Good Governance: Importance in Practice, Theories and Definitions

This work addresses at exploring appropriate method in applying the principle of good governance; importance in practice, theories and definitions. This effort is importance to understand in more detail the three dimensions of good governance. The relationship between good governance and national prosperity is not always clear and opinions vary across countries. But it is seen that good governance is important for the economic and social development of countries and promotion of good governance also creates more open and democratic societies. For that reason, this work offers the three dimensions of good governance: the rule of law, the democracy, and the institutional dimension. The solution of this method would precisely construct a holistic and integrated strategy in managing and optimizing collective strategic resources.This work addresses at exploring appropriate method in applying the principle of good governance; importance in practice, theories and definitions. This effort is importance to understand in more detail the three dimensions of good governance. The relationship between good governance and national prosperity is not always clear and opinions vary across countries. But it is seen that good governance is important for the economic and social development of countries and promotion of good governance also creates more open and democratic societies. For that reason, this work offers the three dimensions of good governance: the rule of law, the democracy, and the institutional dimension. The solution of this method would precisely construct a holistic and integrated strategy in managing and optimizing collective strategic resources

Joint working group compliance on the Kyoto protocol: an overview of suggestions on compliance

Annex II of Decision 8/CP.4 from COP4 on "Preparation for the first session of the Conference of the Parties serving as the Meeting of the Parties to the Kyoto Protocol" established a joint working group (JWG) on compliance under the SBI and SBSTA.3 Because of the relation between the legal and the technical aspects the suggestion is done that this JWG should include both legal and technical experts.4 Much preliminary and exploratory work remains to be done, including on identifying key issues and options, both in the context of individual Kyoto mechanisms and regarding any broader compliance regime. Issues related to compliance arise under different provisions of the Protocol and it is important to coordinate relevant work under the auspices of different groups so as to develop a coherent compliance system for the Protocol and to avoid unnecessary duplication.5 Annex II invited Parties also to submit views to the secretariat on matters relating to compliance under the Kyoto Protocol, to be made available by the secretariat in a miscellaneous document.6 This document contains some main issues in the comments of the Parties and my suggestions about these issues

Linking Flow Regime, Floodplain Lake Connectivity and Fish Catch in a Large River-Floodplain System, the Volga-Akhtuba Floodplain (Russian Federation)

River-floodplain systems are amongst the most productive—but often severely impacted—aquatic systems worldwide. We explored the ecological response of fish to flow regime in a large river-floodplain system by studying the relationships between (1) discharge and inundated floodplain area, with a focus on spatial and temporal patterns in floodplain lake connectivity, and (2) flood volume and fisheries catch. Our results demonstrate a non-linear relationship between discharge and floodplain inundation with considerable hysteresis due to differences in inundation and drainage rate. Inundation extent was mostly determined by flood volume, not peak discharge. We found that the more isolated lakes (that is, lakes with a shorter connection duration to the river) are located at higher local elevation and at larger hydrological distance from the main rivers: geographical distance to the river appears a poor predictor of lake isolation. Although year-to-year fish catches in the floodplain were significantly larger with larger flood volumes in the floodplain, they were not in the main river, suggesting that mechanisms that increase catch, such as increased floodplain access or increased somatic growth, are stimulated by flooding in the floodplain, but not in the river. Fish species that profit from flooding belong to different feeding guilds, suggesting that all trophic levels may benefit from flooding. We found indications that the ecological functioning of floodplains is not limited to its temporary availability as habitat. Refugia can be present within the floodplain itself, which should be considered in the management of large rivers and their floodplain

DEVELOPMENT OF A TL-3 F-SHAPE TEMPORARY CONCRETE MEDIAN BARRIER

A temporary concrete median barrier (CMB) was designed and tested for compliance under the Test Level 3 (TL-3) guidelines specified in the Recommended Procedures for the Safety Performance Evaluation of Highway Features, National Cooperative Highway Research Program (NCHRP) Report No. 350. The barrier is built to the new metric standards and has a traditional pin and loop configuration for interconnection. The objective of this research project was to develop and evaluate a standardized, temporary concrete barrier design while addressing the concerns for safety, economy, structural integrity, constructability, ease of installation, and maintenance. The resulting F-shape barrier segment is 3,800-mm long, a length that reduced the number of connections while limiting the weight of the barriers to ease handling. Full-scale crash testing demonstrated several critical design features. First, the connections need to be tight initially as practicable to limit deformation and rotation of the barriers,. Secondly, the pin needs to restrain the longitudinal barrier forces. Full-scale compliance testing of the final design demonstrated that the barrier was capable of successfully redirecting the 2000-kg vehicle. The vehicle demonstrated significant roll after contact with the barrier, which is evidenced in a majority of other concrete barrier tests. This barrier provides economical work zone protection applicable in a variety of situations, where TL-3 test criteria is warranted

