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e-Government Development and Government Effectiveness: A Reciprocal Relationship
No full textTo explain the positive reciprocal relationship found between e-Government Development and Government Effectiveness, a five-level model is constructed to track the paths that must be taken for public servants to be trusted to enact e-Government Development. A combination of reform, discretionary and adaptive contributions by public servants can lead to the establishment of public service bargains at the third level. ‘Post-New Public Management’ reforms and exceptional adaptive leadership are, however, required to move countries to the fourth level where public servants are trusted to act across the range of role identities required to enact e-Government
The exercising female: Science and its application
Get PDFThe Exercising Female: Science and Its Application is the first book to provide students, researchers, and professionals with an evidence-based reference on the exceptional scientific issues associated with female participation in sport and exercise. Based on the latest research, and treating women as a unique population, the book seeks to critically evaluate current debates, present the science underpinning female sport and exercise performance, and inform applied practice for the exercising female
Green Streets and Habitat for Biodiversity
No full textGreen streets incorporate multiple elements with the potential to offer a diverse range of habitats to greatly increase urban Biodiversity. Habitat types include: trees, wetlands and pools and vegetated areas; these can be incorporated into a relatively small area and offer potential habitat to microbes, invertebrates, herpatiles, mammals and birds including some of our rare or protected species. Biodiversity value of a green street increases with the inclusion of wildflowers and materials of local provenance and incorporation of diverse microhabitats. Due to the linear connected nature of green streets they offer potential to facilitate movement of species within the green street itself and even across landscapes when incorporated into a network with other green streets or green infrastructure
Get Talking: Managing to Achieve More through Creative Consultation
Get PDFPurpose
The purpose of this chapter is to explore how public policy and service strategy can be influenced by meaningful public engagement (Bovaird, 2007, Boyle and Harris, 2007) using the Get Talking model (Emadi-Coffin, 2008) to co-produce services in times of austerity. Get Talking, an approach to Participatory Action Research (PAR), was used to engage young people in the development of Staffordshire Fire and Rescue Service’s (SFRS) Children and Young People’s Strategy.
Design/methodology/approach
The authors adopt a case study approach, building on qualitative methods including focus groups and semi-structured interviews, to demonstrate how creative approaches were used by public sector staff to engage young people and partners in strategy development. To reflect the nature of Get Talking, creative consultation tools were used to facilitate the focus group activity. Initial research was followed by semi-structured interviews to identify the impact of the resulting strategy on the organisation.
Findings
Using Get Talking as an approach to policy development provided SFRS with insight into the needs of young people. This resulted in a more relevant strategy being developed and a cultural shift in how the organisation works with young people. Engagement with the Get Talking process had a positive effect on staff, providing them with a sense of ownership over the resulting strategy, enhanced the reputation of SFRS with partners and improved relationships with young people through demonstrating that they were valued partners in coproduction. While the approach was well received by all parties, challenges of using Get Talking in a public service setting resulted in pragmatic adaptations to a traditional PAR approach.
Practical implications
Staff who consult using PAR principles and creative consultation tools, require a resource investment of staff time, which is rewarded by the development of a targeted strategy to meet the needs of service users. The impact of using PAR to develop organisational strategy can be maximised through working in partnership with organisations and recruitment and training of a small team of community researchers.
Originality/value
The research adds to the body of literature particularly the work of Bovaird (2007) and Ledworth and Springett (2010) as it demonstrates the benefits of using participatory and creative methods of engaging young people in strategy development for public services and identifies the practical implications of using PAR in large scale public sector organisations
Contributions of Plasma Protein Binding and Membrane Transporters to Drug-Induced Mitochondrial Toxicity
No full textSmall molecules are optimally lipophilic in nature, which allows for transit through the circulation by binding to plasma proteins and passage through cellular membranes to gain access to intracellular targets. The molecular composition and architecture of mitochondria is also responsible for attracting certain small molecules that results in accumulation and impact on mitochondrial function. Binding to plasma protein provides a reservoir of the drug capable of providing a longer‐lasting reservoir of the drug compared with those more freely soluble in the bloodstream and may eventually accumulate in target tissues to a greater extent than the latter more hydrophilic drugs. Molecules transported by albumin are released in regions of low drug concentration. This mechanism enables drugs to be delivered to target tissues and enter into cells either by transport through specific plasma membrane transporters or via diffusion through the plasma membrane
A reflective qualitative appreciative inquiry approach to restoring compassionate care deficits at one United Kingdom health care site
No full textAbstract
Background
Following declining health care practices at one UK health care site the subsequent and much publicized Francis Report made several far‐reaching recommendations aimed at recovering optimal levels of care including stringent monitoring of practice. The aftermath of these deliberations have had resounding consequences for quality care both nationally and internationally.
Design
A reflective qualitative appreciative qualitative inquiry using a hybrid approach combining case study and thematic analysis outlines the development and analysis of a solution‐focused intervention aimed at restoring staff confidence and optimal care levels at one key UK hospital site. Personal diaries were used to collect data.
Data analysis
Data were analysed using descriptive thematic analysis.
