Quality and outsourcing in Public Organizations

The aim of this research is to establish a link between the process of outsourcing and development of the process of Total Quality Management (TQM) with particular regard to public utilities. Outsourcing choices are one way to increase efficiency and quality in any type of organization, both public and private. The public sector can benefit from outsourcing in much the same way as the private sector. Indeed, the public sector is showing a greater impetus in its examination of outsourcing. Public organizations are facing the changes that have affected the economy and society to increase the welfare of the consumers. They therefore need to seek high levels of efficiency, ensuring better use of resources to meet needs that characterize this period of history: on the one hand the need for quality services for the economic and social development of the country in line with the international challenges, on the other the need to contain the public deficit as a fundamental condition for sustainable and balanced development. The search for better ways of the use of resources is especially important in organizations that do not deal with the market through the mechanism of the exchange, especially in those organizations that establish public services that are provided without exchange in an economic sense. Public organizations in the quest for efficiency, flexibility and innovation turn more frequently to outsourcing because the integrated service providers (Global Provider) are able to assume full responsibility for financial performance and quality of services provided. First, the definitions of TQM are discussed. Second, link between outsourcing and quality is presented. Finally, we have highlighted the main factors of resistance to externalization in Public organizations and how these can be overcome by developing a risk management approach

Conductivity of Coulomb interacting massless Dirac particles in graphene: Regularization-dependent parameters and symmetry constraints

We compute the Coulomb correction $\mathcal{C}$ to the a. c. conductivity of interacting massless Dirac particles in graphene in the collisionless limit using the polarization tensor approach in a regularization independent framework. Arbitrary parameters stemming from differences between logarithmically divergent integrals are fixed on physical grounds exploiting only spatial $O(2)$ rotational invariance of the model which amounts to transversality of the polarization tensor. Consequently $\mathcal{C}$ is unequivocally determined to be $(19- 6\pi)/12$ within this effective model. We compare our result with explicit regularizations and discuss the origin of others results for $\mathcal{C}$ found in the literature

Holarchical Innovation Teams: Terms & Definitions

This paper establishes the terms and definitions for the nascent discipline of Holarchical Innovation Teams (HITs). It provides a Review of Literature of those individuals who have contributed to our understanding of holarchies and who assist in creating an etymology for HITs in order to lay the foundations for subsequent papers on HITs philosophy and principles for future researchers and scholars of the disciplin

C-start: optimal start of larval fish

We investigate the C-start escape response of larval fish by combining flow simulations using remeshed vortex methods with an evolutionary optimization. We test the hypothesis of the optimality of C-start of larval fish by simulations of larval-shaped, two- and three-dimensional self-propelled swimmers. We optimize for the distance travelled by the swimmer during its initial bout, bounding the shape deformation based on the larval mid-line curvature values observed experimentally. The best motions identified within these bounds are in good agreement with in vivo experiments and show that C-starts do indeed maximize escape distances. Furthermore we found that motions with curvatures beyond the ones experimentally observed for larval fish may result in even larger escape distances. We analyse the flow field and find that the effectiveness of the C-start escape relies on the ability of pronounced C-bent body configurations to trap and accelerate large volumes of fluid, which in turn correlates with large accelerations of the swimme

Brazil nut almonds: nutritional and market aspects.

The aim of this study was to estimate the annual growth rate in production and exportation of Brazil nut almonds. Presents information related to the composition of different fatty acids from brazil nut almonds and the human daily intake needs, as well as an analysis of its production, its growth rate during the last 20 years and its export. and the human daily intake needs

Optimal shapes for anguilliform swimmers at intermediate Reynolds numbers

We investigate the optimal morphologies for fast and efficient anguilliform swimmers at intermediate Reynolds numbers, by combining an evolution strategy with three-dimensional viscous vortex methods. We show that anguilliform swimmer shapes enable the trapping and subsequent acceleration of regions of fluid transported along the entire body by the midline travelling wave. A sensitivity analysis of the optimal morphological traits identifies that the width thickness in the anterior of the body and the height of the caudal fin are critical factors for both speed and efficiency. The fastest swimmer without a caudal fin, however, still retains 80 % of its speed, showing that the entire body is used to generate thrust. The optimal shapes share several features with naturally occurring morphologies, but their overall appearances differ. This demonstrates that engineered swimmers can outperform biomimetic swimmers for the criteria considered her