Identifications in BioPortals™

BioPortals are a ‘Google-like’ webportal solution tailored for national or thematic biological diversity information needs. This solution allows for an efficient route to retrieve information from heterogeneous biological information sources after identification with integrated identification systems. BioPortals can be used in combination with mobile devices and provide options to share biological observation data after identification in the field

Postmortem investigations on winter stranded sperm whales from the coasts of Belgium and the Netherlands

During winter 1994-95, four and three sperm whales (Physeter macrocephalus) were stranded along the Belgian and the Dutch coasts, respectively. Necropsies and tissue samplings were collected 24 hrs post mortem. Lesions on several whales included round and linear skin scars, ventral skin abrasions, acute skin ulcers, acute ulcerative stomatitides, acute to chronic external otitides, and passive visceral congestion. In addition, these sperm whales appeared to be debilitated with severe weight deficit, had blubber thickness reduction, the absence of abdominal fat, and the intestinal tracts were almost empty. Three categories of lesions and their possible relation with the stranding were evaluated. Cutaneous scars observed on the seven whales appeared to have no relation with the stranding. The poor body condition and acute integument ulcerative lesions were present before the stranding. Ventral skin abrasions and visceral passive congestion were caused by the strandings. Absence of food in the alimentary tracts, evidence of weight loss and blubber thickness reduction were compatible with an extended presence of the sperm whales in the North Sea, where adequate food is not available. This might lead to progressive weakness, predisposing the animals to secondary pathogens such as viral diseases. Finally, the coastal configuration of the southern North Sea makes it a trap for sperm whales which have entered the area during their wanderings

Євангельські християни святі сіоністи: особливості життя й побуту

У статті Р. Скакуна розглянуто, особливості життя, побуту й релігійного культу євангельських християн святих сіоністів („мурашковців”), громада яких існує в смт. КомінтернівськеОдеської області. Ключові слова: євангельські християни святі сіоністи, мурашковці, юдаїстичний культ, субота, заповіді, релігійна громада.The article discusses a sectarian group of the Evangelical Christians Saint Zionists, also known as Murashkovtsi, which presently exists as a community of 435 people in the town of Kominternivske, Odessa region. The peculiar features of the group, which emerged in early 1930’s from the popular Pentecostalism, include its mystical and ecstatic cult, which gradually declines, and its judaistic system of practical ritualistic prescriptions. The group is also characterized by endogamy, strong solidarity and the persisting model of traditional extended family. Keywords: Evangelical Christians Saint Zionists, Murashkovtsi, judaistic cult, Sabbath, ritualistic prescriptions, religious community

Co-Teaching for English Learners

This action research study investigated the effects of a co-teaching model on English learners’ academic performance and confidence levels in the general education classroom in a public middle school in Northwest Iowa. The research participants were five seventh-grade English learners with varying English proficiency levels. Students completed a survey before and after a co-teaching model was implemented to determine their confidence level in a general education social studies classroom. Using data from content and cognitive skill rubrics, a comparison of growth was made between a semester without a co-teaching model and a second semester with a co-teaching model. Findings of the study did not show a significant difference in English learners’ confidence or academic performance after a co-teaching model was implemented

A Primer for FDO Profile Creation Based on Early Experience

This paper summarizes the contents of a lightning talk at the FDO Summit 2024  about the creation of a FDO Profile for the kernel attributes in a PID record. It describes the early experience that DiSSCo had with creating FDO Profiles for Digital Specimens and related digital objects. The Digital Specimen FDOs act as a digital surrogate for specimens held in natural science collections. The work done in DiSSCo resulted in a set of 13 core attributes used for all FDO Types in DiSSCo, complemented with additional domain specific attributes. These core attributes and reasons for deviation with the RDA PID Kernel recommendation are presented in the lightning talk.

The Transparency Principle in the Framework of the WTO

In this contribution, the way in which the transparency principe – as it has developed in Dutch and European administrative law – can contribute to the realisation of more openness as regards the WTO will be discussed. The transparency principle is one of he pillar principles of good governance, principles which spearhead Dutch foreign policy. The lack of openness concerning the WTO has long been a concern of the international community and now propositions are being made – in this contribution as well – to further form the transparency principle in the WTO