Public Professionals and Policy implementation

Nowadays, public policies often focus on economic values, such as efficiency and financial transparency. Public professionals often resist implementing such policies. We analyse this using the concept of ‘role conflicts’. We use a novel approach by conceptualizing and measuring role conflicts on the policy level, thereby linking policy implementation and social psychology research. We construct and test scales for policy-client, policy-professional and organizational- professional role conflicts. Using survey data, we show that policy-professional and policy-client role conflicts negatively influence the willingness of public professionals to implement policies. In concluding, we conceptualized and measured three role conflic

Off-line studies of the laser ionization of yttrium at the IGISOL facility

A laser ion source is under development at the IGISOL facility, Jyvaskyla, in order to address deficiencies in the ion guide technique. The key elements of interest are those of a refractory nature, whose isotopes and isomers are widely studied using both laser spectroscopic and high precision mass measurement techniques. Yttrium has been the first element of choice for the new laser ion source. In this work we present a new coupled dye-Ti:Sapphire laser scheme and give a detailed discussion of the results obtained from laser ionization of yttrium atoms produced in an ion guide via joule heating of a filament. The importance of not only gas purity, but indeed the baseline vacuum pressure in the environment outside the ion guide is discussed in light of the fast gas phase chemistry seen in the yttrium system. A single laser shot model is introduced and is compared to the experimental data in order to extract the level of impurities within the gas cell.Comment: 18 pages submitted to NIM

Moments and mean square charge radii of short-lived argon isotopes

We report on the measurement of optical isotope shifts for $^{32-40}$Ar and for $^{46}$Ar from which the changes in mean square nuclear charge radii across the N = 20 neutron shell closure are deducted. The investigations were carried out by collinear laser spectroscopy in fast beams of neutral argon atoms. The ultra-sensitive detection combines optical pumping, state-selective collisional ionization and counting of $\beta$-radioactivity. By reaching far into the sd-shell, the results add new information to the systematics of radii in the calcium region (Z $\approx$ 20). Contrary to all major neutron shell closures with N $\geq$ 28, the N = 20 shell closure causes no significant slope change in the development of the radii. Information from the hyperfine structure of the odd-A isotopes includes includes the magnetic moments of $^{33}$Ar (I=1/2) and $^{39}$Ar (I=7/2), and the quadrupole moments of $^{35}$Ar, $^{37}$Ar (I=3/2) and $^{39}$Ar. The electromagnetic moments are compared to shell-model predictions for the sd- and fp-shell. Even far from stability a very good agreement between experiment and theory is found for these quantities. The mean square charge radii are discussed in the framework of spherical SGII Skyrme-type Hartree-Fock calculations

Age and sustainable labour participation: studying moderating effects

Purpose: Research findings are ambiguous regarding the effects of age on sustainable labour participation (SLP), defined as the extent to which people are able and willing to conduct their current and future work. The purpose of this paper is to contribute by examining age effects on SLP by focusing on the moderating role of workload. Design/methodology/approach: A mixed-method study was conducted in 2018. First, a survey was distributed among a sample of 2,149 employees of the Dutch central government. Second, 12 interviews with public sector employees took place to gain greater insight into the quantitative data collected. Findings: Three components that reflect an employee’s SLP were studied: vitality, work ability and employability. The quantitative results, in general, showed that SLP decreased with ageing. However, in contrast to the hypothesis, the results showed a significant positive relationship between age and energy. Moreover, relationships between an employee’s age and certain aspects of their SLP were moderated by workload. The interviews helped to interpret these results. Practical implications: The findings demonstrate that some of the older worker stereotypes are unfounded, and the important practical implications of these are discussed. Originality/value: Earlier research has produced conflicting findings regarding the relationship between age and (aspects of) SLP. By investigating several aspects of SLP in separate regressions within this research, the specific influences of age have become clearer. Furthermore, the research provides fresh insights into the relationship between age and SLP by including moderating effects of workload

Smileys, Stars, Hearts, Buttons, Tiles or Grids: Influence of Response Format on Substantive Response, Questionnaire Experience and Response Time

