to explain spatial correlations.

Application of tuned mass dampers in high-rise construction

Science.gov (United States)

Teplyshev, Vyacheslav; Mylnik, Alexey; Pushkareva, Maria; Agakhanov, Murad; Burova, Olga

2018-03-01

The article considers the use of tuned mass dampers in high-rise construction for significant acceleration and amplitude of vibrations of the upper floors under dynamic wind influences. The susceptibility of people to accelerations in high-rise buildings and possible means of reducing wind-induced fluctuations in buildings are analyzed. The statistics of application of tuned mass dampers in high-rise construction all over the world is presented. The goal of the study is to identify an economically attractive solution that allows the fullest use of the potential of building structures in high-rise construction, abandoning the need to build massive frames leading to over-consumption of materials.

The IT - Information Technology Governance and points to be considered in its practical implementation in Corporations

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Altino José Mentzingen de Moraes

2015-04-01

Full Text Available This paper presents a Case Study (Issues and Answers, applied in a major industry located in Brazil´s Central Region, related to rise up checkpoints linked to IT Governance. As one of its result, is presented a graph of how the IT Governance was approached in researched Industry, in which, it is possible to see which areas this method of working was active and in which this was not applied. Also a Timeline describes the steps that were undertaken for the implementation of this Case Study, which, can be reused for the resubmission – in a future moment – in the same industry, to evaluate if there was a change of scenery, or in other Organization with the same characteristics of this studied one.

Governing Towards Sustainability-Conceptualizing Modes of Governance

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Lange, P. de; Driessen, P.P.J.; Sauer, A.; Bornemann, B.; Burger, P.

2013-01-01

There is a growing scientific debate regarding the suitability of certain modes of governance for promoting sustainable development (SD). However, thus far there is neither agreement on ways to meaningfully distinguish and understand governance modes nor a foundation of the aspects to be chosen

Towards a Typology of Adaptive Governance in the Digital Government Context

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Wang, Cancan; Medaglia, Rony; Zheng, Lei

2018-01-01

and of accountability between government and non-government actors is critical to developing different types of adaptive governance. Findings show that the distribution of decision-making power and of accountability can be decoupled, resulting in three types of adaptive governance – namely polycentric, agile......, and organic governance. We contribute to research by detailing and empirically testing the notion of adaptive governance in a digital government context, and to practice by highlighting the role of the distribution of decision-making power and of accountability in devising adaptive governance strategies....... there is an increasing need to establish forms of collaboration that can respond to swift changes in the environment related to technology and citizen demands. Drawing on the analysis of four cases of IT-related project collaboration, we put forward that the degree of sharing of decision-making power...

Accidents Preventive Practice for High-Rise Construction

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Goh Kai Chen

2016-01-01

Full Text Available The demand of high-rise projects continues to grow due to the reducing of usable land area in Klang Valley, Malaysia. The rapidly development of high-rise projects has leaded to the rise of fatalities and accidents. An accident that happened in a construction site can cause serious physical injury. The accidents such as people falling from height and struck by falling object were the most frequent accidents happened in Malaysian construction industry. The continuous growth of high-rise buildings indicates that there is a need of an effective safety and health management. Hence, this research aims to identify the causes of accidents and the ways to prevent accidents that occur at high-rise building construction site. Qualitative method was employed in this research. Interview surveying with safety officers who are involved in highrise building project in Kuala Lumpur were conducted in this research. Accidents were caused by man-made factors, environment factors or machinery factors. The accidents prevention methods were provide sufficient Personal Protective Equipment (PPE, have a good housekeeping, execute safety inspection, provide safety training and execute accidents investigation. In the meanwhile, interviewees have suggested the new prevention methods that were develop a proper site layout planning and de-merit and merit system among sub-contractors, suppliers and even employees regarding safety at workplace matters. This research helps in explaining the causes of accidents and identifying area where prevention action should be implemented, so that workers and top management will increase awareness in preventing site accidents.

Analysis of coastal protection under rising flood risk

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Megan J. Lickley

2014-01-01

Full Text Available Infrastructure located along the U.S. Atlantic and Gulf coasts is exposed to rising risk of flooding from sea level rise, increasing storm surge, and subsidence. In these circumstances coastal management commonly based on 100-year flood maps assuming current climatology is no longer adequate. A dynamic programming cost–benefit analysis is applied to the adaptation decision, illustrated by application to an energy facility in Galveston Bay. Projections of several global climate models provide inputs to estimates of the change in hurricane and storm surge activity as well as the increase in sea level. The projected rise in physical flood risk is combined with estimates of flood damage and protection costs in an analysis of the multi-period nature of adaptation choice. The result is a planning method, using dynamic programming, which is appropriate for investment and abandonment decisions under rising coastal risk.

The Climate Science Special Report: Rising Seas and Changing Oceans

Science.gov (United States)

Kopp, R. E.

2017-12-01

GMSL has risen by about 16-21 cm since 1900. Ocean heat content has increased at all depths since the 1960s, and global mean sea-surface temperature increased 0.7°C/century between 1900 to 2016. Human activity contributed substantially to generating a rate of GMSL rise since 1900 faster than during any preceding century in at least 2800 years. A new set of six sea-level rise scenarios, spanning a range from 30 cm to 250 cm of 21st century GMSL rise, were developed for the CSSR. The lower scenario is based on linearly extrapolating the past two decades' rate of rise. The upper scenario is informed by literature estimates of maximum physically plausible values, observations indicating the onset of marine ice sheet instability in parts of West Antarctica, and modeling of ice-cliff and ice-shelf instability mechanisms. The new scenarios include localized projections along US coastlines. There is significant variability around the US, with rates of rise likely greater than GMSL rise in the US Northeast and the western Gulf of Mexico. Under scenarios involving extreme Antarctic contributions, regional rise would be greater than GMSL rise along almost all US coastlines. Historical sea-level rise has already driven a 5- to 10-fold increase in minor tidal flooding in several US coastal cities since the 1960s. Under the CSSR's Intermediate sea-level rise scenario (1.0 m of GMSL rise in 2100) , a majority of NOAA tide gauge locations will by 2040 experience the historical 5-year coastal flood about 5 times per year. Ocean changes are not limited to rising sea levels. Ocean pH is decreasing at a rate that may be unparalleled in the last 66 million years. Along coastlines, ocean acidification can be enhanced by changes in the upwelling (particularly along the US Pacific Coast); by episodic, climate change-enhanced increases in freshwater input (particularly along the US Atlantic Coast); and by the enhancement of biological respiration by nutrient runoff. Climate models project

Large Topographic Rises on Venus: Implications for Mantle Upwelling

Science.gov (United States)

Stofan, Ellen R.; Smrekar, Suzanne E.; Bindschandler, Duane L.; Senske, David A.

1995-01-01

Topographic rises on Venus have been identified that are interpreted to be the surface manifestation of mantle upwellings. These features are classified into groups based on their dominant morphology. Atla and Beta Regiones are classified as rift-dominated, Dione, western Eistla, Bell, and Imdr Regiones as volcano-dominated, and Themis, eastern Eistla, and central Eistla Regiones as corona-dominated. At several topographic rises, geologic indicators were identified that may provide evidence of uplifted topography (e.g., volcanic flow features trending upslope). We assessed the minimum contribution of volcanic construction to the topography of each rise, which in general represents less than 5% of the volume of the rise, similar to the volumes of edifices at terrestrial hotspot swells. The total melt volume at each rise is approximated to be 10(exp 4) - 10(exp 6) cu km. The variations in morphology, topography, and gravity signatures at topographic rises are not interpreted to indicate variations in stage of evolution of a mantle upwelling. Instead, the morphologic variations between the three classes of topographic rises are interpreted to indicate the varying influences of lithospheric structure, plume characteristics, and regional tectonic environment. Within each class, variations in topography, gravity, and amount of volcanism may be indicative of differing stages of evolution. The similarity between swell and volcanic volumes for terrestrial and Venusian hotspots implies comparable time-integrated plume strengths for individual upwellings on the two planets.

Transformative environmental governance

Science.gov (United States)

Chaffin, Brian C.; Garmestani, Ahjond S.; Gunderson, Lance H.; Harm Benson, Melinda; Angeler, David G.; Arnold, Craig Anthony (Tony); Cosens, Barbara; Kundis Craig, Robin; Ruhl, J.B.; Allen, Craig R.

2016-01-01

Transformative governance is an approach to environmental governance that has the capacity to respond to, manage, and trigger regime shifts in coupled social-ecological systems (SESs) at multiple scales. The goal of transformative governance is to actively shift degraded SESs to alternative, more desirable, or more functional regimes by altering the structures and processes that define the system. Transformative governance is rooted in ecological theories to explain cross-scale dynamics in complex systems, as well as social theories of change, innovation, and technological transformation. Similar to adaptive governance, transformative governance involves a broad set of governance components, but requires additional capacity to foster new social-ecological regimes including increased risk tolerance, significant systemic investment, and restructured economies and power relations. Transformative governance has the potential to actively respond to regime shifts triggered by climate change, and thus future research should focus on identifying system drivers and leading indicators associated with social-ecological thresholds.

Coastal Hazards Maps: Actionable Information for Communities Facing Sea-Level Rise (Invited)

Science.gov (United States)

Gibeaut, J. C.; Barraza, E.

2010-12-01

Barrier islands along the U.S. Gulf coast remain under increasing pressure from development. This development and redevelopment is occurring despite recent hurricanes, ongoing erosion, and sea-level rise. To lessen the impacts of these hazards, local governments need information in a form that is useful for informing the public, making policy, and enforcing development rules. We recently completed the Galveston Island Geohazards Map for the city of Galveston, Texas and are currently developing maps for the Mustang and South Padre Island communities. The maps show areas that vary in their susceptibility to, and function for, mitigating the effects of geological processes, including sea-level rise, land subsidence, erosion and storm-surge flooding and washover. The current wetlands, beaches and dunes are mapped as having the highest geohazard potential both in terms of their exposure to hazardous conditions and their mitigating effects of those hazards for the rest of the island. These existing “critical environments” are generally protected under existing regulations. Importantly, however, the mapping recognizes that sea-level rise and shoreline retreat are changing the island; therefore, 60-year model projections of the effects of these changes are incorporated into the map. The areas that we project will become wetlands, beaches and dunes in the next 60 years are not protected. These areas are the most difficult to deal with from a policy point of view, yet we must address what happens there if real progress is to be made in how we live with sea-level rise. The geohazards maps draw on decades of geological knowledge of how barrier islands behave and put it in a form that is intuitive to the public and directly useful to planners. Some of the “messages” in the map include: leave salt marshes alone and give them room to migrate inland as sea level rises; set back and move development away from the shoreline to provide space for beaches and protective dunes

Stakeholder Governance

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Flak, Leif Skiftenes; Rose, Jeremy

2005-01-01

to e-Government. Originally a management theory, stakeholder theory advocates addressing the concerns of all stakeholders in a firm, as opposed to concentration on the interests of senior managers and stockholders. Apart from the original profit focus, there is no serious conceptual mismatch between...... of governance. Finally, the paper makes recommendations for future work in adapting ST to the e-government context....

Statistics of EMIC Rising Tones Observed by the Van Allen Probes

Science.gov (United States)

Sigsbee, K. M.; Kletzing, C.; Smith, C. W.; Santolik, O.

2017-12-01

We will present results from an ongoing statistical study of electromagnetic ion cyclotron (EMIC) wave rising tones observed by the Van Allen Probes. Using data from the Electric and Magnetic Field Instrument Suite and Integrated Science (EMFISIS) fluxgate magnetometer, we have identified orbits by both Van Allen Probes with EMIC wave events from the start of the mission in fall 2012 through fall 2016. Orbits with EMIC wave events were further examined for evidence of rising tones. Most EMIC wave rising tones were found during H+ band EMIC wave events. In Fourier time-frequency power spectrograms of the fluxgate magnetometer data, H+ band rising tones generally took the form of triggered emission type events, where the discrete rising tone structures rapidly rise in frequency out of the main band of observed H+ EMIC waves. A smaller percentage of EMIC wave rising tone events were found in the He+ band, where rising tones may appear as discrete structures with a positive slope embedded within the main band of observed He+ EMIC waves, similar in appearance to whistler-mode chorus elements. Understanding the occurrence rate and properties of rising tone EMIC waves will provide observational context for theoretical studies indicating that EMIC waves exhibiting non-linear behavior, such as rising tones, may be more effective at scattering radiation belt electrons than ordinary EMIC waves.

WHY DOES GOVERNMENT GROW?THE SOURCESOF GOVERNMENT GROWTHFROM PUBLIC CHOICEPERSPECTIVE

OpenAIRE

Coskun Can Aktan, PhD

2017-01-01

Many empirical studies that examined the government spending concludes that the sizeand scope of government has grown considerably since the beginning of the twentiethcentury in most developed countries. If this is the fact, then we must ask and explore thefollowing questions: Why does government grow? What are the main sources ofgovernment growth? What are the main reasons of the expansion of government? Thisintroductory paper aims to answerthose and other questions regardin...

Forms of global governence

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Maxim V. Kharkevich

2014-01-01

Full Text Available Global governance as a concept defines the meaning of contemporary world politics both as a discipline and as reality. Interdependent and globalized world requires governance, and a global government has not been formed yet. The theoretical possibility of global governance without global government is proved and justified. The purpose of this article is to analytically identify possible forms of global governance. Three such forms of global governance are identified: hierarchical, market and network. In a hierarchy the governance is due to the asymmetry of power between the parties. Market control happens via anonymous pricing mechanism. Network, in contrast to the market is characterized by a closer value link between the actors, but unlike the hierarchical relationship actors are free to leave the network. Global governance takes three forms and is being implemented by different actors. To determine the most efficient form of global governance is impossible. Efficiency depends on the match between a form and an object of government. It should be noted that meta governance is likely to remain a monopoly of institutionally strong states in global governance.

The Rise of Iran

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Rahigh-Aghsan, Ali

Iran is viewed as a rising power that poses an increasing threat to regional and even global security. This view is wrong for three reasons. Iran's hard and soft power is exaggerated by most accounts; it is too limited to allow the Iranians to dominate the Persian Gulf let alone the Middle East...

