1,721,044 research outputs found
Debate: Should there be rules governing social media use for accountability in the public sector?
No full textMany public service organizations (PSOs) now use social media to communicate what they are doing in order to obtain legitimacy and to increase citizen participation or, at least, to create a direct and cheap channel to engage with citizens. Public participation is vital for effective democratic governance (Teorell, 2006). PSOs must meet the needs of the public (Fung 2004), yet recent studies have shown a persistent decrease in citizen participation. At the same time, in accordance with legitimacy theory, social media allows PSOs to communicate information showing how the PSO is performing in line with the values and expectations of society
Preparing the ground for smart working in the public sector: insights from an empirical analysis on municipalities
No full textSmart working is a timely solution to enable public services' continuity and it is increasingly embedded within work arrangements in the public sector. However, little is known about the public servants' willingness to embrace smart working arrangements. The article examines the relationship between digital readiness and smart working acceptance of municipal public servants. Digital readiness boosted public servants' acceptance of smart working. Role clarity negatively mediated this relationship, whilst an organizational culture based on transparency moderated the link between digital readiness and smart working. A concern for role clarity should be embraced in designing smart working arrangements, enhancing work meaningfulness
How Mayors Perceive the Influence of Social Media on the Policy Cycle
Full text linkInformation technology clearly influences the decision-making behaviour of individuals, groups, and organisations. In particular, social media and Web 2.0 technologies can affect the rationality and effectiveness of the policy cycle in the public sector. This growing influence deserves to be analysed. This work aims to understand how the influence of social media in the different phases of the policy cycle is perceived by mayors, the main decision-makers in local governments
Promoting digital innovation in the public sector: Managerial and organisational insights from a case study
No full textThe world of public administration, particularly in countries characterised by a ‘Napoleonic’ administrative culture, is unwilling to self-renew. However, the reduction of funds linked to austerity policies, the demand for better services, and the numerous opportunities linked to digitalisation, impose a rethinking of public administration. The case of the ‘Digital Transformation Team’ (DTT), launched in Italy, yet contrary to what usually happens in Italian reform processes, provides interesting indications of how it is possible to innovate in a context usually resistant to change
New development: I chose to let the machine choose—the rise of ‘AIcratism’
No full textThis article conceptualizes ‘AIcratism’, an emerging phenomenon that occurs when public employees, despite possessing formal decision-making authority, inappropriately defer to AI, thereby transferring agency to algorithms. Whereas existing research has largely emphasized the strategic and policy dimensions of AI adoption in the public sector, this work shifts the focus to the micro-level of daily decision-making, focusing on organizational implications. Drawing on a sociomaterial perspective, it reflects on how discretion is exercised, and potentially undermined, when human actors inappropriately rely on algorithmic suggestions. The conceptualization of AIcratism in this article advances the literature by illuminating how algorithmic systems can subtly reshape discretion and accountability in public organizations. The article offers a framework for analysing quasi-automated bureaucracies and outlines avenues for future research on human–AI collaboration, appropriate reliance, and organizational design in AI-supported public service delivery
Molecular delivery of cytotoxic agents via integrin activation
Full text linkIntegrins are cell adhesion receptors overexpressed in tumor cells. A direct inhibition of integrins was investigated, but the best inhibitors performed poorly in clinical trials. A gained attention towards these receptors arouse because they could be target for a selective transport of cytotoxic agents. Several active-targeting systems have been developed to use integrins as a selective cell entrance for some antitumor agents. The aim of this review paper is to report on the most recent results on covalent conjugates between integrin ligands and antitumor drugs. Cytotoxic drugs thus conjugated through specific linker to integrin ligands, mainly RGD peptides, demonstrated that the covalent conjugates were more selective against tumor cells and hopefully with fewer side effects than the free drugs
Solvent effects on stereoselectivity: More than just an environment
No full textStereoselectivity is a major topic in organic synthesis. Intensive investigations into the role of solvents on diastereo- and enantioselective reactions, as well as temperature-dependent measurements of diastereomeric and enantiomeric ratios, have shed light on the existence of dynamic solvation effects. In this tutorial review, several examples of non-linear Eyring plots in stereoselective nucleophilic additions, cycloadditions, photochemical and enzymatic reactions are reported. Experimental data and spectroscopic analyses obtained in aliphatic and aromatic hydrocarbons, halohydrocarbons, ethers and mixtures lead to the formulation of a hypothesis on the inversion temperature phenomenon as being due to an equilibrium between distinct solute–solvent clusters, which are the real reactive species in solution. © 2009 The Royal Society of Chemistry
Laccase-Carrying Polylactic Acid Electrospun Fibers, Advantages and Limitations in Bio-Oxidation of Amines and Alcohols
Full text linkLaccases are oxidative enzymes that could be good candidates for the functionalization of biopolymers with several applications as biosensors for the determination of bioactive amine and alcohols, for bioremediation of industrial wastewater, and for greener catalysts in oxidation reactions in organic synthesis, especially used for non-phenolic compounds in combination with redox mediators in the so-called Laccase Mediator System (LMS). In this work, we describe the immobilization of Laccase from Trametes versicolor (LTv) in poly-L-lactic acid (PLLA) nanofibers and its application in LMS oxidation reactions. The PLLA-LTv catalysts were successfully produced by electrospinning of a water-in-oil emulsion with an optimized method. Different enzyme loadings (1.6, 3.2, and 5.1% (w)/(w)) were explored, and the obtained mats were thoroughly characterized. The actual amount of the enzyme in the fibers and the eventual enzyme leaching in different solvents were evaluated. Finally, the PLLA-LTv mats were successfully applied as such in the oxidation reaction of catechol, and in the LMS method with TEMPO as mediator in the oxidation of amines with the advantage of easier work-up procedures by the immobilized enzyme. However, the PLLA-LTv failed the oxidation of alcohols with respect to the free enzyme. A tentative explanation was provided
Going Beyond Counting First Authors in Author Co-citation Analysis
Full text linkThe present study examines one of the fundamental aspects of author co-citation analysis (ACA) - the way co-citation
counts are defined. Co-citation counting provides the data on which all subsequent statistical analyses and mappings
are based, and we compare ACA results based on two different types of co-citation counting - the traditional type that
only counts the first one among a cited work's authors on the one hand and a non-traditional type that takes into
account the first 5 authors of a cited work on the other hand. Results indicate that the picture produced through this non-traditional author co-citation counting contains more coherent author groups and is therefore considerably clearer. However, this picture represents fewer specialties in the research field being studied than that produced through the traditional first-author co-citation counting when the same number of top-ranked authors is selected and analyzed. Reasons for these effects are discussed
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