Studies of the processes underlying question answering in surveys suggest that the choice of (layout for) response categories can have a significant effect on respondent answers. In recent years, the use of pictures, such as emojis or stars, is often used in online communication. It is unclear if pictorial answer categories can replace traditional verbal formats as measurement instruments in surveys. In this article we investigate different versions of a Likert-scale to see if they generate similar results and user experiences. Data comes from the non-probability based Flitspanel in the Netherlands. The hearts and stars designs received lower average scores compared to the other formats. Smileys produced average answer scores in line with traditional radio buttons. Respondents evaluated the smiley design most positively. Grid designs were evaluated more negatively. People wanting to compare survey outcomes should be awar

Development of sentinel node localization and ROLL in breast cancer in Europe

The concept of a precise region in which to find the lymph nodes that drain the lymph directly from the primary tumor site can be traced back to a century ago to the observations of Jamieson and Dobson who described how cancer cells spread from cancer of the stomach in a single lymph node, which they called the â\u80\u9cprimary glandâ\u80\u9d. However, Cabanas was the first in 1977 to realize the importance of this concept in clinical studies following lymphography performed in patients with penile cancer. Thanks to Mortonâ\u80\u99s studies on melanoma in 1992, we began to understand the potential impact of the sentinel lymph node (SN) on the surgical treatment of this type of cancer. The use of a vital dye (blue dye) administered subdermally in the region surrounding the melanoma lesion led to the identification of the sentinel node, and the vital dye technique was subsequently applied to other types of solid tumors, e.g. breast, vulva. However, difficulties in using this technique in anatomical regions with deep lymphatic vessels, e.g. axilla, led to the development of lymphoscintigraphy, started by Alex and Krag in 1993 on melanoma and breast cancer and optimized by our group at European Institute of Oncology (IEO) in Milan in 1996. Today, lymphoscintigraphy is still considered as the most reliable method for the detection of the SN. In 1996, a new method for the localization of non-palpable breast lesion called radioguided occult lesion localization (ROLL) was also developed at IEO. Retrospective and prospective studies have since shown that the ROLL procedure permits the easy and accurate surgical removal of non-palpable breast lesions, overcoming the limitations of previous techniques such as the wire-guided localization. The purpose of this paper is to describe the evolution of SN biopsy and radioguided surgery in the management of breast cancer. We also include a review of the literature on the clinical scenarios in which SN biopsy in breast cancer is currently used, with particular reference to controversies and future prospects

Interprofessional teamwork in primary care: the effect of functional heterogeneity on performance and the role of leadership

This study aimed to unravel the complexity of interprofessional teamwork in primary care teams by testing the relationship between functional heterogeneity and team performance through the mediating role of information elaboration, and the moderating roles of directive leadership and participative leadership. The moderated mediation model was validated using survey data from 1105 professionals and 97 supervisors in 143 Dutch primary care teams. The results confirmed the model and showed a significant negative effect of functional heterogeneity on information elaboration, which in turn had a positive effect on team performance. Both directive and participative leadership moderated the negative effect of functional heterogeneity on information elaboration to the extent that the indirect negative effect of functional heterogeneity on team performance became insignificant under high levels of either directive or participative leadership. The theoretical implications of these findings for the literature on healthcare, team diversity, and leadership, as well as the practical implications for policy makers, educationalists and managers of primary care teams, are discussed

Carbon sources of Antarctic nematodes as revealed by natural carbon isotope ratios and a pulse-chase experiment

δ13C of nematode communities in 27 sites was analyzed, spanning a large depth range (from 130 to 2,021 m) in five Antarctic regions, and compared to isotopic signatures of sediment organic matter. Sediment organic matter δ13C ranged from −24.4 to −21.9‰ without significant differences between regions, substrate types or depths. Nematode δ13C showed a larger range, from −34.6 to −19.3‰, and was more depleted than sediment organic matter typically by 1‰ and by up to 3‰ in silty substrata. These, and the isotopically heavy meiofauna at some stations, suggest substantial selectivity of some meiofauna for specific components of the sedimenting plankton. However, 13C-depletion in lipids and a potential contribution of chemoautotrophic carbon in the diet of the abundant genus Sabatieria may confound this interpretation. Carbon sources for Antarctic nematodes were also explored by means of an experiment in which the fate of a fresh pulse of labile carbon to the benthos was followed. This organic carbon was remineralized at a rate (11–20 mg C m−2 day−1) comparable to mineralization rates in continental slope sediments. There was no lag between sedimentation and mineralization; uptake by nematodes, however, did show such a lag. Nematodes contributed negligibly to benthic carbon mineralization