Boards of Directors of social service agencies in a government planning system

In theory, boards of directors of nonprofit organizations are thought to be instrumental in their agency’s effective functioning, and the available professional literature supports this perception. The board’s supposed duties are usually listed for members and others in the form of impressively-worded declarations of intent. Board members are expected to help formulate the organization’s mission statement, and provide a sense of direction. In an effort to ensure that their organization fulfills its mandate, board members are also expected to perform an array of internal and external functions designed to optimize the agency’s operation. This study presents the results of interviews completed with key informants as well as reviews of pertinent documents addressing the following primary questions: (1) What activities are being performed by the boards of directors of the participating social service agencies; (2) In what ways are boards of directors accountable to the planning system and what mechanisms do the boards utilize in displaying that they are accountable to the planning system; (3) What impact does the relationship between the social service agencies and the planning system have on what boards are doing as well as on what they are capable of doing; and (4) What impact do the individual relations between the planning system, executive directors and boards of directors have on the types of activities performed by boards and what they are capable of performing. The activities that are being performed by the boards of directors are ones that are usually presented in the prescriptive literature as the types boards should be performing. In examining board activity in organizational processes such as the development of the agency’s budget submission to the planning system as well as deliberations pertaining to agency policy/service issues, it is maintained that boards not only perform major tasks but also decide on what course of action the agency is going to pursue. In the area of accountability, it is argued that boards are indeed demonstrating their accountability to the planning system. The major areas of accountability are financial and program accountability with the former being the primary one where boards are most accountable. It is maintained that the need to fulfill the accountability requirements contained in the Corporations Act and the program agreements board sign with the planning system influences the nature of board activity. The relationship between the planning system and the social service agencies is another factor impacting on the types of activities performed by the boards. It is maintained that the types and sources of power possessed by the planning system especially in the area of funding allocations as well as the setting of provincial policy and service priorities, results in the situation where board activity is driven to a great extent by decisions made by the planning system. Contributing to this situation are the individual relationships between the planning system, the boards of directors and executive directors. It is argued that the combination of the limited interaction between the planning system and the boards of directors, and the frequent contact between the executive directors and the planning system, results in boards becoming engaged in activities that are agency-focused. It is maintained that boards of directors have adopted a contingency or situational model of board functioning. By using this type of model boards are responding and adapting to decisions made by the planning system that impact on agency functioning

An Experimental Evaluation of the Computational Cost of a DPI Traffic Classifier

A common belief in the scientific community is that traffic classifiers based on deep packet inspection (DPI) are far more expensive in terms of computational complexity compared to statistical classifiers. In this paper we counter this notion by defining accurate models for a deep packet inspection classifier and a statistical one based on support vector machines, and by evaluating their actual processing costs through experimental analysis. The results suggest that, contrary to the common belief, a DPI classifier and an SVM-based one can have comparable computational costs. Although much work is left to prove that our results apply in more general cases, this preliminary analysis is a first indication of how DPI classifiers might not be as computationally complex, compared to other approaches, as we previously though

Sobre inestabilidad e integración de tensiones de formulaciones viscoplásticas para hormigón

Se analizan las consecuencias de los postulados de estabilidad en formulaciones elastoplásticas y elasto-viscoplásticas para materiales cohesivo-friccionales. En particular se considera el criterio de inestabilidad en lo pequeño propuesto por Hi116 para sistemas disipativos y sus características espectrales se analizan por medio del Módulo de Rigidez Direccional. Para los fines comparativos de la predicción de inestabilidad en materiales elastoplásticos y viscoplásticos se considera el camino de tensiones seguido en el Ensayo Experimental de Inestabilidad de Smith12. Los resultados muestran la influencia del grado de no asociatividad y del nivel de viscocidad material en la predicción de inestabilidad local.In this work, the consequenses of the stability conditions in elasto-plastic and elastoviscoplastic constitutive formulations for concrete materials are analyzed. In particular, the criterion for local instability by Hi116 is considered and its performance is analyzed by means of the directional stiffness modulus. The numerical results for the stress path of the instability test by Smith12 illustrate the influence of the grade of nonassociativity and of the viscosity in the performance of the instability condition.Peer Reviewe