Discussion
The implications of the five emerging themes and the 10‐step approach used are discussed in the context of understanding care erosion and ways to effect organisational change.
Conclusion
A novel approach to addressing care deficits, which provides a promising bottom‐up approach, initiated by health care policy makers is suggested for use in other health care settings when concerns about care arise. It is anticipated this approach will prove useful for nurse managers, particularly in relation to finding positive solutions to addressing problems that surround potential failing standards of care in hospitals.
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Establishing Differences in Thermographic Patterns between the Various Complications in Diabetic Foot Disease
Get PDFAim:
To evaluate the potential of thermography as an assessment tool for the detection of foot complications by understanding the variations in temperature that occur in type 2 diabetes mellitus (DM).
Methods:
Participants were categorized according to a medical examination, ankle brachial index, doppler waveform analysis, and 10-gram monofilament testing into five groups: healthy adult, DM with no complications, DM with peripheral neuropathy, DM with neuroischaemia, and DM with peripheral arterial disease (PAD) groups. Thermographic imaging of the toes and forefeet was performed.
Results:
43 neuroischaemic feet, 41 neuropathic feet, 58 PAD feet, 21 DM feet without complications, and 126 healthy feet were analyzed. The temperatures of the feet and toes were significantly higher in the complications group when compared to the healthy adult and DM healthy groups. The higher the temperatures of the foot in DM, the higher the probability that it is affected by neuropathy, neuroischaemia, or PAD.
Conclusions:
Significant differences in mean temperatures exist between participants who were healthy and those with DM with no known complications when compared to participants with neuroischaemia, neuropathy, or PAD. As foot temperature rises, so does the probability of the presence of complications of neuropathy, neuroischaemia, or peripheral arterial disease
E is for Editorial
Get PDFAs the editorial for the first of these double issues has already shown, it has been difficult to decide how to organise the different contributions into two issues – how should we split them up? How should we order them? And then what would be a good way to introduce them in an editorial? Rather than give an overview of what is to come by signposting the order of the issues themselves, as is more conventional, for this issue we decided to draw out notable trends and aspects in stand-alone form and order them in the fashion of an abecedary. While this loses the traditionally developed linearity of a text (admittedly the order here is somewhat artificially imposed by the alphabet), it gains clear short sections that are subtitled to allow dipping into the text and identifying areas of interest. We have used ALL CAPS to denote names of entries to show linkages and wherever we make reference to an article in these two issues, have given the page number and the letter E (for this issue – the Egg – and C for the accompanying issue – the Chicken). As the editorial of the sister issue (C ?) takes the form of a more traditional one, we hope that readers will read both and in comparing them be able to reflect on the affordances of GENRES using these examples
The Impact Of Living Walls In The Reduction Of Atmospheric Particulate Matter Pollution
Get PDFTraffic-generated particulate matter (PM) air pollution remains a serious threat to human health and the environment. Whilst the ability of vegetation to reduce PM pollution is widely recognised, little or no information is available on the value of living walls in this respect. This thesis explored their potential to serve as near-road/rail PM filters, and evaluated the optimal conditions required to maximise their PM capture efficiency, using both field and laboratory-based techniques. This study revealed living walls could immobilise substantial levels of PM associated with both road and rail traffic. Of three living walls studied, one, located along a busy road, was shown to remove substantial levels of PM1 (122.08 ± 6.9 x 107) and PM10 (4.45 ± 0.33 x 107) per 100 cm2; the highest level of PM2.5 removal (9.9 ± 5 x 107) was recorded from a wall located near a busy train station. The best PM-removing species, and the important leaf traits, were identified using living wall plants and natural/synthetic leaf models. There was a considerable inter-species variation in PM accumulation and the PM densities on some species were x50 and x65 higher compared to others. The influence of leaf size on PM accumulation was found to be dominant over other examined characters (leaf size, shape, and micromorphology); smaller leaved species with a high Leaf Area Index were identified as the most efficacious. Analysis of captured PM from rail and road traffic showed the ability of living wall plants to immobilise a wide range of elements which are known to be hazardous to health. Simulated rainfall demonstrated the potential for rain to wash particulates off leaves and renew capture surfaces to ensure their continuous functioning; wash-off removed between 48.4% and 92.5% of particles depending on the species. An impact of planting design on the PM reduction performance of living wall species was demonstrated by the superior capture efficiency resulting from increasing the topographical heterogeneity of plantings. This research enhances our understanding of the benefits of living wall systems in relation to PM pollution mitigation, and consequent improvement of human wellbeing
Solving Problems without Borders
Get PDFEach year, the Entomological Society of America’s (ESA) Student Affairs Committee (SAC) organizes and moderates the student debate competition at the annual ESA meeting. However, 2016 was a special year. ESA hosted the XXV International Congress of Entomology’s (ICE) meeting in Orlando, Florida, and thus the ESA SAC worked in tandem with the ICE SAC to organize the International Student Debate Competition. Topics for the debates reflected the ICE 2016 theme of “Entomology without Borders.” Each debate involved teams making a choice regarding policy surrounding international issues. The teams discussed the following topics:
Below, each topic is presented with an unbiased introduction, followed by the solution-specific stances of each of the debating..
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