The Rise of Iran

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Rahigh-Aghsan, Ali; Jakobsen, Peter Viggo

2010-01-01

Iran is viewed as a rising power that poses an increasing threat to regional and even global security. This view is wrong for three reasons. Iran's hard and soft power is exaggerated by most accounts; it is too limited to allow the Iranians to dominate the Persian Gulf let alone the Middle East...

Leisure, Government and Governance: A Swedish Perspective

Science.gov (United States)

Lindstrom, Lisbeth

2011-01-01

The leisure sector has witnessed a tremendous expansion since 1960. The purpose of this article is to analyse the decisions and goals of Swedish government policy during the period 1962 to 2005. The empirical analysis covers government Propositions and governmental investigations. The fields covered are sports, culture, exercise, tourism and…

China's Insurance Regulatory Reform, Corporate Governance Behavior and Insurers' Governance Effectiveness.

Science.gov (United States)

Li, Huicong; Zhang, Hongliang; Tsai, Sang-Bing; Qiu, Aichao

2017-10-17

External regulation is an important mechanism to improve corporate behavior in emerging markets. China's insurance governance regulation, which began to supervise and guide insurance corporate governance behavior in 2006, has experienced a complex process of reform. This study tested our hypotheses with a sample of 85 firms during 2010-2011, which was obtained by providing a questionnaire to all of China's shareholding insurance companies. The empirical study results generally show that China's insurance governance effectiveness has significantly improved through strict regulation. Insurance corporate governance can improve business acumen and risk-control ability, but no significant evidence was found to prove its influence on profitability, as a result of focusing less attention on governance than on management. State ownership is associated with higher corporate governance effectiveness than non-state ownership. Listed companies tend to outperform non-listed firms, and life insurance corporate governance is more effective than that of property insurers. This study not only contributes to the comprehensive understanding of corporate governance effectiveness but also to the literature by highlighting the effect of corporate governance regulation in China's insurance industry and other emerging economies of the financial sector.

The rise of sea level. To understand and to anticipate

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

2013-03-01

By proposing and briefly commenting graphs and drawings, this publication propose brief presentations of the main issues related to sea level rise: global warming and climate disturbance, description of the phenomenon of sea level rise (difference between sea ice and ground ice, melting of glaciers), increase of sea level rise during the twentieth century, territories at risk (examples of Greenland, Tuvalu, Shanghai), acceleration of ice melting during the twenty first century with many coastal areas at risk, already noticed and possible future impacts in France (glaciers runoff, threatened coasts, example of the Xynthia tempest), how to be united and to anticipate (a threat for millions of people, adaptation to sea level rise, limitation of global warming to limit sea level rise)

Transforming Government Service

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Pedersen, Keld

2017-01-01

The Danish government has defined an ambitious e-government strategy aiming to increase both citizen centricity and the efficiency of government service production and delivery. This research uses dynamic capability theory to compare a highly successful and a less successful e-government program...... both aiming at realizing this strategy by reengineering back office processes and implement one-stop shopping. The research contributes to the e-government literature by identifying key differences between the two cases in terms of dynamic capabilities, by identifying the importance...

Barrier response to Holocene sea-level rise

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Pejrup, Morten; Andersen, Thorbjørn Joest; Johannessen, Peter N

Normally it is believed that sea-level rise causes coastal barrier retreat. However, sea-level is only one of the parameters determining the long term coastal development of barrier coasts. Sediment supply is an equally important determinant and may overshadow the effects of sea-level rise....... Conceptually this has been known for a long time but for the first time we can show the relative effect of these two parameters. We have studied three neighboring barrier islands in the Wadden Sea, and described their 3D morphological evolution during the last 8000 years. It appears that the barrier islands...... a much stronger component of sea-level control. The distance between the islands is only 50 km, and therefore our study shows that prediction of barrier development during a period of rising sea level may be more complicated than formerly believed....

Anthropogenic forcing dominates sea level rise since 1850

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Jevrejeva, Svetlana; Grinsted, Aslak; Moore, John

2009-01-01

The rate of sea level rise and its causes are topics of active debate. Here we use a delayed response statistical model to attribute the past 1000 years of sea level variability to various natural (volcanic and solar radiative) and anthropogenic (greenhouse gases and aerosols) forcings. We show...... that until 1800 the main drivers of sea level change are volcanic and solar radiative forcings. For the past 200 years sea level rise is mostly associated with anthropogenic factors. Only 4 ± 1.5 cm (25% of total sea level rise) during the 20th century is attributed to natural forcings, the remaining 14 ± 1...

China’s rising hydropower demand challenges water sector

Science.gov (United States)

Liu, Junguo; Zhao, Dandan; Gerbens-Leenes, P. W.; Guan, Dabo

2015-01-01

Demand for hydropower is increasing, yet the water footprints (WFs) of reservoirs and hydropower, and their contributions to water scarcity, are poorly understood. Here, we calculate reservoir WFs (freshwater that evaporates from reservoirs) and hydropower WFs (the WF of hydroelectricity) in China based on data from 875 representative reservoirs (209 with power plants). In 2010, the reservoir WF totaled 27.9 × 109 m3 (Gm3), or 22% of China’s total water consumption. Ignoring the reservoir WF seriously underestimates human water appropriation. The reservoir WF associated with industrial, domestic and agricultural WFs caused water scarcity in 6 of the 10 major Chinese river basins from 2 to 12 months annually. The hydropower WF was 6.6 Gm3 yr−1 or 3.6 m3 of water to produce a GJ (109 J) of electricity. Hydropower is a water intensive energy carrier. As a response to global climate change, the Chinese government has promoted a further increase in hydropower energy by 70% by 2020 compared to 2012. This energy policy imposes pressure on available freshwater resources and increases water scarcity. The water-energy nexus requires strategic and coordinated implementations of hydropower development among geographical regions, as well as trade-off analysis between rising energy demand and water use sustainability. PMID:26158871

Interconnect rise time in superconducting integrating circuits

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Preis, D.; Shlager, K.

1988-01-01

The influence of resistive losses on the voltage rise time of an integrated-circuit interconnection is reported. A distribution-circuit model is used to present the interconnect. Numerous parametric curves are presented based on numerical evaluation of the exact analytical expression for the model's transient response. For the superconducting case in which the series resistance of the interconnect approaches zero, the step-response rise time is longer but signal strength increases significantly

The Rise of Conservatism since World War II.

Science.gov (United States)

Carter, Dan T.

2003-01-01

Discusses the rise of the conservatism movement in the United States since World War II. States that laissez-faire capitalism and the rise of communism contributed to the popularity of conservatism in the United States. Focuses on the role of U.S. Presidents, such as Richard Nixon and Ronald Reagan. (CMK)

Determination of Temperature Rise and Temperature Differentials of CEMII/B-V Cement for 20MPa Mass Concrete using Adiabatic Temperature Rise Data

Science.gov (United States)

Chee Siang, GO

2017-07-01

Experimental test was carried out to determine the temperature rise characteristics of Portland-Fly-Ash Cement (CEM II/B-V, 42.5N) of Blaine fineness 418.6m2/kg and 444.6m2/kg respectively for 20MPa mass concrete under adiabatic condition. The estimation on adiabatic temperature rise by way of CIRIA C660 method (Construction Industry Research & Information Information) was adopted to verify and validate the hot-box test results by simulating the heat generation curve of the concrete under semi-adiabatic condition. Test result found that Portland fly-ash cement has exhibited decrease in the peak value of temperature rise and maximum temperature rise rate. The result showed that the temperature development and distribution profile, which is directly contributed from the heat of hydration of cement with time, is affected by the insulation, initial placing temperature, geometry and size of concrete mass. The mock up data showing the measured temperature differential is significantly lower than the technical specifications 20°C temperature differential requirement and the 27.7°C limiting temperature differential for granite aggregate concrete as stipulated in BS8110-2: 1985. The concrete strength test result revealed that the 28 days cubes compressive strength was above the stipulated 20MPa characteristic strength at 90 days. The test demonstrated that with proper concrete mix design, the use of Portland flyash cement, combination of chilled water and flake ice, and good insulation is effective in reducing peak temperature rise, temperature differential, and lower adiabatic temperature rise for mass concrete pours. As far as the determined adiabatic temperature rise result was concern, the established result could be inferred for in-situ thermal properties of 20MPa mass concrete application, as the result could be repeatable on account of similar type of constituent materials and concrete mix design adopted for permanent works at project site.

Corporate Governance

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Dragoș-Mihail Daghie

2011-05-01

Full Text Available The purpose of this study is to analyze and understand the recently introduced form of managementof a company limited by shares. The Law no. 441/2006, which fundamentally amended Company Law,created this form of controlling the company, the corporate governance, but the legislation does not explicitlydefine what it wants to achieve through this instrument. This topic is recent in research as the theme ofgerman-roman commercial law systems (in French corporate governance system was introduced in 1966 andin Romania in 2006 but in terms of Anglo-Saxon law, the topic has been addressed years since 1776 (AdamSmith: The Wealth of Nations The concept of corporate governance would like, as a result, to establish somerules that companies must comply in order to achieve effective governance, transparent and beneficial forboth shareholders and for the minority. Corporate governance is a key element with an aim at improvingefficiency and economic growth in full accordance with the increase of investors’ confidence. Corporategovernance assumes a series of relationship between the company management, leadership, shareholders andthe other people concerned. Also corporate governance provides for that structure by means of which thecompany’s targets are set out and the means to achieve them and also the manner how to monitor such.

Joined up Clinical Governance: Learning from Our Mistakes

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Pam Mosedale

2017-02-01

Full Text Available This session will be a practical demonstration, with group discussion of how a significant event can lead to the practice examining what happened, looking at the evidence base, revising protocols & auditing implementation of the new protocols.A significant event is an event thought by anyone in the team to be significant in the care of patients or the conduct of the practice.Significant Event Audit is a qualitative rather than quantitative form of Audit but still needs a structured framework to be successful.SEA involves gathering information in the form of a timeline of the event, clinical records & accounts of individuals involved.Scenarios around significant events will be discussed and analysed by the group as if they were conducting a non-threatening, open, fair & honest SEA meeting.During the meeting the incident will be analysed to see what happened, why it happened, any underlying reasons, what has been learned & what needs to change. This meeting is not to apportion blame.When looking at what needs to change the group should consider whether it is necessary to go away & look at the evidence base & then make changes to practice protocols. Any need for training or CPD for individuals or the whole team should be identified.A timescale for changes should be agreed.An audit can then be carried out to monitor the improvements and assess the impact of these changes. The group will consider what audits are appropriate, whether process or outcome audits are useful in the circumstances. They will also discuss how these audits can be carried out.SEA is a very useful tool in veterinary practice & a very good way to get all team members engaged with clinical governance & evidence based veterinary medicine in a joined up way which demonstrates the potential improvements to practice systems of work and patient care and safety.This session would be designed to appeal to all team members whether vets, nurses, receptionists or practice managers.

Dietary factors, obesity and serum lipoprotein profile: A nutritional epidemiological study in young adult twins

OpenAIRE

Bogl, Leonie-Helen

2014-01-01

Background: Energy-dense food and low physical activity have been blamed for the dramatic rise in the prevalence of obesity and related metabolic disorders. However, few dietary and physical activity factors have been consistently associated with obesity in observational studies. Self-reported behaviors are prone to misreporting, which may partly explain the inconsistency of previous results. Nutritional biomarkers provide an objective approach to measure habitual intake, but valid biomarkers...

Improving Unsustainable Environmental Governance in South Africa: the Case for Holistic Governance

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

LJ Kotze

2006-05-01

Full Text Available Environmental law in South Africa has developed in a rapid fashion since the inception of the new constitutional dispensation in 1994. This development is evident from, inter alia, the constitutionalisation of the environmental right in section 24 of the Constitution of the Republic of South Africa, 1996. Section 24 contains amongst other provisions, directive principles that impose duties on government to protect the environment for present and future generations through reasonable legislative and other measures. It is apparent from section 24 that these measures should ensure environmental governance practices that are aimed at the achievement of sustainable results. The South African environmental governance regime is, however, characterised by fragmentation that may negate the achievement of sustainable environmental governance. It is argued in this article that, for environmental governance to become sustainable, it is necessary to integrate environmental governance efforts, possibly by way of a holistic approach to environmental governance. In light of the above, this article: investigates the nature and extent of fragmentation; explores reasons for fragmentation; discusses disadvantages of fragmented governance efforts in South Africa; investigates the concept of integration and holistic governance as means to achieve sustainable environmental governance results; and makes recommendations regarding the eventual achievement of integrated, holistic and sustainable environmental governance.

Capillary Rise: Validity of the Dynamic Contact Angle Models.

Science.gov (United States)

Wu, Pingkeng; Nikolov, Alex D; Wasan, Darsh T

2017-08-15

The classical Lucas-Washburn-Rideal (LWR) equation, using the equilibrium contact angle, predicts a faster capillary rise process than experiments in many cases. The major contributor to the faster prediction is believed to be the velocity dependent dynamic contact angle. In this work, we investigated the dynamic contact angle models for their ability to correct the dynamic contact angle effect in the capillary rise process. We conducted capillary rise experiments of various wetting liquids in borosilicate glass capillaries and compared the model predictions with our experimental data. The results show that the LWR equations modified by the molecular kinetic theory and hydrodynamic model provide good predictions on the capillary rise of all the testing liquids with fitting parameters, while the one modified by Joos' empirical equation works for specific liquids, such as silicone oils. The LWR equation modified by molecular self-layering model predicts well the capillary rise of carbon tetrachloride, octamethylcyclotetrasiloxane, and n-alkanes with the molecular diameter or measured solvation force data. The molecular self-layering model modified LWR equation also has good predictions on the capillary rise of silicone oils covering a wide range of bulk viscosities with the same key parameter W(0), which results from the molecular self-layering. The advantage of the molecular self-layering model over the other models reveals the importance of the layered molecularly thin wetting film ahead of the main meniscus in the energy dissipation associated with dynamic contact angle. The analysis of the capillary rise of silicone oils with a wide range of bulk viscosities provides new insights into the capillary dynamics of polymer melts.