I am Simply Not There: Narrative Perspective in Lucan's Bellum Civile

The purpose of this thesis is to examine Lucan's manipulation of narrative perspective in the Bellum Civile as it relates to the characters Pompey and Caesar. In discussing narrative perspective I employ Gérard Gennette's distinction between zero focalization and internal focalization. I argue that zero focalization represents what may be termed `real' in the Bellum Civile while internal focalization represents a possibly illusory perception of the events of the narrative from the subjective perspective of one of the narrative's characters. I examine three passages in which Lucan focalizes the narrative perspective to Caesar's vantage point, 7.786-796, 9.964-979, 10.540-546, as well as two passages in which Lucan focalizes the narrative perspective to convey Pompey's point of view, 7.7-19, 9.1-18. These passages correspond in theme, placement and at the level of language. Moreover, within these passages Lucan's use of internal focalization presents images which are difficult for the reader to believe when compared to the events of the Bellum Civile set in zero focalization. Ultimately, I contend that Lucan's narrative perspective in these instances exemplify his purposeful disruption of his reader's ability to determine what is real and what is illusory in the Bellum Civile

Coconino Community College Library Goes Online: Navigating Remixed Professional Identities in a Reimagined Library

In 2010, a community college library in rural Arizona was closed and in its place emerged a reimagined model for library services. The traditional physical library, the print collection, and the library\u27s full staff were replaced with an online library collection, a solo librarian, and a partnership with a local state University library. As this new, online-based library matured, a new relationship with eLearning and an expanded partnership with the University library developed. The first two individuals to serve in this bold new approach to librarianship, Este Pope (2010-2012) and Nick Faulk (2013-2016) share what they learned about establishing and navigating their professional identities both within the academe and in their own lives. Este and Nick will highlight some of the ways working in such an innovative library setting helped to clarify key aspects of their work as librarians, and the impact that the experience had on their professional lives since leaving Coconino. They will touch on both the crisis aspects of working in a setting where funding and support for the library were at stake and transformative aspects that led to expanded academic library services for the community college students along with more direct access to faculty and departments on the small campus. Gaining the knowledge of how institutions operate, working as de facto embedded librarians because of offices in the faculty areas, and serving as both administration and hands-on library support for the college will all be topics for discussion. Este and Nick will provide an overview of the structure of the library and services, will highlight challenges and advantages of the model, and will explain the ways working in this setting transformed their thinking and practice in librarianship

Sistema Inteligente de Estacionamento Público Integrado - SIEPI

RESUMOEste artigo visa discutir a eminente disputa por espaço entre automóveis e demais meios de transporte coletivos em centros urbanos, quais são as demandas geradas, serviços e políticas públicas atreladas além de impactos sociais, monetários e ambientais.Posteriormente a apresentação de alguns estudos, é proposto um sistema de estacionamento público inteligente com integração ao sistema de transporte coletivo que tem como intuito o incentivar o uso do mesmo através da adoção de tecnologias, onde a IoE (Internet of Everything’s) está diretamente ligada ao desenvolvimento em ITS (Intelligent Transport System).Este é um nicho que mostra-se oportuno para melhorias tanto em seu sistema como em adoção de novas práticas sustentáveis e inteligentes. ABSTRACTThis paper discusses the impending competition for space between cars and other collective transport in urban centers, which are generated demands, services and public policies as well social, monetary and environmental impacts.Subsequently the presentation of some studies, we propose a smart public parking system with integration to public transport system that has the intention to encourage the use of it by adopting technologies, where the IOE (Internet of Everything’s) is directly linked to developing ITS (Intelligent Transport System).This niche appears to be ripe for improvement both in your system as adoption of new sustainable and intelligent practices

Comparing P2PTV Traffic Classifiers

Peer-to-Peer IP Television (P2PTV) applications represent one of the fastest growing application classes on the Internet, both in terms of their popularity and in terms of the amount of traffic they generate. While network operators require monitoring tools that can effectively analyze the traffic produced by these systems, few techniques have been tested on these mostly closed-source, proprietary applications. In this paper we examine the properties of three traffic classifiers applied to the problem of identifying P2PTV traffic. We report on extensive experiments conducted on traffic traces with reliable ground truth information, highlighting the benefits and shortcomings of each approach. The results show that not only their performance in terms of accuracy can vary significantly, but also that their usability features suggest different effective aspects that can be integrate

The Development and Genetic Improvement of South African Goats

South Africa has a thriving goat industry, consisting of fiber, meat and dairy‐producing goat breeds. These animals play an important role in terms of food security, socioeconomic welfare and cultural well‐being. The South African goat industry is differentiated into a formal, commercial market with niche products such as mohair, chevon and goat’s cheeses versus the informal, mainly meat‐producing sector serving communal and smallholder farmers. Exotic and locally improved breeds, i.e., Angora, Saanen and Boer goats mainly serve the commercial industries, whereas the unimproved veld goat populations are well adapted in the resource‐poor environments. Genetic improvement has historically been limited to the commercial breeds, but poor participation in animal recording and improvement schemes have resulted in slow genetic progress, with the exception of the Angora goat. Molecular research has opened up new possibilities for genetic characterization, preservation and utilization of the unique genetic resources retained by these animals