Governance Challenges for Not-for-Profit Organisations: Empirical Evidence in Support of A Contingency Approach

ABSTRACT: This article presents evidence of the governance challenges faced by Australian not-for-profit (NFP) organisations. We find a key challenge for NFPs is recruiting individuals with appropriate skills, as directors are volunteers often elected by the membership and frequently lack relevant experience. Another issue is balancing the needs of a diverse constituency with competing demands. We find that the often proposed solution to this challenge – stakeholder representation on boards – can further hinder the recruitment of suitable directors and create tensions detrimental to board effectiveness. We argue to shift focus away from normative governance models towards a contingency approach and posit a role for a national NFP sector regulator in assisting to develop appropriate governance systems according to contextual factors

Governance Challenges for Not-For-Profit Organisations: Empirical Evidence in Support of a Contingency Approach

This article presents empirical evidence of the governance challenges faced by Australian not-for-profit (NFP) organisations. There is a dearth of academic research in the not-for-profit sector on issues of governance. Using survey and interview data, we explore what NFP leaders believe are key governance challenges, and what this means for theory and practice of NFP governance. We demonstrate that the effectiveness of governance systems is influenced by internal and external contingencies that NFP organisations face, such as variations in board roles, stakeholder and membership demands, funding arrangements, board member recruitment processes, skills of board members, and resources for training and development. We argue for a shift of focus away from prescriptive and normative NFP governance models, and contend that generic best practice governance standards for NFPs ought not to be further pursued, and that a contingency approach is more promising

Prediction of Biological Activity Spectra for Few Anticancer Drugs Derived from Plant Sources

Over the past decade plants have become an interesting source of new classes of pharmacologically active natural products. Some secondary metabolites are also well known for their effectiveness on living species. The PASS (Prediction of Activity Spectra for Substances) computer program, which is able to simultaneously predict more than one thousand biological and toxicological activities from only the structural formulas of the chemicals, was used to predict the biological activity profile of 7 secondary metabolites. PASS predictions were successfully compared to the available information on the pharmacological and toxicological activity of these compounds

High-Spatial-Resolution OH PLIF Visualization in a Cavity-Stabilized Ethylene-Air Turbulent Flame

High-spatial-resolution OH planar laser-induced fluorescence was measured for a premixed ethylene-air turbulent flame in an electrically-heated Mach 2 continuous-flow facility (University of Virginia Supersonic Combustion Facility, Configuration E.) The facility comprised a Mach 2 nozzle, an isolator with flush-wall fuel injectors, a combustor with optical access, and an extender. The flame was anchored at a cavity flameholder with a backward-facing step of height 9 mm. The temperature-insensitive Q1(8) transition of OH was excited using laser light of wavelength 283.55 nm. A spatial filter was used to create a laser sheet approximately 25 microns thick based on full-width at half maximum (FWHM). Extension tubes increased the magnification of an intensified camera system, achieving in-plane resolution of 40 microns based on a 50% modulation transfer function (MTF). The facility was tested with total temperature 1200 K, total pressure 300 kPa, local fuel/air equivalence ratios of approximately 0.4, and local Mach number of approximately 0.73 in the combustor. A test case with reduced total temperature and another with reduced equivalence ratio were also tested. PLIF images were acquired along a streamwise plane bisecting the cavity flameholder, from the backward facing step to 120 mm downstream of the step. The smallest observed features in the flow had width of approximately 110 microns. Flame surface density was calculated for OH PLIF images

Bi-amalgamated algebra with (n; p)-weakly clean like properties

Let f : A −→ B and g : A −→ C be two ring homomorphisms and let K and K′ be two ideals of B and C, respectively such that f −1(K) = g−1(K′). In this paper, we give a characterization for the bi-amalgamation of A with (B, C) along (K, K′) with respect to (f, g) (denoted by A ▷◁f,g (K, K′)) to be a (n, p)-weakly clean ring

Factors Affecting Insecticide-Induced Resurgence of the Brown Planthopper, \u3ci\u3eNilaparvata lugens\u3c/i\u3e on Rice

Resurgence of the brown planthopper, Nilaparvata lugens (Stål) on rice was induced by applications of decamethrin, methyl parathion, and diazinon. Differential mortality of predators and hoppers did not appear to be the primary factor for resurgence. Hoppers appeared to be attracted to methyl parathion and decamethrin treated plants because of plant growth. Improved plant growth, however, did not compensate for the increased feeding of the insecticide-treated hopper population, and plants treated with resurgence-causing insecticides succumbed to feeding injury earlier than untreated plants. Population increases were due in part to stimulation of reproduction of the hopper, either by contact action of the insecticides or through increased plant growth. Reduction in the length of the nymphal stage and increased adult longevity resulting in a shortened life cycle and longer oviposition period, respectively, were additional factors contributing to resurgence

Western Indian Ocean marine and terrestrial records of climate variability: a review and new concepts on land-ocean interactions since AD 1660

We examine the relationship between three tropical and two subtropical western Indian Ocean coral oxygen isotope time series to surface air temperatures (SAT) and rainfall over India, tropical East Africa and southeast Africa. We review established relationships, provide new concepts with regard to distinct rainfall seasons, and mean annual temperatures. Tropical corals are coherent with SAT over western India and East Africa at interannual and multidecadal periodicities. The subtropical corals correlate with Southeast African SAT at periodicities of 16–30 years. The relationship between the coral records and land rainfall is more complex. Running correlations suggest varying strength of interannual teleconnections between the tropical coral oxygen isotope records and rainfall over equatorial East Africa. The relationship with rainfall over India changed in the 1970s. The subtropical oxygen isotope records are coherent with South African rainfall at interdecadal periodicities. Paleoclimatological reconstructions of land rainfall and SAT reveal that the inferred relationships generally hold during the last 350 years. Thus, the Indian Ocean corals prove invaluable for investigating land–ocean interactions during past centuries

High-Resolution OH and CH2O Visualization in a Premixed Cavity-Anchored Ethylene-Air Flame in a M = 0.6 Flowfield

OH and CH2O were imaged in a premixed, cavity-anchored, ethylene-air turbulent flame using a high resolution planar laser-induced fluorescence (PLIF) system. The electrically-heated, continuous flow facility (UVa Supersonic Combustion Facility, Configuration E) consisted of a Mach 2 nozzle, an isolator with fuel injectors, a test section with a cavity flame holder and optical access, and an extender. Standard test conditions comprised total temperature 1200 K, total pressure 300 kPa, local equivalence ratio near 0.4, and local Mach number near 0.6. OH PLIF data was also collected for a case with reduced total temperature and another with reduced equivalence ratio. OH and CH2O were excited in separate experiments with light sheets at 283.55 nm and 352.48 nm, respectively. A light sheet of approximate thickness 25 ?m illuminated the stream-wise midplane. This plane was imaged for 120 mm downstream of the backward-facing step. The intensified camera system imaged OH with magnification 1.97, a square 6.67 mm field of view, and in-plane resolution of 39 ?m. The smallest observed OH structures observed were approximately 100 ?m wide. The CH2O PLIF image signal was much weaker; the smallest observed structures were approximately 200 ?m wide. Composite fluorescence images were computed for the observed area