Specific features of modern multifunctional high-rise building construction

Science.gov (United States)

Manukhina, Lyubov; Samosudova, Natal'ja

2018-03-01

The article analyzes the main reasons for the development of high-rise building construction the most important of which-is a limitation of the urban areas and, consequently, the high price of land reserved for construction. New engineering and compositional solutions for the creation of new types of buildings are considered - complex technical designs of a large number of storeys completely meet the new requirements for safety and comfort. Some peculiarities of designing high-rise buildings and searching for optimal architectural and planning solutions are revealed since, with external architectural simplicity, high-rise buildings have complex structural and technological and space-planning solutions. We consider the specific features of a high-rise housing in various countries around the world, including Russia, such as the layout of the multi-storey residential buildings, depending on the climatic characteristics of the regions, assessment of the geological risk of the construction site, the choice of parameters and functional purpose of the sections of the territory of high-rise construction, location of the town-planning object for substantiating the overall dimensions of the building, assessment of changes aeration and engineering and hydrological conditions of the site. A special place in the article on the problems of improvement of the territory, the device of courtyards, landscaping, the device of playing and sports grounds. The main conclusion in the article is the following problem - when developing high-rise housing construction, the development of high-rise housing, and an increase in the population density in the territory of large cities of Russia, necessary to create a comfortable and safe level of residents living and not a decrease, but an improvement in the quality of the urban environment.

Governance in Health - The Need for Exchange and Evidence Comment on "Governance, Government, and the Search for New Provider Models".

Science.gov (United States)

Chanturidze, Tata; Obermann, Konrad

2016-05-17

Governance in health is cited as one of the key factors in balancing the concerns of the government and public sector with the interests of civil society/private players, but often remains poorly described and operationalized. Richard Saltman and Antonio Duran look at two aspects in the search for new provider models in a context of health markets signalling liberalisation: (i) the role of the government to balance public and private interests and responsibilities in delivering care through modernised governance arrangements, and (ii) the finding that operational complexities may hinder well-designed provider governance models, unless governance reflects country-specific realities. This commentary builds on the discussion by Saltman and Duran, and argues that the concept of governance needs to be clearly defined and operationalized in order to be helpful for policy debate as well as for the development of an applicable framework for performance improvement. It provides a working definition of governance and includes a reflection on the prevailing cultural norms in an organization or society upon which any governance needs to be build. It proposes to explore whether the "evidence-based governance" concept can be introduced to generate knowledge about innovative and effective governance models, and concludes that studies similar to the one by Saltman and Duran can inform this debate. © 2016 by Kerman University of Medical Sciences.

Sea-level rise risks to coastal cities

Science.gov (United States)

Nicholls, Robert J.

2017-04-01

Understanding the consequence of sea-level rise for coastal cities has long lead times and huge political implications. Civilisation has emerged and developed during a period of several thousand years during which in geological terms sea level has been unusually stable. We have now moved out of this period and the challenge will be to develop a long-term proactive assessment approach to manage this challenge. In 2005 there were 136 coastal cities with a population exceeding one million people and a collective population of 400 million people. All these coastal cities are threatened by flooding from the sea to varying degrees and these risks are increasing due to growing exposure (people and assets), rising sea levels due to climate change, and in some cities, significant coastal subsidence due to human agency (drainage and groundwater withdrawals from susceptible soils). In these cities we wish to avoid major flood events, with associated damage and potentially deaths and ultimately decline of the cities. Flood risks grow with sea-level rise as it raises extreme sea levels. As sea levels continue to rise, protection will have to be progressively upgraded. Even with this, the magnitude of losses when flood events do occur would increase as coastal cities expand, and water depths and hence unit damage increase with sea-level rise/subsidence. This makes it critical to also prepare for larger coastal flood disasters than we experience today and raises questions on the limits to adaptation. There is not an extensive literature or significant empirical information on the limits to adaptation in coastal cities. These limits are not predictable in a formal sense - while the rise in mean sea level raises the likelihood of a catastrophic flood, extreme events are what cause damage and trigger a response, be it abandonment, a defence upgrade or something else. There are several types of potential limits that could be categorised into three broad types: • Physical

Discovering Citizens Reaction Toward E-Government: Factors in E-Government Adoption

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Mohammad Kamel Alomari

2014-10-01

Full Text Available E-government has been considered as one approach for changing the face of government in the eyes of the citizenry. Therefore, citizens’ socialization in relation to their engagement with e-government should be explored. This study argues that citizens played a significant role in determining the success of an e-government project in the Middle Eastern country of Jordan. This paper aims to provide insight and evaluation into the factors that could influence e-government’s effective functioning in the Jordanian social community through its interaction with citizens. The study collected data from 356 Jordanian citizens via a survey, to ascertain their understanding of 10 factors that may influence their intention to use e-government services. To investigate the adoption of e-government services in depth, two departments in Jordan were selected: the Jordanian Government’s Income and Sales Tax Department (ISTD and its Driver and Vehicle Licenses Department (DVDL. The factor analysis technique was used to identify the main factors related to e-government services’ adoption. The results indicated that trust in the internet, website design, religious beliefs, internet and computer skill confidence, word of mouth, resistance to change, perceived usefulness, relative advantage and complexity are the main factors that should be considered when addressing the topic of e-government services’ adoption in Jordan. This study is different from most existing studies on e-government adoption as it empirically investigated the impact of word of mouth (WOM, wasta (favoritism, and resistance to change on e-government adoption. This study highlights the importance of considering the social cohesion of the Jordanian community when exploring factors related to e-government adoption.

Who's making the money on natural gas prices ? What should government do? a CCPA-BC policy brief

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Wilson, F.

2001-01-01

The issue of rising oil and gas prices was discussed with reference to British Columbia's three gas distribution companies, BC Gas, Centra Gas, and Pacific Northern. Rising oil and gas prices have significant social and environmental implications and the public wants to know who is profiting and what the government should do about the problem. It was argued that the current prices mean huge profits for natural gas producers. This report listed the top 10 gas producers in British Columbia, along with their raw gas production and estimated profits. Another factor to be considered in this debate is that in the past decade, limited pipeline capacity meant that there was usually a surplus of gas to serve the Canadian market. This all changed with the addition of new pipelines and pipeline expansions, leading to price determination by local market conditions and direct competition with U.S. purchasers. It was suggested that the federal government should tax windfall oil and gas profits and direct the resulting revenues to rebates for low-income households and for energy conservation initiatives. It was also suggested that the trade rules regarding energy should be changed, with particular reference to the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) which tied Canada into a North American energy market in which U.S. demand sets prices in Canada. 2 tabs., 1 fig

Changes of Global Infectious Disease Governance in 2000s: Rise of Global Health Security and Transformation of Infectious Disease Control System in South Korea

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Eun Kyung CHOI

2016-12-01

Full Text Available This paper focus upon the changes of global infectious disease governance in 2000s and the transformation of infectious disease control system in South Korea. Traditionally, infectious disease was globally governed by the quarantine regulated by the international conventions. When an infectious disease outbreak occurred in one country, each country prevented transmission of the disease through the standardized quarantine since the installation of international sanitary convention in 1892. Republic of Korea also organized the infectious disease control system with quarantine and disease report procedure after the establishment of government. Additionally, Korea National Health Institute(KNIH was founded as research and training institute for infectious disease. However, traditional international health regulation system faced a serious challenge by the appearance of emerging and re-emerging infectious disease in 1990s. As a result, global infectious disease governance was rapidly changed under the demand to global disease surveillance and response. Moreover, global health security frame became important after 2001 bioterror and 2003 SARS outbreak. Consequently, international health regulation was fully revised in 2005, which included not only infectious disease but also public health emergency. The new international health regime was differently characterized in several aspects; reinforcement of global cooperation and surveillance, enlargement of the role of supranational and international agencies, and reorganization of national capacity. KNIH was reorganized with epidemic control and research since late 1990s. However, in 2004 Korea Center for Disease Control and Prevention(KCDC was established as a disease control institution with combining quarantine and other functions after 2003 SARS outbreak. KCDC unified national function against infectious disease including prevention, protection, response and research, as a national representative in

Changes of Global Infectious Disease Governance in 2000s: Rise of Global Health Security and Transformation of Infectious Disease Control System in South Korea.

Science.gov (United States)

Choi, Eun Kyung; Lee, Jong-Koo

2016-12-01

This paper focus upon the changes of global infectious disease governance in 2000s and the transformation of infectious disease control system in South Korea. Traditionally, infectious disease was globally governed by the quarantine regulated by the international conventions. When an infectious disease outbreak occurred in one country, each country prevented transmission of the disease through the standardized quarantine since the installation of international sanitary convention in 1892. Republic of Korea also organized the infectious disease control system with quarantine and disease report procedure after the establishment of government. Additionally, Korea National Health Institute(KNIH) was founded as research and training institute for infectious disease. However, traditional international health regulation system faced a serious challenge by the appearance of emerging and re-emerging infectious disease in 1990s. As a result, global infectious disease governance was rapidly changed under the demand to global disease surveillance and response. Moreover, global health security frame became important after 2001 bioterror and 2003 SARS outbreak. Consequently, international health regulation was fully revised in 2005, which included not only infectious disease but also public health emergency. The new international health regime was differently characterized in several aspects; reinforcement of global cooperation and surveillance, enlargement of the role of supranational and international agencies, and reorganization of national capacity. KNIH was reorganized with epidemic control and research since late 1990s. However, in 2004 Korea Center for Disease Control and Prevention(KCDC) was established as a disease control institution with combining quarantine and other functions after 2003 SARS outbreak. KCDC unified national function against infectious disease including prevention, protection, response and research, as a national representative in disease control. The

Renewal through Participation in Global Food Security Governance: Implementing the International Food Security and Nutrition Civil Society Mechanism to the Committee on World Food Security

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Duncan, J.A.B.; Barling, D.

2012-01-01

The food commodity price rises from 2006 to 2008 engendered a period
of political renewal and reform in the governance of global food security. The
Committee on World Food Security (CFS) was designated as the main international forum dealing with food security and nutrition in 2009 as part

Gender Differences In The Anticipation Of Difficulties In Finding ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

Both male and female students displayed a strong sense of external locus of control and causal attribution. They believed that “connections” with the “right people” would help them in getting a job. They blamed others, especially government, in case they could not get employment. The findings are discussed with regard to ...

A Gramscian Analysis of the Employability Agenda

Science.gov (United States)

Arora, Bela

2015-01-01

The economic downturn has caused governments to reassess levels of resilience and adaptability in the face of new challenges. There has been increased focus on the higher education sector, which has been blamed for developing graduates whose skills do not meet the needs of the economy. The author explores a framework to interpret and understand…

Development of the bubble rise model in RELAP-UK

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Holmes, J.A.

1977-11-01

Several improvements have been made to the 'bubble rise calculation' in the code RELAP-UK, which models the separation of the steam and water phases within specified volumes of the coolant circuit. The bubble rise velocity and the bubble density gradient parameter are no longer necessarily user-defined constants, as the code can calculate their values at each time step according to the local fluid conditions. In particular, the calculation of the bubble rise velocity is consistent with the RELAP-UK drift flux correlation. It is now possible to represent a vertical column by a stack of vertically-adjacent bubble-rise volumes. Any mixture level existing within the column can freely pass between the volumes in the stack. The facilities are demonstrated in this paper by a simple computational example. (author)

Which Risks Get Managed? Addressing Climate Effects in the Context of Evolving Water-Governance Institutions

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ken Conca

2015-10-01

Full Text Available Warnings about climate change invariably stress water-related effects. Such effects are typically framed as both unpredictable and disruptive, and are thus said to create large new risks to the water sector demanding adaptive responses. This article examines how such responses are mediated by, and also compromised by, two dominant trends in the evolution of water governance institutions: (1 the rise of an “integrated” paradigm of water resources management, which has encouraged the development of more complex and interconnected water institutions, and (2 the rapidly changing political economy of water financing and investment. Each of these trends carries its own strong presumptions about what constitutes water-related risk and how such risk is properly managed. The article uses the specific example of large dam projects to illustrate how these ongoing trends in water governance shape and complicate the prospect of managing climate-water risks.

Bloody Lucky: the careless worker myth in Alberta, Canada.

Science.gov (United States)

Barnetson, Bob; Foster, Jason

2012-01-01

As the Canadian province of Alberta has adopted neoliberal prescriptions for government, it has increasingly attributed workplace injuries to worker carelessness. Blaming workers for their injuries appears to be part of a broader strategy (which includes under-reporting injury levels and masking ineffective state enforcement with public condemnation of injurious work) to contain the potential political consequences associated with unsafe workplaces. This reflects the state's sometimes conflicting goals of maintaining the production process and the political legitimacy of the government and the capitalist social formation. This case study considers the political dynamics of occupational health and safety in Alberta to understand the escalating use of the careless worker myth over time. Alberta's emphasis on employer self-regulation has resulted in a large number of annual workplace injuries. The 2008 "Bloody Lucky" safety awareness campaign intensified this attribution of blame via gory videos aimed at young workers. This case study examines the validity of this attribution to reveal that this campaign provides workers, particularly young workers, with inaccurate information about injury causation, which may impede their ability and motivation to mitigate workplace risks.

Governance, Government, and the Search for New Provider Models

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Richard B. Saltman

2016-01-01

Full Text Available A central problem in designing effective models of provider governance in health systems has been to ensure an appropriate balance between the concerns of public sector and/or government decision-makers, on the one hand, and of non-governmental health services actors in civil society and private life, on the other. In tax-funded European health systems up to the 1980s, the state and other public sector decision-makers played a dominant role over health service provision, typically operating hospitals through national or regional governments on a command-and-control basis. In a number of countries, however, this state role has started to change, with governments first stepping out of direct service provision and now de facto pushed to focus more on steering provider organizations rather than on direct public management. In this new approach to provider governance, the state has pulled back into a regulatory role that introduces market-like incentives and management structures, which then apply to both public and private sector providers alike. This article examines some of the main operational complexities in implementing this new governance reality/strategy, specifically from a service provision (as opposed to mostly a financing or even regulatory perspective. After briefly reviewing some of the key theoretical dilemmas, the paper presents two case studies where this new approach was put into practice: primary care in Sweden and hospitals in Spain. The article concludes that good governance today needs to reflect practical operational realities if it is to have the desired effect on health sector reform outcome.

