Review of the role and functions of elected members: literature review

The research had three main aims: To provide Assembly Ministers and officials with a view of the effectiveness and efficiency of councillors in conducting their functions within the modern political structures introduced by the Local Government Act 2000, Suggest any improvements which might be considered for the operation of scrutiny functions in local government, and Make proposals about the appropriate numbers of councillors within the county and county borough councils. Research Methods The research team drew on four main sources of evidence: An extensive desk review of existing national policies, strategies, research, and local authority documentation A series of fifteen semi-structured national stakeholder interviews:including policy makers, local government specialists, the inspectorates, and officials from the four main political parties Eight in-depth case studies and a programme of telephone interviews in twelve local authorities with a wide range of executive and nonexecutive members, council officers and representatives of other local agencies including Local Health Boards, Fire and Rescue Service, Police Authorities, Further Education Colleges, and Voluntary Services Five deliberative regional workshops with council officers and elected members. A total of 302 interviews were conducted. The qualitative research took place between September and November 2006. Our report, which was submitted in February 2007, led to a number of new policy initiative including a formal response issued by the Minister for Social Justice and Local Government in the summer of 2007

Democracia vs. eficiência: como alcançar equilíbrio em tempo de crise financeira

Resumo A administração pública é forçada a encontrar um equilíbrio entre eficiência e democracia na definição da sua agenda e curso de ação. Uma das características da administração pública é que todas as decisões devem refletir valores democráticos, para além de serem eficientes. No entanto, a reforma administrativa, motivada por dificuldades financeiras, tende a destacar a importância do desempenho financeiro, em detrimento dos aspetos democráticos nas políticas de gestão pública. Esta pesquisa visa analisar a relação e tensão entre a eficiência e a democracia à luz da mais recente crise financeira global. O trabalho utiliza uma abordagem quantitativa e recolhe dados de governos locais portugueses para testar o argumento de uma relação linear inversa de desempenho financeiro e procedimentos democráticos. Os resultados confirmam o argumento de uma relação inversa, definida por Waldo (1948). Adicionalmente, os resultados também permitem concluir que a crise financeira evidenciou o efeito negativo dos procedimentos democráticos no desempenho financeiro

Taxonomy based on science is necessary for global conservation

Peer reviewe

Price estimation for miscibility gap alloy thermal storage systems★

Miscibility gap alloys (MGAs) are an emerging thermal energy storage material with unique thermal properties that may be of particular interest to the renewable energy industry. In this study, they are compared to state of the art thermal storage technologies on an economic basis, with consideration given to material prices, manufacturing costs, specific deployment infrastructure costs, maintenance schedule cost and the potential for material salvage. Cost estimates are provided for seven different MGAs deployed in three different thermal storage implementations

Price estimation for miscibility gap alloy thermal storage systems

Miscibility gap alloys (MGAs) are an emerging thermal energy storage material with unique thermal properties that may be of particular interest to the renewable energy industry. In this study, they are compared to state of the art thermal storage technologies on an economic basis, with consideration given to material prices, manufacturing costs, specific deployment infrastructure costs, maintenance schedule cost and the potential for material salvage. Cost estimates are provided for seven different MGAs deployed in three different thermal storage implementations

The correlation between rheological properties and extrusion-based printability in bioink artifact quantification

Bioinks for cell-based bioprinting face availability limitations. Furthermore, the bioink development process needs comprehensive printability assessment methods and a thorough understanding of rheological factors' influence on printing outcomes. To bridge this gap, our study aimed to investigate the relationship between rheological properties and printing outcomes. We developed a specialized bioink artifact specifically designed to improve the quantification of printability assessment. This bioink artifact adhered to established criteria from extrusion-based bioprinting approaches. Seven hydrogel-based bioinks were selected and tested using the bioink artifact and rheological measurement. Rheological analysis revealed that the high-performing bioinks exhibited notable characteristics such as high storage modulus, low tan(δ), high shear-thinning capabilities, high yield stress, and fast, near-complete recovery abilities. Although rheological data alone cannot fully explain printing outcomes, certain metrics like storage modulus and tan(δ) correlated well (R2 > 0.9) with specific printing outcomes, such as gap-spanning capability and turn accuracy. This study provides a comprehensive examination of bioink shape fidelity across a wide range of bioinks, rheological measures, and printing outcomes. The results highlight the importance of considering the holistic view of bioink's rheological properties and directly measuring printing outcomes. These findings underscore the need to enhance bioink availability and establish standardized methods for assessing printability

Variations in coronary lumen dimensions measured In vivo

Letter to the EditorRishi Puri, Adam J. Nelson, Gary Y. H. Liew, Stephen J. Nicholls, Angelo Carbone, Dennis T. L. Wong, James E. Harvey, Kiyoko Uno, Barbara Copus, Darryl P. Leong, John F. Beltrame, Stephen G. Worthley, Matthew I. Worthle

Does political change affect senior management turnover? An empirical analysis of top-tier local authorities in England

In many political systems the political neutrality of senior managers’ tenure is often cherished as a key part of the politics-administration dichotomy and is subject to formal safeguards. We test hypotheses about the impact of political change on senior management turnover drawn from political science, public administration and private sector management theory. Using panel data to control for unobserved heterogeneity between authorities, we find that changes in political party control and low organizational performance have both separate and joint positive effects on the turnover rate of senior managers. By contrast, the most senior manager, the chief executive, is more sheltered: the likelihood of a chief executive succession is higher only when party change and low performance occur together. Thus the arrival of a new ruling party reduces the tenure of senior managers, but chief executives are vulnerable to political change only when performance is perceived as weak