Civil Society in Angola: Incursions, Space and Responsibility

This study analyses civil society organisations that focus on politics of oil revenues in Angola in the oil sector, and in the planning and implementation of budget in the prospects of combating povert

Læreres vurdering av personlige lønnstillegg

1. Mitt bidrag til forskningsfeltet I denne masteroppgaven vil jeg finne noe ut om dynamikken som finnes mellom den yrte accountabilityen preget av New Public Management uttrykt ved lokal lønn og reaksjonene i en eksisterende skolekultur. Særlig fokuserer jeg på rektors muligheter til å utforme styringsmekanismer og de menneskelige reaksjonene. 2. Forskningsspørsmål Det vide området jeg ville finne noe meir ut av har jeg formulert til følgende problem: Hvordan oppfatter tre informanter i en videregåene skole i Oslo intensjonen med tildelig av personlige lønnstillegg som insentiv i skolen sett i lys av teori om ansvarliggjøring? Jeg snevrer inn problemområdet ved å studere følgende forskningsspørsmål Hvordan opplever informantene at det har blitt innført personlig lønnstillegg/ prosedyren for eksempel? Hvordan opplever informantene at innføringen av personlige lønnstillegg har endret/forbedret skolen/elevene/lærerne evt. ledelsen? Hvordan opplever informantene at personlige lønnstillegg har ført til at ledelsen utfører skoleledelse annerledes? Hvordan opplever informantene at personlige lønnstillegg motiverer til større innsats i lærerjobben? Hvordan opplever informantene at personlige lønnstillegg eventuelt endrer skolen til å innrette seg som et marked? På grunnlag av empirien vil jeg drøfte mulige spenninger mellom bestående skolekultur og ansvarliggjøringskulturen med utgangspunkt i forskjellige teorier om insitament som motivasjon og økt innsats. 3. Teori I denne masteroppgaven benytter jeg meg av to teorier som er motstridende. Den ene Lazear (2003) er ytre insentivmotivert og den andre Kuvaas (2008) er indre og HMR – motivert. Jeg bruker også Olsen (2005) som sier noe om balansen mellom ytterpunkter. I tillegg kommer jeg inn på ledelse som en relasjon, makt og tillit (Sørhaug, 1996). 4. Case Jeg intervjuer to lærere og rektor på en videregående skole i Oslo. Alle har jobbet på skolen i mer enn fem år og må forholde seg til lokal lønn i en ansvarliggjøringskultur. I tillegg benytter jeg meg av et intervju med HR – direktør i Skoleetaten og avtale mellom Etaten og organisasjonene (Dokument 25) som sekundærdata. Intervjuene ble fortatt i september 2012 og øvrig datainnsamling har foregått helt opp til oktober 2013.. 5 Metode Jeg har laget et kvalitativt, semistrukturert intervju. Intervjuet er et dybdeintervju, og jeg har gjort søk i dokument samt analysert både deskriptivt og teoretisk. 6. Funn og konklusjon Jeg fant ulike reaksjoner på tildeling av lokal lønn hos mine informanter. «Gro» ønsker ikke dette mens Tone mener at det kan hjelpe til at lærerne generelt får bedre lønn. Rektor konkluderer med at det totalt ikkje hjelper til å forbedre skolens resultater. Det er en viss spenning mellom den ytre accountabilityen fra Etaten og den kulturen mine informanter beskriver på denne skolen. Ingen av informantene mente at systemet med lokal lønn var med på å forbedre skolens totale måloppnåelse. De to lærerinformantene opplevde at prosedyrene rundt tildelingen av personlig lønn var for dårlige. En av informantene var veldig klare på at tildeling av lokal lønn skapte uhygge og frustrasjon. I drøftingen ser jeg at det er stor diversitet mellom informantene. Det er ingen av de tre som kan falle helt inn under de to hovedteoriene, men jeg finner at rektors relasjonsbevissthet er viktig for denne skolen. På denne skolen benytter rektor seg av et handlingsrom slik at accountabilitypresset ikke er for sterkt følt. Likevel er rektor lojal og gjennomfører påbudet om å tildele lokal lønn til sine lærere. I Osloskolen er det mange tester som lærerne vurderes ut fra. Det er usikkert om noen lærere forbereder sine elever til å bli flinke bare på testene (lønnen kan avhenge av resultatet), eller om de underviser i hele læreplanens krav. Mot slutten av oppgaven har jeg problematisert kvalitetssikringen rundt motivasjonsundersøkelser