Governance, Government, and the Search for New Provider Models.

Science.gov (United States)

Saltman, Richard B; Duran, Antonio

2015-11-03

A central problem in designing effective models of provider governance in health systems has been to ensure an appropriate balance between the concerns of public sector and/or government decision-makers, on the one hand, and of non-governmental health services actors in civil society and private life, on the other. In tax-funded European health systems up to the 1980s, the state and other public sector decision-makers played a dominant role over health service provision, typically operating hospitals through national or regional governments on a command-and-control basis. In a number of countries, however, this state role has started to change, with governments first stepping out of direct service provision and now de facto pushed to focus more on steering provider organizations rather than on direct public management. In this new approach to provider governance, the state has pulled back into a regulatory role that introduces market-like incentives and management structures, which then apply to both public and private sector providers alike. This article examines some of the main operational complexities in implementing this new governance reality/strategy, specifically from a service provision (as opposed to mostly a financing or even regulatory) perspective. After briefly reviewing some of the key theoretical dilemmas, the paper presents two case studies where this new approach was put into practice: primary care in Sweden and hospitals in Spain. The article concludes that good governance today needs to reflect practical operational realities if it is to have the desired effect on health sector reform outcome. © 2016 by Kerman University of Medical Sciences.

Government and Governance of Regional Triple Helix Interactions

Science.gov (United States)

Danson, Mike; Todeva, Emanuela

2016-01-01

This conceptual paper contributes to the discussion of the role of regional government and regional Triple Helix constellations driving economic development and growth within regional boundaries. The impact of regionalism and subsidiarity on regional Triple Helix constellations, and the questions of governmentality, governance and institutional…

GOVERNMENT SIZE VERSUS GOVERNMENT EFFICIENCY IN A MODEL OF ECONOMIC GROWTH

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Francisca Guedes de Oliveira

2016-04-01

Full Text Available We develop a Solow type growth model where firms produce a single homogenous good using labor, private capital and a public good. The "amount" of public good depends on current government spending and government quality. Quality is the result of the accumulation of public capital. Governments charge distortionary taxes and provide the public good, investing also in "quality" by accumulating public capital. We analyze how the composition of government spending between current expenditures and quality affects the equilibrium levels. We aim to understand the difference in terms of steady state levels between leviathan, quality driven and benevolent governments.

Future sea level rise constrained by observations and long-term commitment

Science.gov (United States)

Mengel, Matthias; Levermann, Anders; Frieler, Katja; Robinson, Alexander; Marzeion, Ben; Winkelmann, Ricarda

2016-01-01

Sea level has been steadily rising over the past century, predominantly due to anthropogenic climate change. The rate of sea level rise will keep increasing with continued global warming, and, even if temperatures are stabilized through the phasing out of greenhouse gas emissions, sea level is still expected to rise for centuries. This will affect coastal areas worldwide, and robust projections are needed to assess mitigation options and guide adaptation measures. Here we combine the equilibrium response of the main sea level rise contributions with their last century's observed contribution to constrain projections of future sea level rise. Our model is calibrated to a set of observations for each contribution, and the observational and climate uncertainties are combined to produce uncertainty ranges for 21st century sea level rise. We project anthropogenic sea level rise of 28–56 cm, 37–77 cm, and 57–131 cm in 2100 for the greenhouse gas concentration scenarios RCP26, RCP45, and RCP85, respectively. Our uncertainty ranges for total sea level rise overlap with the process-based estimates of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. The “constrained extrapolation” approach generalizes earlier global semiempirical models and may therefore lead to a better understanding of the discrepancies with process-based projections. PMID:26903648

Future sea level rise constrained by observations and long-term commitment.

Science.gov (United States)

Mengel, Matthias; Levermann, Anders; Frieler, Katja; Robinson, Alexander; Marzeion, Ben; Winkelmann, Ricarda

2016-03-08

Sea level has been steadily rising over the past century, predominantly due to anthropogenic climate change. The rate of sea level rise will keep increasing with continued global warming, and, even if temperatures are stabilized through the phasing out of greenhouse gas emissions, sea level is still expected to rise for centuries. This will affect coastal areas worldwide, and robust projections are needed to assess mitigation options and guide adaptation measures. Here we combine the equilibrium response of the main sea level rise contributions with their last century's observed contribution to constrain projections of future sea level rise. Our model is calibrated to a set of observations for each contribution, and the observational and climate uncertainties are combined to produce uncertainty ranges for 21st century sea level rise. We project anthropogenic sea level rise of 28-56 cm, 37-77 cm, and 57-131 cm in 2100 for the greenhouse gas concentration scenarios RCP26, RCP45, and RCP85, respectively. Our uncertainty ranges for total sea level rise overlap with the process-based estimates of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. The "constrained extrapolation" approach generalizes earlier global semiempirical models and may therefore lead to a better understanding of the discrepancies with process-based projections.

Transformative environmental governance

Science.gov (United States)

Transformative governance is an approach to environmental governance that has the capacity to respond to, manage, and trigger regime shifts in coupled social-ecological systems (SESs) at multiple scales. The goal of transformative governance is to actively shift degraded SESs to ...

Governance matters: an ecological association between governance and child mortality.

Science.gov (United States)

Lin, Ro-Ting; Chien, Lung-Chang; Chen, Ya-Mei; Chan, Chang-Chuan

2014-09-01

Governance of a country may have widespread effects on the health of its population, yet little is known about the effect of governance on child mortality in a country that is undergoing urbanization, economic development, and disease control. We obtained indicators of six dimensions of governance (perceptions of voice and accountability, political stability and absence of violence, government effectiveness, regulatory quality, rule of law, and control of corruption) and national under-5 mortality rates for 149 countries between 1996 and 2010. We applied a semi-parametric generalized additive mixed model to examine associations after controlling for the effects of development factors (urbanization level and economy), disease control factors (hygienic conditions and vaccination rates), health expenditures, air quality, and time. Governance, development, and disease control showed clear inverse relations with the under-5 mortality rate (pcountry's need for better governance is as important as improvements in development and disease control. © The Author 2014. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of Royal Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene.

Integrating adaptive governance and participatory multicriteria methods: a framework for climate adaptation governance

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Stefania Munaretto

2014-06-01

Full Text Available Climate adaptation is a dynamic social and institutional process where the governance dimension is receiving growing attention. Adaptive governance is an approach that promises to reduce uncertainty by improving the knowledge base for decision making. As uncertainty is an inherent feature of climate adaptation, adaptive governance seems to be a promising approach for improving climate adaptation governance. However, the adaptive governance literature has so far paid little attention to decision-making tools and methods, and the literature on the governance of adaptation is in its infancy in this regard. We argue that climate adaptation governance would benefit from systematic and yet flexible decision-making tools and methods such as participatory multicriteria methods for the evaluation of adaptation options, and that these methods can be linked to key adaptive governance principles. Moving from these premises, we propose a framework that integrates key adaptive governance features into participatory multicriteria methods for the governance of climate adaptation.

Practices of spatial governance in regional and city-region making

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Galland, Daniel; Larsen, Peter Wilgaard

and public stakeholders. Since the implementation of the Danish municipal reform in 2007, this partnership-oriented body has advanced and implemented business development strategies (BDS) aimed at improving local conditions for economic growth. • Municipal Contact Councils (Kommunekontaktråd or KKR...... succeeded in 35 bringing together municipal directors and have developed into a significant regional player since the implementation of the structural reform a decade ago. • Business Region North Denmark (BRN) recently established as a collaborative body between the municipalities and the Region of North......A planning account concerned with the rise of ‘soft spaces’ and ‘fuzzy boundaries’ has been object of increasing attention since the past decade (Allmendinger and Haughton, 2007; Haughton et al, 2010). In addition to or in substitution of formal, regulatory spaces of planning and governance...

SEISMIC Analysis of high-rise buildings with composite metal damper

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Chen Ruixue

2015-01-01

Full Text Available This paper mainly studies on the mechanical characteristics and application effect of composite metal damper in the high-rise buildings via the numerical simulation analysis. The research adopts the elastic and elastic-plastic dynamic approach and the displacement time history response and damper energy dissipation capacity and so on of the high-rise building are compared and analyzed before and after installation. The analysis found that the energy dissipation characteristic of metallic dampers is good. High-rise building story drift significantly is reduced and the extent of damage of the walls and coupling beams is decreased, achieved a good energy dissipation effect. Composite metal damper can effectively and economically improve the seismic performance of high-rise buildings, meet the requirement of the 3-level design for seismic resistance. The result has certain reference significance for the application of metallic damper in the high-rise buildings.

Practice of good governance and corporate governance

OpenAIRE

Bălăceanu Cristina; Predonu Andreea – Monica

2010-01-01

Corporate governance reforms are occurring in countries around the globe and potentially impacting the population of the entire planet. In developing countries, such reforms occur in a larger context that is primarily defined by previous attempts at promoting “development” and recent processes of economic globalization. In this context, corporate governance reforms (in combination with the liberalising reforms associated with economic globalization), in effect re...

Practical Tips and Techniques on the Process of Transdisciplinary Sea Level Rise Research

Science.gov (United States)

DeLorme, D.; Hagen, S. C.; Kidwell, D.; Stephens, S. H.

2015-12-01

There is increasing awareness of the need for transdisciplinary science to address complex climate change issues, yet practical guidance is lacking. This presentation describes the iterative planning, implementation, and evaluation process of an ongoing transdisciplinary sea level rise (SLR) research project. Observations, reflections, and recommendations from firsthand experience are shared, illustrated with examples, and placed within a transdisciplinary research framework. The NOAA-sponsored project, Ecological Effects of Sea Level Rise in the Northern Gulf of Mexico (EESLR-NGOM) is a six-year regional study involving a team of biology, ecology, civil/coastal engineering, and communication scholars working with government agency personnel and industry professionals; supervising students and post-doctoral researchers; and engaging a group of non-academic stakeholders (i.e., coastal resource managers). EESLR-NGOM's focus is on detailed assessment and process-based modeling to project SLR impacts on northern Gulf of Mexico coastal wetland habitats and flood plains. This presentation highlights collaboration, communication, and project management considerations, and explains knowledge co-production from a dynamic combination of natural and social scientific methods (secondary data analysis, computer modeling, field observations, field and laboratory experiments, focus group interviews, surveys) and interrelated stakeholder engagement mechanisms (advisory committee, project flow chart, workshops, focus groups, webinars) infused throughout the EESLR-NGOM project to improve accessibility and utility of the scientific results and products. Attention is also given to project evaluation including monitoring, multiple quantitative and qualitative measures, and recognition of challenges and limitations. This presentation should generate productive dialogue and direction for similar endeavors to find transformative solutions to pressing problems of climate change.

Numerical simulation of the electrohydrodynamic effects on bubble rising using the SPH method

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Rahmat, A.; Tofighi, N.; Yildiz, M.

2016-01-01

Highlights: • An oil-water bubble rising system is simulated under the electrohydrodynamic effects using ISPH method. • The bubble aspect ratio increases by incrementing electrical capillary and Reynolds numbers, and decrementing the Bond number. • The centroid velocity increases with increments of electric capillary and Reynolds number. • Negative values of the bottom velocity are observed due to the pulling effect of the bottom boundary. • The distance between the bubble centroids decreases in vertically in-line bubble pairs. - Abstract: In this paper, numerical simulations of two dimensional bubble rising in the presence of electrohydrodynamic forces are presented. The physical properties of the bubble and the background fluid are adjusted to resemble an oil-water system. The numerical technique utilized to discretize the governing equations is the Lagrangian Incompressible Smoothed Particle Hydrodynamics (ISPH) method. A single bubble is subjected to an electric field using a leaky dielectric model under different values of Reynolds, Bond and electrical Capillary numbers. The results show that the bubble elongates in the direction of the electric field forming a prolate shape. The increase in the values of Reynolds and electrical Capillary numbers enhances prolate deformation of the bubble, but raising the Bond number reduces the prolateness of the bubble. The interaction of a bubble pair is also investigated for various configurations. If the bubbles are placed such that their centroids are vertically in-line, they tend to merge due to the initial prolate deformation. However, the bubbles do not merge for off center-oriented cases.

The New Woman in "The Sun Also Rises"

Science.gov (United States)

Yu, Xiaoping

2010-01-01

Hemingway is a famous American writer and a spokesman of the Lost Generation. His life attitude of the characters in the novels influenced the whole world. His first masterpiece "The Sun Also Rises" contributes a lot to the rise of feminism and make the world began to be familiar with a term: The New Woman through the portrayal of Brett.…

Energy Efficiency Governance

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

NONE

2010-07-01

The purpose of this report is to help EE practitioners, government officials and stakeholders to establish the most effective EE governance structures, given their specific country context. It also aims to provide readers with relevant and accessible information to support the development of comprehensive and effective governance mechanisms. The International Energy Agency (IEA) conducted a global review of many elements of EE governance,including legal frameworks, institutional frameworks, funding mechanisms, co-ordination mechanisms and accountability arrangements, such as evaluation and oversight. The research tools included a survey of over 500 EE experts in 110 countries, follow-up interviews of over 120 experts in 27 countries and extensive desk study and literature searches on good EE governance.

