The public accountability of business associations under conditions of EU policy participation.

Set in the context of wider problems of EU popular legitimacy, the thesis explores a participatory model of EU policy making based around business associations as agents of participation. Policy participation implies public accountability, where there is an abundance of literature on the role of non-governmental organizations exercising mechanisms, but without a specific focus on business associations. This topic addresses the participatory role of business associations acting within an applied public accountability mechanism. The analysis of the literature leads to the identification of an accountability model grounded in the origin of the mandate to act and to judge. Applied to business associations, the model reveals newly combined conditions for the existence of public accountability, pointing notably to the reliance of external processes on internal means and the deliberate choice to act beyond legal compliance. The public quality of the outcome of the application of the model rests on structured deliberation with the wider EU public through active participation of civil society organizations and arises as questions of reputation management are addressed for business associations active in sensitive product or service sectors. As the multiplicity of actors increases, the relationships within the public affairs networks will become more complex, and the dividing lines between private commercial interests, citizens, and the state more blurred. The public accountability credentials of those actors operating through governance models in this specific context allows for clarification of purpose and transparency of outcomes, thereby providing for a model of engagement

WHAT IS SELF-POTENTIAL AND HOW DOES IT RELATE TO PERSONAL INTELLIGENCE?

Intelligence is an important ability that we use in our everyday lives to understand people, such as choosing the best partner to work with on a project. Personal intelligence is the ability to “reason about personality and its processes, as applied to one’s self and others” (Mayer, Panter & Caruso, 2012). The Test of Personal Intelligence (TOPI) was developed to test this important ability. If the TOPI measures people’s ability to understand their own and other’s personality, as personal intelligence increases so should a person’s level of self-potential. This idea was tested in two studies by conducting correlations between the TOPI and measures of self-potential, defined as the creative process of making sense of our experience, finding direction and purpose in life, and making goals and plans based on life purpose. The model of self-potential employed here includes such concepts as identifying your true self (Schlegel & Hicks, 2011) and being creative (Maslow, 2011). Although no stable model was found, there was some evidence for two factors of meaning and renewal. Progress also was made in the development of unifactorial scales for the self-actualization and preconscious activity scales. Some of the measures of self-potential, such as self-actualization, were correlated with the TOPI, but not all were. The TOPI was not related to words used in an essay that predict self-potential from everyday trauma

Modification of Perioral Stiffness in Patients With Repaired Cleft Lip and Palate

Objective—To measure and compare the perioral stiffness among three groups of pediatric subjects: a group of patients with a repaired cleft lip (and palate) who had a secondary lip revision surgery (revision), another group of patients with repaired cleft lip (and palate) who did not have secondary surgery (nonrevision), and a group of noncleft “normal” patients (noncleft). Design—A parallel, three-group, nonrandomized clinical trial. Participants—A total of 16 patients with repaired cleft lip/palate who did not have lip revision, 13 patients with repaired cleft lip/palate who had lip revision surgery and were tested at 18 to 24 months postsurgery, and 27 noncleft patients. Analysis—Nonparticipatory perioral stiffness was sampled using a recently developed facereferenced measurement technology known as OroSTIFF. Perioral stiffness, derived as a quotient from resultant force and interangle lip span, was modeled with multilevel regression techniques. Real-time calculation of the perioral stiffness function demonstrated a significant quadratic relation between imposed interangle stretch and resultant force for each of the three groups. Results—This nonlinear stiffness growth function was significantly elevated in the nonrevision patients compared with the noncleft controls and is likely due to the presence of scar tissue in the upper lip; it was significantly lower among patients with cleft lip/palate who completed lip revision surgery. Conclusion—This study demonstrates the efficacy of applying an objective measurement to map differences in perioral tissue biomechanics among patients born with orofacial clefts

Modification of Perioral Stiffness in Patients With Repaired Cleft Lip and Palate