On the Casimir energy for a massive quantum scalar field and the Cosmological constant

We present a rigorous, regularization independent local quantum field theoretic treatment of the Casimir effect for a quantum scalar field of mass $\mu\ne0$ which yields closed form expressions for the energy density and pressure. As an application we show that there exist special states of the quantum field at fixed cosmic time, in which the expectation value of the renormalized energy-momentum tensor is independent of the space coordinate and is of the perfect fluid form $g_{\mu,\nu}\rho_{vac}$ with $\rho_{vac}>0$, thus providing a quantum field theoretic foundation of the Cosmological constant. Using some values of $\mu$ suggested in the literature for the hypothetical axion particle, there results a model for dark energy which is consistent with past and future evolution and is also in good agreement with experimental data.Comment: 15 pages, 2 figures, conceptually improved version, to appear in Ann. Phy

Social Reporting Impact on Non-Profit Stakeholder Satisfaction and Trust during the COVID-19 Pandemic in an Emerging Market

Attracting resources to achieve established goals makes social reporting necessary in relation to an organization's stakeholders, and reports on the social impact of resource use and activities have an essential role in increasing stakeholder satisfaction and trust. The COVID-19 pandemic emphasized the importance of sustainable development goals and transparent social reporting for different categories of stakeholders. This paper aims to identify the social reporting dimensions that influence the satisfaction and trust of the primary stakeholders of non-profit organizations in an emerging market (Romania), i.e., managers, employees, members, volunteers, donors, and collaborators. The results reveal the positive influence COVID-19 reporting had on stakeholder satisfaction. The lack of formal reporting has a weak yet statistically significant negative influence on stakeholder satisfaction, thus positively influencing the perceived need for external and internal auditing. Stakeholder trust in an organization is strongly and positively influenced by satisfaction with the organizational activity and internal auditing and is negatively influenced by a lack of formal reporting

Dihydrotestosterone stimulates amino acid uptake and the expression of LAT2 in mouse skeletal muscle fibres through an ERK1/2-dependent mechanism

Dihydrotestosterone (DHT) has acute/non-genomic actions in adult mammalian skeletal muscles whose physiological functions are still poorly understood. Therefore, the primary aim of this study was to investigate the acute/non-genomic effects of DHT on amino acid uptake as well as the cellular signal transduction events underlying these actions in mouse fast- and slow-twitch skeletal muscle fibre bundles. 14C-Labelled amino acids were used to investigate the effects of DHT and testosterone (T) on amino acid uptake and pharmacological interventions were used to determine the cellular signal transduction events mediating these actions. While T had no effect on the uptake of isoleucine (Ile) and a-methylaminoisobutyric acid (MeAIB) in both fibre types, DHT increased their uptake in the fast-twitch fibre bundles. This effect was reversed by inhibitors of protein translation, the epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR), system A, system L, mTOR and MEK. However, it was relatively insensitive to inhibitors of transcription, androgen receptors and PI3K/Akt. Additionally, DHT treatment increased the expression of LAT2 and the phosphorylation of the EGFR in the fast-twitch fibre bundles and that of ERK1/2, RSK1/2 and ATF2 in both fibre types. Also, it decreased the phosphorylation of eEF2 and increased the incorporation of Ile into proteins in both fibre types. Most of these effects were reversed by EGFR and MEK inhibitors. From these findings we suggest that another physiological function of the acute/non-genomic actions of DHT in isolated mammalian skeletal muscle fibres is to stimulate amino acid uptake. This effect is mediated through the EGFR and involves the activation of the MAPK pathway and an increase in LAT2 expression