China’s Insurance Regulatory Reform, Corporate Governance Behavior and Insurers’ Governance Effectiveness

Science.gov (United States)

Zhang, Hongliang; Qiu, Aichao

2017-01-01

External regulation is an important mechanism to improve corporate behavior in emerging markets. China’s insurance governance regulation, which began to supervise and guide insurance corporate governance behavior in 2006, has experienced a complex process of reform. This study tested our hypotheses with a sample of 85 firms during 2010–2011, which was obtained by providing a questionnaire to all of China’s shareholding insurance companies. The empirical study results generally show that China’s insurance governance effectiveness has significantly improved through strict regulation. Insurance corporate governance can improve business acumen and risk-control ability, but no significant evidence was found to prove its influence on profitability, as a result of focusing less attention on governance than on management. State ownership is associated with higher corporate governance effectiveness than non-state ownership. Listed companies tend to outperform non-listed firms, and life insurance corporate governance is more effective than that of property insurers. This study not only contributes to the comprehensive understanding of corporate governance effectiveness but also to the literature by highlighting the effect of corporate governance regulation in China’s insurance industry and other emerging economies of the financial sector. PMID:29039781

China’s Insurance Regulatory Reform, Corporate Governance Behavior and Insurers’ Governance Effectiveness

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Huicong Li

2017-10-01

Full Text Available External regulation is an important mechanism to improve corporate behavior in emerging markets. China’s insurance governance regulation, which began to supervise and guide insurance corporate governance behavior in 2006, has experienced a complex process of reform. This study tested our hypotheses with a sample of 85 firms during 2010–2011, which was obtained by providing a questionnaire to all of China’s shareholding insurance companies. The empirical study results generally show that China’s insurance governance effectiveness has significantly improved through strict regulation. Insurance corporate governance can improve business acumen and risk-control ability, but no significant evidence was found to prove its influence on profitability, as a result of focusing less attention on governance than on management. State ownership is associated with higher corporate governance effectiveness than non-state ownership. Listed companies tend to outperform non-listed firms, and life insurance corporate governance is more effective than that of property insurers. This study not only contributes to the comprehensive understanding of corporate governance effectiveness but also to the literature by highlighting the effect of corporate governance regulation in China’s insurance industry and other emerging economies of the financial sector.

Local government financial autonomy in Nigeria: The State Joint Local Government Account

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Jude Okafor

2010-07-01

Full Text Available This paper addresses the statutory financial relations and financial autonomy of local government in Nigeria, and the freedom of local government to generate revenue from its assigned sources without external interference. It focuses particularly on a financial instrument called the State Joint Local Government Account (SJLGA and how its operations have positively or negatively affected the financial autonomy of local government councils and the inter-relations between state and local government in Nigeria.

The politics of meta-governance in transnational private sustainability governance

OpenAIRE

Fransen, L.

2015-01-01

In order to address challenges resulting from interactions between transnational private sustainability standard organizations, initiatives emerge that meta-govern these standards. Contrary to prevailing understandings in public policy literature, such meta-governance initiatives are mostly run by nongovernmental rather than governmental actors. While literature presents the sustainability standards field as predominantly governed by one meta-governor, ISEAL, it is hardly recognized that, alo...

Introduction to "Governing Marriage Migrations: Perspectives from Mainland China and Taiwan"

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Elena Barabantseva

2015-06-01

Full Text Available Cross-border migration for the purpose of marriage is on the rise, and at present it constitutes one of the most common forms of long-term international mobility in East Asia. This special issue of Cross-Currents analyzes marriage migration in the People’s Republic of China (PRC and Taiwan as a subject of governance. The articles included here demonstrate that marriage migration has attracted considerable policy attention and public anxiety not because it is about “marriage” or “migration” per se, but because it is perceived to be inseparable from a wide range of other issues, such as sexual morality, family norms, national identity, and border security. In particular, the long-lasting social relationships marriage migration creates and the role of marriage migrants (the vast majority of whom are women in rearing the next generation of the state’s sovereign subjects tie marriage migration to state security concerns. Popular anxieties about marriage migration are often based on projections into the future rather than observations about the present reality. On one hand, the fact that marriage migration is deeply embedded in myriad social institutions and relations that cannot be dealt with in isolation causes a projection-based mode of governance; on the other hand, it renders transnational marriage particularly hard to govern, which further exacerbates anxiety. But this should not be seen as a failure in public policy. The articles in this special issue argue that such projections, imaginations, and self-perpetuating anxieties are important parts of how nationhood is constructed in the current era. As such, marriage migration as a subject of governance provides us with a special angle to examine how politics works in subtle and sometimes invisible ways on local, national, and transnational levels...

Theoretical Ideas of Local Government and State Government Development

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Nikolay I. Churinov

2016-03-01

Full Text Available In this article the characteristic of a theoretical component of model of interaction of local government bodies with the central government, and also development of scientific base in the course of history is given. Relevance to this subject in the conditions of the Russian reality is added by federalism of a state system of Russia, namely a thin side in questions of competences between bodies of one hierarchy. This article, will be useful to those who deal with issues in the field of the theory of the state and the right and the municipal right. Historic facts in the form of the regulatory legal acts adopted earlier which subsequently, were a source for development of theoretical ideas of local self-government and the government are given in article.

Identifying the Academic Rising Stars via Pairwise Citation Increment Ranking

KAUST Repository

Zhang, Chuxu

2017-08-02

Predicting the fast-rising young researchers (the Academic Rising Stars) in the future provides useful guidance to the research community, e.g., offering competitive candidates to university for young faculty hiring as they are expected to have success academic careers. In this work, given a set of young researchers who have published the first first-author paper recently, we solve the problem of how to effectively predict the top k% researchers who achieve the highest citation increment in Δt years. We explore a series of factors that can drive an author to be fast-rising and design a novel pairwise citation increment ranking (PCIR) method that leverages those factors to predict the academic rising stars. Experimental results on the large ArnetMiner dataset with over 1.7 million authors demonstrate the effectiveness of PCIR. Specifically, it outperforms all given benchmark methods, with over 8% average improvement. Further analysis demonstrates that temporal features are the best indicators for rising stars prediction, while venue features are less relevant.

Optimalisasi Penerapan Prinsip Good Governance Bidang Akademik dalam Upaya Mewujudkan Good University Governance

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Hery Harjono Muljo

2014-05-01

Full Text Available This study wants to know and understand whether good governance principles have been well applied as well as the factors influencing optimization of the implementation of good governance principles on the academic field in an effort to realize good university governance in Bina Nusantara University. The study aims to evaluate the implementation of good governance principles on the academic field, know the factors that affect the implementation of good governance principles on the academic field, and improve and develop the academic areas in accordance with good governance principles in order to maximize the role of Bina Nusantara University as Good University Governance. The approach model used to understand the implementation of good governance principles was a model to educational institution using the 8 principles, namely academic freedom, shared governance, clear rights and responsibilities, selection at merit, financial stability, accountability, regular testing of standards, and the importance of close cooperation. Research used qualitative method with descriptive analysis, by analyzing the factors influencing optimization of the implementation of good governance principles, particularly on academic areas. The results achieved there were 18 factors that affect the optimization of the implementation of good governance principles. Then the factors affected the optimization ofthe implementation of good governance principles the most are operational centralization and academic decentralization which were the novelty of this study.

Methods of erection of high-rise buildings

Science.gov (United States)

Cherednichenko, Nadezhda; Oleinik, Pavel

2018-03-01

The article contains the factors determining the choice of methods for organizing the construction and production of construction and installation work for the construction of high-rise buildings. There are also indicated specific features of their underground parts, characterized by powerful slab-pile foundations, large volumes of earthworks, reinforced bases and foundations for assembly cranes. The work cycle is considered when using reinforced concrete, steel and combined skeletons of high-rise buildings; the areas of application of flow, separate and complex methods are being disclosed. The main conditions for the erection of high-rise buildings and their components are singled out: the choice of formwork systems, delivery and lifting of concrete mixes, installation of reinforcement, the formation of lifting and transporting and auxiliary equipment. The article prescribes the reserves of reduction in the duration of construction due to the creation of: complex mechanized technologies for the efficient construction of foundations in various soil conditions, including in the heaving, swelling, hindered, subsidence, bulk, water-saturated forms; complex mechanized technologies for the erection of monolithic reinforced concrete structures, taking into account the winter conditions of production and the use of mobile concrete-laying complexes and new generation machines; modular formwork systems, distinguished by their versatility, ease, simplicity in operation suitable for complex high-rise construction; more perfect methodology and the development of a set of progressive organizational and technological solutions that ensure a rational relationship between the processes of production and their maximum overlap in time and space.

RADIOACTIVELY POWERED RISING LIGHT CURVES OF TYPE Ia SUPERNOVAE

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Piro, Anthony L.

2012-01-01

The rising luminosity of the recent, nearby supernova 2011fe shows a quadratic dependence with time during the first ≈0.5-4 days. In addition, studies of the composite light curves formed from stacking together many Type Ia supernovae (SNe Ia) have found similar power-law indices for the rise, but may also show some dispersion that may indicate diversity. I explore what range of power-law rises are possible due to the presence of radioactive material near the surface of the exploding white dwarf (WD). I summarize what constraints such a model places on the structure of the progenitor and the distribution and velocity of ejecta. My main conclusion is that for the inferred explosion time for SN 2011fe, its rise requires an increasing mass fraction X 56 ≈ (4-6) × 10 –2 of 56 Ni distributed between a depth of ≈10 –2 and 0.3 M ☉ below the WD's surface. Radioactive elements this shallow are not found in simulations of a single C/O detonation. Scenarios that may produce this material include helium-shell burning during a double-detonation ignition, a gravitationally confined detonation, and a subset of deflagration to detonation transition models. In general, the power-law rise can differ from quadratic depending on the details of the velocity, density, and radioactive deposition gradients in a given event. Therefore, comparisons of this work with observed bolometric rises of SNe Ia would place strong constraints on the properties of the shallow outer layers, providing important clues for identifying the elusive progenitors of SNe Ia.

Online Citizen Science with Clickworkers & MRO HiRISE E/PO

Science.gov (United States)

Gulick, V. C.; Deardorff, G.; Kanefsky, B.; HiRISE Science Team

2010-12-01

The High-Resolution Imaging Science Experiment’s E/PO has fielded several online citizen science projects. Our efforts are guided by HiRISE E/PO’s philosophy of providing innovative opportunities for students and the public to participate in the scientific discovery process. HiRISE Clickworkers, a follow-on to the original Clickworkers crater identification and size diameter marking website, provides an opportunity for the public to identify & mark over a dozen landform feature types in HiRISE images, including dunes, gullies, patterned ground, wind streaks, boulders, craters, layering, volcanoes, etc. In HiRISE Clickworkers, the contributor views several sample images showing variations of different landforms, and simply marks all the landform types they could spot while looking at a small portion of a HiRISE image. Contributors then submit their work & once validated by comparison to the output of other participants, results are then added to geologic feature databases. Scientists & others will eventually be able to query these databases for locations of particular geologic features in the HiRISE images. Participants can also mark other features that they find intriguing for the HiRISE camera to target. The original Clickworkers website pilot study ran from November 2000 until September 2001 (Kanefsky et al., 2001, LPSC XXXII). It was among the first online Citizen Science efforts for planetary science. In its pilot study, we endeavored to answer two questions: 1) Was the public willing & able to help science, & 2) Can the public produce scientifically useful results? Since its inception over 3,500,000 craters have been identified, & over 350,000 of these craters have been classified. Over 2 million of these craters were marked on Viking Orbiter image mosaics, nearly 800,000 craters were marked on Mars Orbiter Camera (MOC) images. Note that these are not counts of distinct craters. For example, each crater in the Viking orbiter images was counted by about 50

Remaking Governance.

Science.gov (United States)

Carver, John

2000-01-01

The Policy Governance model's philosophical foundations lie in Rousseau's social contract, Greenleaf's servant-leadership, and modern management theory. Policy Governance stresses primacy of the owner-representative role; full-board authority; superintendents as chief executive officers; authoritative prescription of "ends," bounded…

Subnanosecond-rise-time, low-impedance pulse generator

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Druce, R.; Vogtlin, G.

1983-01-01

This paper describes a fast rise, low-impedance pulse generator that has been developed at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory. The design specifications of this generator are: 50-kV operating voltage, 1-ohm output impedance, subnanosecond rise time, and a 2 to 10 nanosecond pulse length. High repetition rate is not required. The design chosen is a parallel-plate, folded Blumlein generator. A tack switch is utilized for its simple construction and high performance. The primary diagnostic is a capacitive voltage divider with a B probe used to measure the current waveform

Subnanosecond-rise-time, low-impedance pulse generator

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Druce, R.; Vogtlin, G.

1983-06-03

This paper describes a fast rise, low-impedance pulse generator that has been developed at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory. The design specifications of this generator are: 50-kV operating voltage, 1-ohm output impedance, subnanosecond rise time, and a 2 to 10 nanosecond pulse length. High repetition rate is not required. The design chosen is a parallel-plate, folded Blumlein generator. A tack switch is utilized for its simple construction and high performance. The primary diagnostic is a capacitive voltage divider with a B probe used to measure the current waveform.

Subnanosecond-rise-time, low-impedance pulse generator

Science.gov (United States)

Druce, R.; Vigtlin, G.

1983-06-01

A fast rise, low impedance pulse generator developed at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory is described. The design specifications of this generator are: 50-kV operating voltage, 1-ohm output impedance, subnanosecond rise time, and a 2 to 10 nanosecond pulse length. High repetition rate is not required. The design chosen is a parallel plate, folded Blumlein generator. A tack switch is utilized for its simple construction and high performance. The primary diagnostic is a capacitive voltage divider with a B probe used to measure the current waveform.

Seismic damage assessment for high-rise buildings

Science.gov (United States)

Scholl, Roger E.

1980-01-01

The problem considered in this project, conducted by URS/John A. Blume & Associates, Engineers (URS/Blume), for the U.S. Geological Survey, is the identification, evaluation, and correlation of ground-motion and structural parameters in order to improve procedures for predicting dollar losses for high-rise structures damaged by earthquakes. Ground-motion data bases, analytical techniques, and known motion-damage relationships already developed for high-rise buildings and for other classes of structures will be refined and extended so that reliable quantitative seismic risk evaluations can be made.

The RiSE climbing robot: body and leg design

Science.gov (United States)

Saunders, A.; Goldman, D. I.; Full, R. J.; Buehler, M.