Budget, State and People Budget Process, Civil Society and Transparency in Angola

The Norwegian Embassy in Luanda, through Norad, has contracted the Chr. Michelsen Institute to conduct this study on obstacles and opportunities for increased transparency and popular consultation in the prioritisation of state expenditure and handling of revenue. The overall objectives of the study are (a) to contribute to increased insight into the present state of budgetary transparency and openness to the public in Angola, and (b) to indicate ways in which such transparency and openness may be increased. The conclusions and recommendations in the report stand for the authors of the report and are not necessarily shared or supported by the Norwegian Embassy in Luanda. We have attempted to describe the budget system and processes as our mission to Angola found them in late 2006. We attempt to point out the weaknesses we found and to some extent how these ought to be dealt with, and in particular what improving transparency and stimulation of public interest in budget matters via civil society organisations could do to improve budgeting in Angola

Budget, State and People Budget Process, Civil Society and Transparency in Angola

The Norwegian Embassy in Luanda, through Norad, has contracted the Chr. Michelsen Institute to conduct this study on obstacles and opportunities for increased transparency and popular consultation in the prioritisation of state expenditure and handling of revenue. The overall objectives of the study are (a) to contribute to increased insight into the present state of budgetary transparency and openness to the public in Angola, and (b) to indicate ways in which such transparency and openness may be increased. The conclusions and recommendations in the report stand for the authors of the report and are not necessarily shared or supported by the Norwegian Embassy in Luanda. We have attempted to describe the budget system and processes as our mission to Angola found them in late 2006. We attempt to point out the weaknesses we found and to some extent how these ought to be dealt with, and in particular what improving transparency and stimulation of public interest in budget matters via civil society organisations could do to improve budgeting in Angola

Corruption. A review of Contemporary Research

During the last decade corruption has become a topical issue in the international development policy debate. Research on corruption has also expanded rapidly, taking many different directions both within and across disciplines. This report provides an overview of contemporary research on corruption. The academic focus is on economic approaches, but perspectives from political science and social anthropology are also included. The presentation is mostly non-technical, although a few expositions of more analytically demanding matters are included. Relevance for development policy is the underlying guide for the selection of topics that are included in the study. The report should be useful for development practitioners and foreign aid officials, as well as for students and journalists interested in development issues

The rainbow as a student project involving numerical calculations

It is a challenge to find interesting and realistic projects where numerical methods can be used to enhance student understanding of physical phenomena. We present such a project in which a group of students used numerical methods to analyze the physics of the rainbow. The project is suitable for students in an undergraduate physics course on the basic principles of geometrical optics. The central part of this paper is written by a group of students, and the introduction and discussion are written by their teacher. In this way both the students' and teacher's perspectives on using numerical methods are presented

