Performance reporting

__Abstract__ Public organizations account for their performance through making public sector performance information publicly available, both to politicians through performance reporting, and to citizens through rankings, websites, and performance reports. This chapter reviews whether performance reporting makes public organizations more accountable: Do citizens and politicians actually consult and use performance information, and does this information change their decisions and behaviours? The chapter first looks at the use of performance metrics in political decision making, drivers of this use, and differences in use across groups. It subsequently reviews the literature on whether citizens use publicly available performance indicators and rankings to make an informed choice between alternative service providers. The focus is on school and hospital performance data. The chapter ends by discussing implications on equity, power relations, and the internal dynamics of organizations

MEMS spatial light modulators with integrated electronics

ABSTRACT The design, fabrication, and preliminary test results of a microelectromechanical, micromachined spatial light modulator (µSLM) with complementary metal-oxide semiconductor (CMOS) electronics, for control of optical phase is presented in this paper. An array of 32 x 32 piston-motion MEMS mirror segments make up the µSLM. Each mirror segment will be capable of altering the phase of reflected light by up to one wavelength for infrared illumination (? = 1.5 µm). The mirror segments are fabricated from metal in a low temperature process allowing for vertical integration of the µSLM with CMOS based, multi-bit, control electronics. The surface of the CMOS is planarized to facilitate µSLM -CMOS integration. The fabrication process and process development results, test results, including frequency response and electromechanical characterization of the (µSLM) actuators, will be presented

MEMS practice, from the lab to the telescope

Micro-electro-mechanical systems (MEMS) technology can provide for deformable mirrors (DMs) with excellent performance within a favorable economy of scale. Large MEMS-based astronomical adaptive optics (AO) systems such as the Gemini Planet Imager are coming on-line soon. As MEMS DM end-users, we discuss our decade of practice with the micromirrors, from inspecting and characterizing devices to evaluating their performance in the lab. We also show MEMS wavefront correction on-sky with the "Villages" AO system on a 1-m telescope, including open-loop control and visible-light imaging. Our work demonstrates the maturity of MEMS technology for astronomical adaptive optics.Comment: 14 pages, 15 figures, Invited Paper, SPIE Photonics West 201

A genetic predisposition score for muscular endophenotypes predicts the increase in aerobic power after training: the CAREGENE study

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>It is widely accepted that genetic variability might explain a large part of the observed heterogeneity in aerobic capacity and its response to training. Significant associations between polymorphisms of different genes with muscular strength, anaerobic phenotypes and body composition have been reported. Muscular endophenotypes are positively correlated with aerobic capacity, therefore, we tested the association of polymorphisms in twelve muscular related genes on aerobic capacity and its response to endurance training.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>935 Coronary artery disease patients (CAD) who performed an incremental exercise test until exhaustion at baseline and after three months of training were included. Polymorphisms of the genes were detected using the invader assay. Genotype-phenotype association analyses were performed using ANCOVA. Different models for a genetic predisposition score (GPS) were constructed based on literature and own data and were related to baseline and response VO₂scores.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Carriers of the minor allele in the R23K polymorphism of the glucocorticoid receptor gene (<it>GR</it>) and the ciliary neurotrophic factor gene (<it>CNTF</it>) had a significantly higher increase in peakVO₂after training (p < 0.05). Carriers of the minor allele (C34T) in the adenosine monophosphate deaminase (<it>AMPD1</it>) gene had a significantly lower relative increase (p < 0.05) in peakVO₂. GPS of data driven models were significantly associated with the increase in peakVO₂after training.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>In CAD patients, suggestive associations were found in the <it>GR, CNTF </it>and the <it>AMPD1 </it>gene with an improved change in aerobic capacity after three months of training. Additionally data driven models with a genetic predisposition score (GPS) showed a significant predictive value for the increase in peakVO₂.</p

Landowners’ Сolonization of Bashkiria

The “closed city” practice, exercised in Ufa province before 1735, together with the unfavourable political situation led to the bad crisis of estate landownership of the Ufa district. The population polls of the mid-XVII — beginning of XVIII cc. justify the fact that Ufa noblemen had to succumb to the fate of socially deprived Siberian nobility, practically devoid of serf peasants. The beginning of the largest-scale Bashkir insurrection of 1735–1736 made the administration review its attitude to the former ban on Bashkir estate lands sale. In the history of Bashkir landowners’ colonization the edict dated February 11th, 1736, allowing the local officers and officials to buy lands from Bashkir communities, was of principal importance. This procedure was exercised simultaneously with the establishment of the Russian government military control over the south-eastern border, separating Bashkir estate lands from Kazakh migratory tribes. From this moment on there is a stop in diplomatic contacts of the Bashkir elite with the governors of the Middle Asia, Kazakhstan and Turkey that meant the complete loss of political subjection by the Bashkirs. Bashkir communities become active participants of economic relations with Russian landowners, plant owners and the state institutions. Russian government preserved estate dynastic rights with the Bashkirs and refused from large-scale operations on the expropriation of Bashkir lands, transferring the mission of colonization to private persons, who had to arrange the issue with the local communities by themselves. The permission to sell estate lands forced landowners to active participation in the system of Russian legal relations, to contact the Russian government and customers

BioTIME: A database of biodiversity time series for the Anthropocene.

MotivationThe BioTIME database contains raw data on species identities and abundances in ecological assemblages through time. These data enable users to calculate temporal trends in biodiversity within and amongst assemblages using a broad range of metrics. BioTIME is being developed as a community-led open-source database of biodiversity time series. Our goal is to accelerate and facilitate quantitative analysis of temporal patterns of biodiversity in the Anthropocene.Main types of variables includedThe database contains 8,777,413 species abundance records, from assemblages consistently sampled for a minimum of 2 years, which need not necessarily be consecutive. In addition, the database contains metadata relating to sampling methodology and contextual information about each record.Spatial location and grainBioTIME is a global database of 547,161 unique sampling locations spanning the marine, freshwater and terrestrial realms. Grain size varies across datasets from 0.0000000158 km2 (158 cm2) to 100 km2 (1,000,000,000,000 cm2).Time period and grainBioTIME records span from 1874 to 2016. The minimal temporal grain across all datasets in BioTIME is a year.Major taxa and level of measurementBioTIME includes data from 44,440 species across the plant and animal kingdoms, ranging from plants, plankton and terrestrial invertebrates to small and large vertebrates.Software format.csv and .SQL