2006-05-01

The RiSE robot is a biologically inspired, six legged climbing robot, designed for general mobility in scansorial (vertical walls, horizontal ledges, ground level) environments. It exhibits ground reaction forces that are similar to animal climbers and does not rely on suction, magnets or other surface-dependent specializations to achieve adhesion and shear force. We describe RiSE's body and leg design as well as its electromechanical, communications and computational infrastructure. We review design iterations that enable RiSE to climb 90° carpeted, cork covered and (a growing range of) stucco surfaces in the quasi-static regime.

Integrating wildfire plume rises within atmospheric transport models

Science.gov (United States)

Mallia, D. V.; Kochanski, A.; Wu, D.; Urbanski, S. P.; Krueger, S. K.; Lin, J. C.

2016-12-01

Wildfires can generate significant pyro-convection that is responsible for releasing pollutants, greenhouse gases, and trace species into the free troposphere, which are then transported a significant distance downwind from the fire. Oftentimes, atmospheric transport and chemistry models have a difficult time resolving the transport of smoke from these wildfires, primarily due to deficiencies in estimating the plume injection height, which has been highlighted in previous work as the most important aspect of simulating wildfire plume transport. As a result of the uncertainties associated with modeled wildfire plume rise, researchers face difficulties modeling the impacts of wildfire smoke on air quality and constraining fire emissions using inverse modeling techniques. Currently, several plume rise parameterizations exist that are able to determine the injection height of fire emissions; however, the success of these parameterizations has been mixed. With the advent of WRF-SFIRE, the wildfire plume rise and injection height can now be explicitly calculated using a fire spread model (SFIRE) that is dynamically linked with the atmosphere simulated by WRF. However, this model has only been tested on a limited basis due to computational costs. Here, we will test the performance of WRF-SFIRE in addition to several commonly adopted plume parameterizations (Freitas, Sofiev, and Briggs) for the 2013 Patch Springs (Utah) and 2012 Baker Canyon (Washington) fires, for both of which observations of plume rise heights are available. These plume rise techniques will then be incorporated within a Lagrangian atmospheric transport model (STILT) in order to simulate CO and CO2 concentrations during NASA's CARVE Earth Science Airborne Program over Alaska during the summer of 2012. Initial model results showed that STILT model simulations were unable to reproduce enhanced CO concentrations produced by Alaskan fires observed during 2012. Near-surface concentrations were drastically

Digital Government and Public Health

OpenAIRE

Fountain, Jane E.

2004-01-01

Digital government is typically defined as the production and delivery of information and services inside government and between government and the public using a range of information and communication technologies. Two types of government relationships with other entities are government-to-citizen and government-to-government relationships. Both offer opportunities and challenges. Assessment of a public health agencys readiness for digital government includes examination of technical, manage...

Mistrust in Medicine: The Rise and Fall of America's First Vaccine Institute.

Science.gov (United States)

Lanzarotta, Tess; Ramos, Marco A

2018-06-01

In 1813, the American government passed An Act to Encourage Vaccination, the first federal endorsement of a medical practice in American history. The law tasked a federal agent with maintaining a supply of the smallpox vaccine and distributing it nationwide. James Smith, a well-respected physician and proponent of vaccination, was appointed as vaccine agent. Smith was skeptical of claims that only well-trained physicians should be allowed to perform vaccination; he felt it was a simple procedure that should be available to all American citizens. In 1822, he made a tragic error that caused several deaths and left him vulnerable to criticism from political opponents and his medical peers. This ended Smith's professional career and led to the repeal of the act itself. In this article, we use the rise and fall of James Smith to provide a historical perspective on contemporary debates surrounding delayed vaccination schedules. We explain how physicians-in the 19th century and today-have worked to build public trust in vaccination in an American culture suspicious of medical expertise.

Governance of Higher Education--Implementation of Project Governance

Science.gov (United States)

Macheridis, Nikos

2017-01-01

This article focuses on coordination between governance actors in higher education. The object of the study is a department at a public university, seen as a multi-project environment. The purpose of this article is to illustrate and analyze project governance as a tool that allows departmental management to coordinate with the authorities, the…

Finding Rising and Falling Words

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Tjong Kim Sang, E.

2016-01-01

We examine two different methods for finding rising words (among which neologisms) and falling words (among which archaisms) in decades of magazine texts (millions of words) and in years of tweets (billions of words): one based on correlation coefficients of relative frequencies and time, and one

Mediation in Medical Malpractice - Realities and Prospects

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Alexandru Boroi

2015-05-01

Full Text Available Medical professional liability is the result of specific breaches of the medical profession, which are contained in Law 95/2006 on health reform. Beyond the motivation of blaming medical personnel activity, there are many other aspects that may give rise to controversy in terms of medical ethics, from the informed consent of the patient and to the need for reaching criminal responsibility and compensation in cases of medical malpractice.

The rise of angiosperm-dominated herbaceous floras: Insights from Ranunculaceae

OpenAIRE

Wei Wang; Li Lin; Xiao-Guo Xiang; Rosa del C. Ortiz; Yang Liu; Kun-Li Xiang; Sheng-Xiang Yu; Yao-Wu Xing; Zhi-Duan Chen

2016-01-01

The rise of angiosperms has been regarded as a trigger for the Cretaceous revolution of terrestrial ecosystems. However, the timeframe of the rise angiosperm-dominated herbaceous floras (ADHFs) is lacking. Here, we used the buttercup family (Ranunculaceae) as a proxy to provide insights into the rise of ADHFs. An integration of phylogenetic, molecular dating, ancestral state inferring, and diversification analytical methods was used to infer the early evolutionary history of Ranunculaceae. We...

Neutrino oscillations: The rise of the PMNS paradigm

Science.gov (United States)

Giganti, C.; Lavignac, S.; Zito, M.

2018-01-01

Since the discovery of neutrino oscillations, the experimental progress in the last two decades has been very fast, with the precision measurements of the neutrino squared-mass differences and of the mixing angles, including the last unknown mixing angle θ13. Today a very large set of oscillation results obtained with a variety of experimental configurations and techniques can be interpreted in the framework of three active massive neutrinos, whose mass and flavour eigenstates are related by a 3 × 3 unitary mixing matrix, the Pontecorvo-Maki-Nakagawa-Sakata (PMNS) matrix, parametrized by three mixing angles θ12, θ23, θ13 and a CP-violating phase δCP. The additional parameters governing neutrino oscillations are the squared-mass differences Δ mji2 = mj2 - mi2, where mi is the mass of the ith neutrino mass eigenstate. This review covers the rise of the PMNS three-neutrino mixing paradigm and the current status of the experimental determination of its parameters. The next years will continue to see a rich program of experimental endeavour coming to fruition and addressing the three missing pieces of the puzzle, namely the determination of the octant and precise value of the mixing angle θ23, the unveiling of the neutrino mass ordering (whether m1

Compton suppression through rise-time analysis

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Selvi, S.; Celiktas, C.

2007-01-01

We studied Compton suppression for 60 Co and 137 Cs radioisotopes using a signal selection criterion based on contrasting the fall time of the signals composing the photo peak with those composing the Compton continuum. The fall time criterion is employed by using the pulse shape analysis observing the change in the fall times of the gamma-ray pulses. This change is determined by measuring the changes in the rise times related to the fall time of the scintillator and the timing signals related to the fall time of the input signals. We showed that Compton continuum suppression is achieved best via the precise timing adjustment of an analog rise-time analyzer connected to a NaI(Tl) scintillation spectrometer

Why do some countries spend more for health? An assessment of sociopolitical determinants and international aid for government health expenditures.

Science.gov (United States)

Liang, Li-Lin; Mirelman, Andrew J

2014-08-01

A consensus exists that rising income levels and technological development are among key drivers of total health spending. Determinants of public sector health expenditure, by contrast, are less well understood. This study examines a complex relationship across government health expenditure (GHE), sociopolitical risks, and international aid, while taking into account the impacts of national income, debt and tax financing and aging populations on health spending. We apply a fixed-effects two-stage least squares regression method to a panel dataset comprising 120 countries for the years 1995 through 2010. Our results show that democratic accountability has a diminishing positive correlation with GHE, and that levels of GHE are higher when government is more stable. Corruption is associated with less GHE in developing countries, but with higher GHE in developed countries. We also find that development assistance for health (DAH) is fungible with domestically financed government health expenditure (DGHE). For an average country, a 1% increase in DAH to government is associated with a 0.03-0.04% decrease in DGHE. Furthermore, the degree of fungibility of DAH to government is higher in countries where corruption or ethnic tensions are widespread. However, DAH to non-governmental organizations is not fungible with DGHE. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Plume rise predictions

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Briggs, G.A.

1976-01-01

Anyone involved with diffusion calculations becomes well aware of the strong dependence of maximum ground concentrations on the effective stack height, h/sub e/. For most conditions chi/sub max/ is approximately proportional to h/sub e/ -2 , as has been recognized at least since 1936 (Bosanquet and Pearson). Making allowance for the gradual decrease in the ratio of vertical to lateral diffusion at increasing heights, the exponent is slightly larger, say chi/sub max/ approximately h/sub e/ - 2 . 3 . In inversion breakup fumigation, the exponent is somewhat smaller; very crudely, chi/sub max/ approximately h/sub e/ -1 . 5 . In any case, for an elevated emission the dependence of chi/sub max/ on h/sub e/ is substantial. It is postulated that a really clever ignorant theoretician can disguise his ignorance with dimensionless constants. For most sources the effective stack height is considerably larger than the actual source height, h/sub s/. For instance, for power plants with no downwash problems, h/sub e/ is more than twice h/sub s/ whenever the wind is less than 10 m/sec, which is most of the time. This is unfortunate for anyone who has to predict ground concentrations, for he is likely to have to calculate the plume rise, Δh. Especially when using h/sub e/ = h/sub s/ + Δh instead of h/sub s/ may reduce chi/sub max/ by a factor of anywhere from 4 to infinity. Factors to be considered in making plume rise predictions are discussed

Network governance and capacity of local governments to deliver LED in Uganda

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Rose B Namara

2016-02-01

Full Text Available This paper discusses network governance and its contribution to the capacity of local governments (LGs to deliver local economic development (LED in Uganda. Although a formal LED policy was only established in Uganda in February 2014, there have been LED-inspired practices in the past decade. Various scholars and practitioners have observed that the autonomy and capacity of LGs to deliver LED is limited, but have been hopeful that new governance strategies like network governance would increase the capacities of LGs. However, neither network governance arrangements among LGs, nor their potential to improve governance capacity, have been documented. In a case study of Kyenjojo District, this paper finds that existing network governance arrangements have been fundamental in improving financial autonomy at this LG, delivering some income to invest in LED activities, although no evidence was found of reduced transaction costs in transforming local economies. The study further reveals that network governance arrangements have not led to the development of specialised skills in regulation or law enforcement, and capacity gaps are evident amongst staff and members in understanding the private sector and how it works. On a positive note, there is clear evidence of attempts by the LG to be innovative. Based on these findings, this study recommends that LGs need to consider a multi-pronged or multi-network governance approach to LED, which in turn will require a refocusing of governance mechanisms to become more dynamic and responsive, and offer incentives to the various actors in the development sector.

Rising damp in building walls: the wall base ventilation system

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Guimaraes, A.S.; Delgado, J.M.P.Q.; Freitas, V.P. de [Faculdade de Engenharia da Universidade do Porto, Laboratorio de Fisica das Construcoes (LFC), Departamento de Engenharia Civil, Porto (Portugal)

2012-12-15

This work intends to validate a new system for treating rising damp in historic buildings walls. The results of laboratory experiments show that an efficient way of treating rising damp is by ventilating the wall base, using the HUMIVENT technique. The analytical model presented describes very well the observed features of rising damp in walls, verified by laboratory tests, who contributed for a simple sizing of the wall base ventilation system that will be implemented in historic buildings. (orig.)

Data governance implementation concept

OpenAIRE

Ullrichová, Jana

2016-01-01

This master´s thesis discusses concept of implementation for data governance. The theoretical part of this thesis is about data governance. It explains why data are important for company, describes definitoons of data governance, its history, its components, its principles and processes and fitting in company. Theoretical part is amended with examples of data governance failures and banking specifics. The main goal of this thesis is to create a concept for implementing data governance and its...

CORPORATE GOVERNANCE – WAY OF GOVERNANCE FOR MODERN COMPANIES

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Alina HAGIU

2016-05-01

Full Text Available Through corporate governance is aimed the building of a structure enabling a wide degree of freedom, within the law, and includes several changes of principle in accordance with international standards of transparency. A good governance within an organization mitigate risk, increase performance, pave the way towards financial markets, brings competitive goods and services on market, improves management style, show transparency towards all stakeholders and social responsibility. The lack of some mandatory rules and structures can lead to chaos in business. The paper aims to present the role and the importance of the corporate governance for modern companies, as well as the principles on which this is based. In order to do that we also identified the main ways to quantificate the level of corporate governance, including also the non-financial performance criteria used by investors to assess companies listed on stock exchange.

Smart governance for smart city

Science.gov (United States)

Mutiara, Dewi; Yuniarti, Siti; Pratama, Bambang

2018-03-01

Some of the local government in Indonesia claimed they already created a smart city. Mostly the claim based of IT utilization for their governance. In general, a smart city definition is to describe a developed urban area that creates sustainable economic development and high quality of life by excelling in multiple key; economy, mobility, environment, people, living, and government. For public services, the law guarantees good governance by setting the standard for e-government implicitly including for local government or a city. Based on the arguments, this research tries to test the condition of e-government of the Indonesian city in 34 provinces. The purpose is to map e-government condition by measuring indicators of smart government, which are: transparent governance and open data for the public. This research is departing from public information disclosure law and to correspond with the existence law. By examining government transparency, the output of the research can be used to measure the effectiveness of public information disclosure law and to determine the condition of e-government in local government in which as part of a smart city.

Analysis of plume rise data from five TVA steam plants

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Anfossi, D.