Objective—To measure and compare the perioral stiffness among three groups of pediatric subjects: a group of patients with a repaired cleft lip (and palate) who had a secondary lip revision surgery (revision), another group of patients with repaired cleft lip (and palate) who did not have secondary surgery (nonrevision), and a group of noncleft “normal” patients (noncleft). Design—A parallel, three-group, nonrandomized clinical trial. Participants—A total of 16 patients with repaired cleft lip/palate who did not have lip revision, 13 patients with repaired cleft lip/palate who had lip revision surgery and were tested at 18 to 24 months postsurgery, and 27 noncleft patients. Analysis—Nonparticipatory perioral stiffness was sampled using a recently developed facereferenced measurement technology known as OroSTIFF. Perioral stiffness, derived as a quotient from resultant force and interangle lip span, was modeled with multilevel regression techniques. Real-time calculation of the perioral stiffness function demonstrated a significant quadratic relation between imposed interangle stretch and resultant force for each of the three groups. Results—This nonlinear stiffness growth function was significantly elevated in the nonrevision patients compared with the noncleft controls and is likely due to the presence of scar tissue in the upper lip; it was significantly lower among patients with cleft lip/palate who completed lip revision surgery. Conclusion—This study demonstrates the efficacy of applying an objective measurement to map differences in perioral tissue biomechanics among patients born with orofacial clefts

Screening of siRNA Nanoparticles for Delivery to Airway Epithelial Cells Using High Content Analysis

Background: Delivery of siRNA to the lungs via inhalation offers a unique opportunity to develop novel methods of treating a range of poorly treated respiratory conditions. However progress has been greatly hindered by safety and delivery issues. This study developed a high-throughput method for screening novel nanotechnologies for pulmonary siRNA delivery Methodology: Following physico-chemical analysis, the ability of PEI-PEG/siRNA nanoparticles to facilitate siRNA delivery was determined using high content analysis (HCA) in Calu-3 cells. Results obtained from HCA were validated using confocal microscopy. Finally, cytotoxicity of the PEI-PEG/siRNA particles was analysed by HCA using the Cellomics® multiparamter cytotoxicity assay. Conclusions: PEI-PEG/siRNA nanoparticles facilitated increased siRNA uptake and luciferase knockdown in Calu-3 cells compared to PEI/siRNA

Group Analysis in Practice: Narrative Approaches

This is the final version of the article. Available from Institut für Qualitative Forschung via the URL in this record.Working in groups is increasingly regarded as fruitful for the process of analyzing qualitative data. It has been reported to build research skills, make the analytic process visible, reduce inequalities and social distance particularly between researchers and participants, and broaden and intensify engagement with the material. This article contributes to the burgeoning literature on group qualitative data analysis by presenting a worked example of a group data analysis of a short extract from an interview on serial migration from the Caribbean to the UK. It describes the group's working practices and the different analytic resources drawn upon to conduct a narrative analysis. We demonstrate the ways in which an initial line-by-line analysis followed by analysis of larger extracts generated insights that would have been less available to individual researchers. Additionally, we discuss the positioning of group members in relation to the data and reflect on the porous boundary between primary and secondary analysis of qualitative data.With grateful thanks to the participants, without whose generosity in sharing their stories, the study would not have been possible. We are also pleased to acknowledge funding of the NOVELLA research node from the Economic and Social Research Council that enabled engagement with methodological, theoretical and substantive issues

The Grizzly, March 21, 1980

Regulation in Business: UBEC Presents Symposium • Alumni to Speak at Career Seminar • Awards Available • Board Committees to Evaluate College • USGA Notes • Jazz Coffeehouse at the Union • Ride for Your Life • Letter to the Editor • Meistersingers Tour South • Pericles: The Bearpit\u27s Final Performance • Cub & Key Selected • Chemical Magic • Rating the Recordshttps://digitalcommons.ursinus.edu/grizzlynews/1036/thumbnail.jp