Microdialysis and CO2 sensors detect pancreatic ischemia in a porcine model

Background: Pancreatic transplantation is associated with a high rate of early postoperative graft thrombosis. If a thrombosis is detected in time, a potentially graft-saving intervention can be initiated. Current postoperative monitoring lacks tools for early detection of ischemia. The aim of this study was to investigate if microdialysis and tissue pCO2 sensors detect pancreatic ischemia and whether intraparenchymal and organ surface measurements are comparable. Methods: In 8 anaesthetized pigs, pairs of lactate monitoring microdialysis catheters and tissue pCO2 sensors were simultaneously inserted into the parenchyma and attached to the surface of the pancreas. Ischemia was induced by sequential arterial and venous occlusions of 45-minute duration, with two-hour reperfusion after each occlusion. Microdialysate was analyzed every 15 minutes. Tissue pCO2 was measured continuously. We investigated how surface and parenchymal measurements correlated and the capability of lactate and pCO2 to discriminate ischemic from non-ischemic periods. Results: Ischemia was successfully induced by arterial occlusion in 8 animals and by venous occlusion in 5. During all ischemic episodes, lactate increased with a fold change of 3.2–9.5 (range) in the parenchyma and 1.7–7.6 on the surface. Tissue pCO2 increased with a fold change of 1.6–3.5 in the parenchyma and 1.3–3.0 on the surface. Systemic lactate and pCO2 remained unchanged. The area under curve (AUC) for lactate was 0.97 (95% confidence interval (CI) 0.93–1.00) for parenchymal and 0.90 (0.83–0.97) for surface (p<0.001 for both). For pCO2 the AUC was 0.93 (0.89–0.96) for parenchymal and 0.85 (0.81–0.90) for surface (p<0.001 for both). The median correlation coefficients between parenchyma and surface were 0.90 (interquartile range (IQR) 0.77–0.95) for lactate and 0.93 (0.89–0.97) for pCO2. Conclusions: Local organ monitoring with microdialysis and tissue pCO2 sensors detect pancreatic ischemia with adequate correlation between surface and parenchymal measurements. Both techniques and locations seem feasible for further development of clinical pancreas monitoring.publishedVersio

Assessment of Intestinal Ischemia–Reperfusion Injury Using Diffuse Reflectance VIS-NIR Spectroscopy and Histology

A porcine model was used to investigate the feasibility of using VIS-NIR spectroscopy to differentiate between degrees of ischemia–reperfusion injury in the small intestine. Ten pigs were used in this study and four segments were created in the small intestine of each pig: (1) control, (2) full arterial and venous mesenteric occlusion for 8 h, (3) arterial and venous mesenteric occlusion for 2 h followed by reperfusion for 6 h, and (4) arterial and venous mesenteric occlusion for 4 h followed by reperfusion for 4 h. Two models were built using partial least square discriminant analysis. The first model was able to differentiate between the control, ischemic, and reperfused intestinal segments with an average accuracy of 99.2% with 10-fold cross-validation, and the second model was able to discriminate between the viable versus non-viable intestinal segments with an average accuracy of 96.0% using 10-fold cross-validation. Moreover, histopathology was used to investigate the borderline between viable and non-viable intestinal segments. The VIS-NIR spectroscopy method together with a PLS-DA model showed promising results and appears to be well-suited as a potentially real-time intraoperative method for assessing intestinal ischemia–reperfusion injury, due to its easy-to-use and non-invasive nature.publishedVersio

Isotopic and Geochemical Investigation of Two Distinct Mars Analog Environments Using Evolved Gas Techniques in Svalbard, Norway

The 2010 Arctic Mars Analog Svalbard Expedition (AMASE) investigated two distinct geologic settings on Svalbard, using methodologies and techniques to be deployed on Mars Science Laboratory (MSL). AMASErelated research comprises both analyses conducted during the expedition and further analyses of collected samples using laboratory facilities at a variety of institutions. The Sample Analysis at Mars (SAM) instrument suite on MSL includes pyrolysis ovens, a gas-processing manifold, a quadrupole mass spectrometer (QMS), several gas chromatography columns, and a Tunable Laser Spectrometer (TLS). An integral part of SAM development is the deployment of SAM-like instrumentation in the field. During AMASE 2010, two parts of SAM participated as stand-alone instruments. A Hiden Evolved Gas Analysis- Mass Spectrometer (EGA-QMS) system represented the EGA-QMS component of SAM, and a Picarro Cavity Ring Down Spectrometer (EGA-CRDS), represented the EGA-TLS component of SAM. A field analog of CheMin, the XRD/XRF on MSL, was also deployed as part of this field campaign. Carbon isotopic measurements of CO2 evolved during thermal decomposition of carbonates were used together with EGA-QMS geochemical data, mineral composition information and contextual observations made during sample collection to distinguish carbonates formation associated with chemosynthetic activity at a fossil methane seep from abiotic processes forming carbonates associated with subglacial basaltic eruptions. Carbon and oxygen isotopes of the basalt-hosted carbonates suggest cryogenic carbonate formation, though more research is necessary to clarify the history of these rocks

Diets differing in carbohydrate cellularity and amount similarly reduced visceral fat in people with obesity - a randomized controlled trial (CARBFUNC)

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