1985-01-01

A large data set containing the measurements of the rise of plumes emitted by five TVA steam plants was examined. Particular attention was paid to the problem of the merging of the plumes emitted by adjacent stacks and to the role played by the wind angle in this respect. It was demonstrated that there is a noticeable rise enhancement of merged plumes with respect to single emissions, both in neutral and in stable conditions, as far as transversal and parallel plumes are concerned. For plumes advected normal to the row of the stacks the enhancement is noticeable only in the final stage of rise. The existence of a critical angle for merging suggested enhancement is noticeable only in the final stage of rise. The existence of a critical angle for merging suggested by Briggs was examined. Finally, a formula to describe plume rise in the transitional and in the final phase, both in neutral and stable conditions, is proposed; it was obtained by interpolation of two familiar Brigg's equations

Salt marsh persistence is threatened by predicted sea-level rise

Science.gov (United States)

Crosby, Sarah C.; Sax, Dov F.; Palmer, Megan E.; Booth, Harriet S.; Deegan, Linda A.; Bertness, Mark D.; Leslie, Heather M.

2016-11-01

Salt marshes buffer coastlines and provide critical ecosystem services from storm protection to food provision. Worldwide, these ecosystems are in danger of disappearing if they cannot increase elevation at rates that match sea-level rise. However, the magnitude of loss to be expected is not known. A synthesis of existing records of salt marsh elevation change was conducted in order to consider the likelihood of their future persistence. This analysis indicates that many salt marshes did not keep pace with sea-level rise in the past century and kept pace even less well over the past two decades. Salt marshes experiencing higher local sea-level rise rates were less likely to be keeping pace. These results suggest that sea-level rise will overwhelm most salt marshes' capacity to maintain elevation. Under the most optimistic IPCC emissions pathway, 60% of the salt marshes studied will be gaining elevation at a rate insufficient to keep pace with sea-level rise by 2100. Without mitigation of greenhouse gas emissions this potential loss could exceed 90%, which will have substantial ecological, economic, and human health consequences.

Governance of disaster risk reduction in Cameroon: The need to empower local government

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Henry N. Bang

2013-02-01

Full Text Available The impact of natural hazards and/or disasters in Cameroon continues to hit local communities hardest, but local government lacks the ability to manage disaster risks adequately. This is partly due to the fact that the necessity to mainstream disaster risk reduction into local governance and development practices is not yet an underlying principle of Cameroon’s disaster management framework. Using empirical and secondary data, this paper analyses the governance of disaster risks in Cameroon with particular focus on the challenges local government faces in implementing disaster risk reduction strategies. The hypothesis is that the governance of disaster risks is too centralised at the national level, with huge implications for the effective governance of disaster risks at the local level. Although Cameroon has reinvigorated efforts to address growing disaster risks in a proactive way, it is argued that the practical actions are more reactive than proactive in nature. The overall aim is to explore the challenges and opportunities that local government has in the governance of disaster risks. Based on the findings from this research, policy recommendations are suggested on ways to mainstream disaster risk reduction strategies into local governance, and advance understanding and practice in the local governance of disaster risks in the country.

Methods of erection of high-rise buildings

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Cherednichenko Nadezhda

2018-01-01

Full Text Available The article contains the factors determining the choice of methods for organizing the construction and production of construction and installation work for the construction of high-rise buildings. There are also indicated specific features of their underground parts, characterized by powerful slab-pile foundations, large volumes of earthworks, reinforced bases and foundations for assembly cranes. The work cycle is considered when using reinforced concrete, steel and combined skeletons of high-rise buildings; the areas of application of flow, separate and complex methods are being disclosed. The main conditions for the erection of high-rise buildings and their components are singled out: the choice of formwork systems, delivery and lifting of concrete mixes, installation of reinforcement, the formation of lifting and transporting and auxiliary equipment. The article prescribes the reserves of reduction in the duration of construction due to the creation of: complex mechanized technologies for the efficient construction of foundations in various soil conditions, including in the heaving, swelling, hindered, subsidence, bulk, water-saturated forms; complex mechanized technologies for the erection of monolithic reinforced concrete structures, taking into account the winter conditions of production and the use of mobile concrete-laying complexes and new generation machines; modular formwork systems, distinguished by their versatility, ease, simplicity in operation suitable for complex high-rise construction; more perfect methodology and the development of a set of progressive organizational and technological solutions that ensure a rational relationship between the processes of production and their maximum overlap in time and space.

Architecture Governance: The Importance of Architecture Governance for Achieving Operationally Responsive Ground Systems

Science.gov (United States)

Kolar, Mike; Estefan, Jeff; Giovannoni, Brian; Barkley, Erik

2011-01-01

Topics covered (1) Why Governance and Why Now? (2) Characteristics of Architecture Governance (3) Strategic Elements (3a) Architectural Principles (3b) Architecture Board (3c) Architecture Compliance (4) Architecture Governance Infusion Process. Governance is concerned with decision making (i.e., setting directions, establishing standards and principles, and prioritizing investments). Architecture governance is the practice and orientation by which enterprise architectures and other architectures are managed and controlled at an enterprise-wide level

Good government and good governance: record keeping in a ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

This article addresses the challenges that arise when record keeping systems are advocated as a necessary under-pinning for good government and good governance. The relationship between record keeping and accountability is analysed and contextualised in relation to transparency and Freedom of Information ...

Corporate Governance and Shariah Governance at Islamic Financial Institutions : Assessing from Current Practice in Malaysia

OpenAIRE

Mizushima, Tadashi; Tadashi, Mizushima

2014-01-01

The purpose of this study is to examine the relation between corporate governance and Shariah governance, and how those governance concepts are handled at Islamic financial institutions.Although using the same word “governance,” Western corporate governance and Islamic Shariah governance may be different. The main research question is how different or similar are governance at conventional banks and Shariah governance at Islamic banks? We would like to find an answer to this question by under...

Governance and organizational theory

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Carlos E. Quintero Castellanos

2017-07-01

Full Text Available The objective of this essay is to propose a way to link the theoretical body that has been weaved around governance and organizational theory. For this, a critical exposition is done about what is the theoretical core of governance, the opportunity areas are identified for the link of this theory with organizational theory. The essay concludes with a proposal for the organizational analysis of administrations in governance. The essay addresses with five sections. The first one is the introduction. In the second one, I present a synthesis of the governance in its current use. In the next one are presented the work lines of the good governance. In the fourth part, I show the organizational and managerial limits in the governance theory. The last part develops the harmonization proposal for the governance and organizational theories.

Projecting Future Sea Level Rise for Water Resources Planning in California

Science.gov (United States)

Anderson, J.; Kao, K.; Chung, F.

2008-12-01

Sea level rise is one of the major concerns for the management of California's water resources. Higher water levels and salinity intrusion into the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta could affect water supplies, water quality, levee stability, and aquatic and terrestrial flora and fauna species and their habitat. Over the 20th century, sea levels near San Francisco Bay increased by over 0.6ft. Some tidal gauge and satellite data indicate that rates of sea level rise are accelerating. Sea levels are expected to continue to rise due to increasing air temperatures causing thermal expansion of the ocean and melting of land-based ice such as ice on Greenland and in southeastern Alaska. For water planners, two related questions are raised on the uncertainty of future sea levels. First, what is the expected sea level at a specific point in time in the future, e.g., what is the expected sea level in 2050? Second, what is the expected point of time in the future when sea levels will exceed a certain height, e.g., what is the expected range of time when the sea level rises by one foot? To address these two types of questions, two factors are considered: (1) long term sea level rise trend, and (2) local extreme sea level fluctuations. A two-step approach will be used to develop sea level rise projection guidelines for decision making that takes both of these factors into account. The first step is developing global sea level rise probability distributions for the long term trends. The second step will extend the approach to take into account the effects of local astronomical tides, changes in atmospheric pressure, wind stress, floods, and the El Niño/Southern Oscillation. In this paper, the development of the first step approach is presented. To project the long term sea level rise trend, one option is to extend the current rate of sea level rise into the future. However, since recent data indicate rates of sea level rise are accelerating, methods for estimating sea level rise

Rising consumption of meat and milk in developing countries has created a new food revolution.

Science.gov (United States)

Delgado, Christopher L

2003-11-01

People in developing countries currently consume on average one-third the meat and one-quarter of the milk products per capita compared to the richer North, but this is changing rapidly. The amount of meat consumed in developing countries over the past has grown three times as much as it did in the developed countries. The Livestock Revolution is primarily driven by demand. Poor people everywhere are eating more animal products as their incomes rise above poverty level and as they become urbanized. By 2020, the share of developing countries in total world meat consumption will expand from 52% currently to 63%. By 2020, developing countries will consume 107 million metric tons (mmt) more meat and 177 mmt more milk than they did in 1996/1998, dwarfing developed-country increases of 19 mmt for meat and 32 mmt for milk. The projected increase in livestock production will require annual feed consumption of cereals to rise by nearly 300 mmt by 2020. Nonetheless, the inflation-adjusted prices of livestock and feed commodities are expected to fall marginally by 2020, compared to precipitous declines in the past 20 y. Structural change in the diets of billions of people is a primal force not easily reversed by governments. The incomes and nutrition of millions of rural poor in developing countries are improving. Yet in many cases these dietary changes also create serious environmental and health problems that require active policy involvement to prevent irreversible consequences.

The Development of an IT Governance Maturity Model for Hard and Soft Governance

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Smits, Daniël; van Hillegersberg, Jos; Devos, Jan; DeHaes, Steven

2014-01-01

To be able to advance in maturity, organizations should pay attention to both the hard and soft aspects of governance. Current literature on IT governance (ITG) is mostly directed at the hard part of governance, focusing on structures and processes. The soft part of governance is related to social

Governing environmental conflicts in China: Under what conditions do local government compromise?

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Y. Li (Yanwei); J.F.M. Koppenjan (Joop); S. Verweij (Stefan)

2016-01-01

markdownabstractIn recent years, governing environmental conflicts concerning the planning, construction, and operation of urban facilities has increasingly become a challenge for Chinese local governments. Chinese governments seek adequate responses to deal with these conflicts, for instance by

Sea level rise and variability around Peninsular Malaysia

Science.gov (United States)

Tkalich, Pavel; Luu, Quang-Hung; Tay, Tze-Wei

2014-05-01

Peninsular Malaysia is bounded from the west by Malacca Strait and the Andaman Sea, both connected to the Indian Ocean, and from the east by South China Sea being largest marginal sea in the Pacific Basin. As a result, sea level along Peninsular Malaysia coast is assumed to be governed by various regional phenomena associated with the adjacent parts of the Indian and Pacific Oceans. At annual scale, sea level anomalies (SLAs) are generated by the Asian monsoon; interannual sea level variability is determined by the El Niño-Southern Oscillation (ENSO) and the Indian Ocean Dipole (IOD); whilst long term sea level trend is coordinated by the global climate change. To quantify the relative impacts of these multi-scale phenomena on sea level trend and variability surrounding the Peninsular Malaysia, long-term tide gauge record and satellite altimetry are used. During 1984-2011, relative sea level rise (SLR) rates in waters of Malacca Strait and eastern Peninsular Malaysia are found to be 2.4 ± 0.8 mm/yr and 2.7 ± 0.6 mm/yr, respectively. Discounting for their vertical land movements (0.8 ± 2.6 mm/yr and 0.9 ± 2.2 mm/yr, respectively), their pure SLR rates are 1.6 ± 3.4 mm/yr and 1.8 ± 2.8 mm/yr, respectively, which are lower than the global tendency. At interannual scale, ENSO affects sea level over the Malaysian east coast in the range of ± 5 cm with very high correlation coefficient. Meanwhile, IOD modulates sea level anomalies in the Malacca Strait in the range of ± 2 cm with high correlation coefficient. Interannual regional sea level drops are associated with El Niño events and positive phases of the IOD index; while the rises are correlated with La Niña episodes and the negative periods of the IOD index. Seasonally, SLAs are mainly monsoon-driven, in the order of 10-25 cm. Geographically, sea level responds differently to the monsoon: two cycles per year are observed in the Malacca Strait, presumably due to South Asian - Indian Monsoon; while single

Governing environmental conflicts in China : Under what conditions do local governments compromise?

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Li, Yanwei; Koppenjan, Joop; Verweij, Stefan

2016-01-01

In recent years, governing environmental conflicts concerning the planning, construction, and operation of urban facilities has increasingly become a challenge for Chinese local governments. Chinese governments seek adequate responses to deal with these conflicts, for instance by ignoring criticism

Public management and governance

National Research Council Canada - National Science Library

Bovaird, A. G; Löffler, Elke

2009-01-01

... how the process of governing needs to be fundamentally altered if a government is to retain public trust and make better use of society's resources. Key themes covered include: ■ ■ ■ ■ the challenges and pressures which governments experience in an international context; the changing functions of modern government in the global economy; the 'mixed ec...

Theorizing Strategic Communication in Parsimony from the U.S. Government Perspective

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Young Joon Lim

2015-06-01

Full Text Available Although the term Strategic Communication seems to be a rising topic in communication studies, it is obvious that the term has been hardly visualized and explained from the U.S. government perspective in academic work. This paper theoretically visualizes strategic communication processes. The Department of State and the Department of Defense streamlined the use of strategic communication in different terms but they both focus on using soft power over hard power to gain support from foreign audiences through communication. Both departments especially after the 9/11attacks have developed programs to win hearts and minds of the target audience. This paper shows the salient process of strategic communication programs and conceptualizes principles of strategic communication from their perspectives. This paper after all illustrates the processes for theorizing strategic communication.

Hard and Soft Governance

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Moos, Lejf

2009-01-01

of Denmark, and finally the third layer: the leadership used in Danish schools. The use of 'soft governance' is shifting the focus of governance and leadership from decisions towards influence and power and thus shifting the focus of the processes from the decision-making itself towards more focus......The governance and leadership at transnational, national and school level seem to be converging into a number of isomorphic forms as we see a tendency towards substituting 'hard' forms of governance, that are legally binding, with 'soft' forms based on persuasion and advice. This article analyses...... and discusses governance forms at several levels. The first layer is the global: the methods of 'soft governance' that are being utilised by transnational agencies. The second layer is the national and local: the shift in national and local governance seen in many countries, but here demonstrated in the case...

Interoperability, Enterprise Architectures, and IT Governance in Government

OpenAIRE

Scholl , Hans ,; Kubicek , Herbert; Cimander , Ralf

2011-01-01

Part 4: Architecture, Security and Interoperability; International audience; Government represents a unique, and also uniquely complex, environment for interoperation of information systems as well as for integration of workflows and processes across governmental levels and branches. While private-sector organizations by and large have the capacity to implement “enterprise architectures” in a relatively straightforward fashion, for notable reasons governments do not enjoy such luxury. For thi...

Governance in Health – The Need for Exchange and Evidence; Comment on “Governance, Government, and the Search for New Provider Models”

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Tata Chanturidze

2016-08-01

Full Text Available Governance in health is cited as one of the key factors in balancing the concerns of the government and public sector with the interests of civil society/private players, but often remains poorly described and operationalized. Richard Saltman and Antonio Duran look at two aspects in the search for new provider models in a context of health markets signalling liberalisation: (i the role of the government to balance public and private interests and responsibilities in delivering care through modernised governance arrangements, and (ii the finding that operational complexities may hinder well–designed provider governance models, unless governance reflects country-specific realities. This commentary builds on the discussion by Saltman and Duran, and argues that the concept of governance needs to be clearly defined and operationalized in order to be helpful for policy debate as well as for the development of an applicable framework for performance improvement. It provides a working definition of governance and includes a reflection on the prevailing cultural norms in an organization or society upon which any governance needs to be build. It proposes to explore whether the “evidence-based governance” concept can be introduced to generate knowledge about innovative and effective governance models, and concludes that studies similar to the one by Saltman and Duran can inform this debate.

A review on rising bubble dynamics in viscosity-stratified fluids

Indian Academy of Sciences (India)

Kirti Chandra Sahu

Multiphase flow; non-Newtonian; immiscible fluids; bubbles; numerical simulations. 1. Introduction. The fluid dynamics of a gas bubble rising due to buoyancy in a surrounding .... Figure 2. Behaviour of a single bubble rising in quiescent liquid.

Governance: Blending Bureaucratic Rules with Day to Day Operational Realities Comment on "Governance, Government, and the Search for New Provider Models".

Science.gov (United States)

Chinitz, David P

2016-05-31

Richard Saltman and Antonio Duran take up the challenging issue of governance in their article "Governance, Government and the Search for New Provider Models," and use two case studies of health policy changes in Sweden and Spain to shed light on the subject. In this commentary, I seek to link their conceptualization of governance, especially its interrelated roles at the macro, meso, and micro levels of health systems, with the case studies on which they report. While the case studies focus on the shifts in governance between the macro and meso levels and their impacts on achievement of desired policy outcomes, they also highlight the need to better integrate the dynamics of day to day operations within micro organizations into the overall governance picture. © 2016 by Kerman University of Medical Sciences.

Too difficult to govern? An assessment of the governability of transport biofuels in the EU

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Di Lucia, Lorenzo

2013-01-01

Transport biofuels are currently the subject of heated debate in the EU. In the past decade the deployment of these technologies has been justified by claims of attractive environmental, geopolitical and rural development benefits. However, expectations have rapidly turned into deep criticism regarding the sustainability of these technologies and the desirability of pursuing the biofuel path. This situation has generated an on-going controversy and policy deadlock at EU level. This study explores these issues from a governance perspective. Employing the concept of system governability, derived from interactive governance theory, it attempts to shed some light on the problems facing the governance of biofuels and on how the quality of the governance system could be improved. The analysis showed that the governability of the system decreased substantially in the period 2003–2012 due to increasing governing needs and decreasing governing capacity. The quality of the governance system can be improved by (i) improving governing capacity by reducing conflicts among governing actors, advancing consistency among institutions and creating capacity at international and global level; and (ii) promoting advanced technologies and adjusting societal ambitions and expectations regarding biofuels. - highlights: • Biofuels in the EU are significantly more difficult to govern today than in 2003. • This is due to the qualities of the system to be governed and the governing system. • Sustainable biofuel systems are inherently difficult to govern

Greenhouse effect, sea level rise, and coastal drainage systems

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Titus, J G; Kuo, C Y; Gibbs, M J; LaRoche, T B; Webb, M K; Waddell, J O

1987-01-01

Increasing concentrations of carbon dioxide and other gases are expected to warm the earth several degrees in the next century, which would raise sea level a few feet and alter precipitation patterns. Both of these changes would have major impacts on the operation of coastal drainage systems. However, because sea level rise and climate change resulting from the greenhouse effect are still uncertain, most planners and engineers are ignoring the potential implications. Case studies of the potential impact on watersheds in Charleston, South Carolina, and Fort Walton Beach, Florida, suggest that the cost of designing a new system to accommodate a rise in sea level will sometimes be small compared with the retrofit cost that may ultimately be necessary if new systems are not designed for a rise. Rather than ignore the greenhouse effect until its consequences are firmly established, engineers and planners should evaluate whether it would be worthwhile to insure that new systems are not vulnerable to the risks of climate change and sea level rise.

Structural and compositional features of high-rise buildings: experimental design in Yekaterinburg

Science.gov (United States)

Yankovskaya, Yulia; Lobanov, Yuriy; Temnov, Vladimir

2018-03-01

The study looks at the specifics of high-rise development in Yekaterinburg. High-rise buildings are considered in the context of their historical development, structural features, compositional and imaginative design techniques. Experience of Yekaterinburg architects in experimental design is considered and analyzed. Main issues and prospects of high-rise development within the Yekaterinburg structure are studied. The most interesting and significant conceptual approaches to the structural and compositional arrangement of high-rise buildings are discussed.

Fragmented International Governance of Arctic Offshore Oil : Governance Challenges and Institutional Improvement

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Humrich, Christoph

The governance architecture in the Arctic region is subject to broad public and academic debate. Existing governance arrangements are not considered sufficient to minimize risks and impacts from Arctic offshore oil activities. These governance arrangements are fragmented between law of the sea

Status of will governance in determination of law governing business documents validity

OpenAIRE

Peyman Mohammadi; Saeed Kheradmandi

2014-01-01

Law governing substantive conditions of business documents issuance is one of important problems facing investigators. Since law governing business contracts and documents is governing out of limits of national law today, value and effect of will governance is of interest to jurisprudents because contract parties are allowed to determine contract effects and terms consensually to the extent to which these effects and terms do not contradict public order and imperative law and, in fact, they c...

Sea-Level Rise and Flood Potential along the California Coast

Science.gov (United States)

Delepine, Q.; Leung, C.

2013-12-01

Sea-level rise is becoming an ever-increasing problem in California. Sea-level is expected to rise significantly in the next 100 years, which will raise flood elevations in coastal communities. This will be an issue for private homeowners, businesses, and the state. One study suggests that Venice Beach could lose a total of at least $440 million in tourism spending and tax dollars from flooding and beach erosion if sea level rises 1.4 m by 2100. In addition, several airports, such as San Francisco International Airport, are located in coastal regions that have flooded in the past and will likely be flooded again in the next 30 years, but sea-level rise is expected to worsen the effects of flooding in the coming decades It is vital for coastal communities to understand the risks associated with sea-level rise so that they can plan to adapt to it. By obtaining accurate LiDAR elevation data from the NOAA Digital Coast Website (http://csc.noaa.gov/dataviewer/?keyword=lidar#), we can create flood maps to simulate sea level rise and flooding. The data are uploaded to ArcGIS and contour lines are added for different elevations that represent future coastlines during 100-year flooding. The following variables are used to create the maps: 1. High-resolution land surface elevation data - obtained from NOAA 2. Local mean high water level - from USGS 3. Local 100-year flood water level - from the Pacific Institute 4. Sea-level rise projections for different future dates (2030, 2050, and 2100) - from the National Research Council The values from the last three categories are added to represent sea-level rise plus 100-year flooding. These values are used to make the contour lines that represent the projected flood elevations, which are then exported as KML files, which can be opened in Google Earth. Once these KML files are made available to the public, coastal communities will gain an improved understanding of how flooding and sea-level rise might affect them in the future

Cloud Computing Governance Lifecycle

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Soňa Karkošková

2016-06-01

Full Text Available Externally provisioned cloud services enable flexible and on-demand sourcing of IT resources. Cloud computing introduces new challenges such as need of business process redefinition, establishment of specialized governance and management, organizational structures and relationships with external providers and managing new types of risk arising from dependency on external providers. There is a general consensus that cloud computing in addition to challenges brings many benefits but it is unclear how to achieve them. Cloud computing governance helps to create business value through obtain benefits from use of cloud computing services while optimizing investment and risk. Challenge, which organizations are facing in relation to governing of cloud services, is how to design and implement cloud computing governance to gain expected benefits. This paper aims to provide guidance on implementation activities of proposed Cloud computing governance lifecycle from cloud consumer perspective. Proposed model is based on SOA Governance Framework and consists of lifecycle for implementation and continuous improvement of cloud computing governance model.

Building more effective sea level rise models for coastal management

Science.gov (United States)

Kidwell, D.; Buckel, C.; Collini, R.; Meckley, T.

2017-12-01

For over a decade, increased attention on coastal resilience and adaptation to sea level rise has resulted in a proliferation of predictive models and tools. This proliferation has enhanced our understanding of our vulnerability to sea level rise, but has also led to stakeholder fatigue in trying to realize the value of each advancement. These models vary in type and complexity ranging from GIS-based bathtub viewers to modeling systems that dynamically couple complex biophysical and geomorphic processes. These approaches and capabilities typically have the common purpose using scenarios of global and regional sea level change to inform adaptation and mitigation. In addition, stakeholders are often presented a plethora of options to address sea level rise issues from a variety of agencies, academics, and consulting firms. All of this can result in confusion, misapplication of a specific model/tool, and stakeholder feedback of "no more new science or tools, just help me understand which one to use". Concerns from stakeholders have led to the question; how do we move forward with sea level rise modeling? This presentation will provide a synthesis of the experiences and feedback derived from NOAA's Ecological Effects of Sea level Rise (EESLR) program to discuss the future of predictive sea level rise impact modeling. EESLR is an applied research program focused on the advancement of dynamic modeling capabilities in collaboration with local and regional stakeholders. Key concerns from stakeholder engagement include questions about model uncertainty, approaches for model validation, and a lack of cross-model comparisons. Effective communication of model/tool products, capabilities, and results is paramount to address these concerns. Looking forward, the most effective predictions of sea level rise impacts on our coast will be attained through a focus on coupled modeling systems, particularly those that connect natural processes and human response.

THE RISE TIME OF NORMAL AND SUBLUMINOUS TYPE Ia SUPERNOVAE

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Gonzalez-Gaitan, S.; Perrett, K.; Carlberg, R. [Department of Astronomy and Astrophysics, University of Toronto, 50 St. george Street, Toronto, ON M5S 3H4 (Canada); Conley, A. [Center for Astrophysics and Space Astronomy, University of Colorado, 593 UCB, Boulder, CO 80309-0593 (United States); Bianco, F. B.; Howell, D. A.; Graham, M. L. [Department of Physics, University of California, Santa Barbara, Broida Hall, Mail Code 9530, Santa Barbara, CA 93106-9530 (United States); Sullivan, M.; Hook, I. M. [Department of Physics (Astrophysics), University of Oxford, DWB, Keble Road, Oxford, OX1 3RH (United Kingdom); Astier, P.; Balland, C.; Fourmanoit, N.; Guy, J.; Hardin, D.; Pain, R. [LPNHE, Universite Pierre et Marie Curie Paris 6, Universite Paris Diderot Paris 7, CNRS-IN2P3, 4 Place Jussieu, 75252 Paris Cedex 05 (France); Balam, D. [Dominion Astrophysical Observatory, Herzberg Institute of Astrophysics, 5071 West Saanich Road, Victoria, BC V9E 2E7 (Canada); Basa, S. [Laboratoire d' Astrophysique de Marseille, Pole de l' Etoile Site de Chateau-Gombert, 38, rue Frederic Joliot-Curie, 13388 Marseille cedex 13 (France); Fouchez, D. [CPPM, CNRS-IN2P3 and University Aix Marseille II, Case 907, 13288 Marseille cedex 9 (France); Lidman, C. [Australian Astronomical Observatory, P.O. Box 296, Epping, NSW 1710 (Australia); Palanque-Delabrouille, N., E-mail: gonzalez@astro.utoronto.ca [DSM/IRFU/SPP, CEA-Saclay, F-91191 Gif-sur-Yvette (France); and others

2012-01-20

We calculate the average stretch-corrected rise time of Type Ia supernovae (SNe Ia) in the Supernova Legacy Survey. We use the aggregate light curves of spectroscopic and photometrically identified SNe Ia to fit the rising part of the light curve with a simple quadratic model. We obtain a light curve shape corrected, i.e., stretch-corrected, fiducial rise time of 17.02{sup +0.18}{sub -0.28} (stat) days. The measured rise time differs from an earlier finding by the SNLS (Conley et al.) due to the use of different SN Ia templates. We compare it to nearby samples using the same methods and find no evolution in the early part of the light curve of SNe Ia up to z = 1. We search for variations among different populations, particularly subluminous objects, by dividing the sample in stretch. Bright and slow decliners (s > 1.0) have consistent stretch-corrected rise times compared to fainter and faster decliners (0.8 < s {<=} 1.0); they are shorter by 0.57{sup +0.47}{sub -0.50} (stat) days. Subluminous SNe Ia (here defined as objects with s {<=} 0.8), although less constrained, are also consistent, with a rise time of 18.03{sup +0.81}{sub -1.37} (stat) days. We study several systematic biases and find that the use of different fiducial templates may affect the average rise time but not the intrinsic differences between populations. Based on our results, we estimate that subluminous SNe Ia are powered by 0.05-0.35 M{sub Sun} of {sup 56}Ni synthesized in the explosion. Our conclusions are the same for the single-stretch and two-stretch parameterizations of the light curve.

Temperature rise produced by different light-curing units through dentin.

Science.gov (United States)

Yazici, A Rüya; Müftü, Ali; Kugel, Gerard

2007-11-01