24,005 research outputs found
Stakeholding Through the Permanent Fund Dividend: Fitting Practice to Theory
Alaskaâs Permanent Fund Dividend (PFD) is the United Statesâ most significant, if not its only attempted, experiment with universal asset policies. This chapter helps clarify where the PFD fits within the larger portfolio of economic rights and obligations guaranteed by the liberal state. Is the program a realization of âreal-freedom-for-allâ basic income, or might it have foreshadowed Bruce Ackerman and Anne Alstottâs Stakeholder Society decades before their proposal emerged? I argue that neither categorization is entirely correct or entirely mistaken. Core features of the PFD demonstrate Alaskaâs implicit belief in stakeholding but currently fall short of the sweeping citizenship agenda identified by stakeholding theorists. Like true stakeholder initiatives and basic income schemes, the PFD distributes shared resources on a means-independent basis, does not require recipients to work or otherwise participate in economic affairs, and commits the government to monetary distributions rather than in-kind transfers. Nevertheless, the PFD does not - and in its current format cannot - enable Alaskans to pursue their individual life plans independently of other income sources. This chapter also moves beyond definitions and addresses the PFDâs special characteristic, what I call the âendogeneity condition,â or funding through existing natural resources rather than the public fisc. I focus on how this feature allows us to abstract away from the particulars of financing basic income or stakeholding and analyze the consumption side of the system. The chapter concludes by considering how the State of Alaska might reorient the PFD toward a more comprehensive stakeholding structure and calling for more research into the use of resource-based asset systems so that governments can more aptly choose among basic income, stakeholding, and other funding schemes
The Alaska Permanent Fund Dividend and Membership in the Stateâs Political Community
Despite decades of unmitigated administrative success, the Alaska Permanent Fund Dividend (PFD) is not immune from political and legal controversy. The symbolic and financial importance that Alaskans ascribe to their annual dividend checks has generated disputes between ordinary residents and executive agencies over eligibility. Litigation concerning three dominant status requirementsâminimum residency, U.S. citizenship, and felony incarcerationâreveal not only the extent to which Alaskans will pursue what they believe to be valid claims on their share of natural resource wealth, but also the limits of full political membership in the state. This Comment frames a sample of the Alaska Supreme Courtâs decisions on PFD eligibility in terms of membership in Alaskaâs political community. The PFD reflects the Alaska Legislatureâs opinion about valid beneficiaries from oil revenues, and the state courts police eligibility at the margin. This Comment therefore argues that the Alaska Supreme Court implicitly determines, on the basis of statutory intent and administrative rule interpretations, âinsidersâ and âoutsidersâ within the stateâs political community
Legal Aspects of Architecture, Engineering and the Construction Process by Justin Sweet
Syftet med detta examensarbete Àr att ta reda pÄ vilken kunskap lÀrare har om undervisning i lÀsförstÄelse, hur lÀrare pÄ lÄgstadiet beskriver sin undervisning men Àven hur lÀsundervisningen förÀndras efter att eleven knÀckt lÀskoden och kommit igÄng med sin lÀsning. Det empiriska materialet bestÄr av insamlad data genom intervjuer med sex lÄgstadielÀrare. Studien Àr kvalitativ med en fenomenografisk metodansats men Àven inspirerad av fenomenolgin. Resultaten visar att lÀrarna har svÄrt att definiera och beskriva vad lÀsförstÄelse Àr. I lÀrarnas yrkessprÄk saknas mÄnga ord och begrepp för att tala om lÀsning och lÀsförstÄelse . Att döma av hur lÀrarna beskriver sin undervisning har de ingen tydlig struktur för arbetet med lÀsförstÄelse, Àven om de nÀmner ett antal olika arbetssÀtt, och det tycks inte finnas nÄgon vÀl genomtÀnkt progression för elevens lÀsförstÄelseutveckling. NivÄanpassade lÀromedel och individualisering Àr det sÀtt som vanligtvis anvÀnds nÀr undervisningen ska anpassas efter elevens utveckling i lÀsförstÄelse. Studien visar ocksÄ att det behövs mera fortbildning för lÀrarna i vad lÀsning och lÀsförstÄelse Àr. Goda kunskaper om lÀsprocessen och lÀsförstÄelse Àr en förutsÀttning för att nÄ goda resultat i lÀsundervisningen
All aboard: power, participation and governance in the North Sea regional advisory council
This paper explores and reveals some hitherto concealed powers relations in the European Union's new political-economic governance procedures. It does this through an empirical investigation of the fisheries stakeholder forum, the North Sea Regional Advisory Council. It shows that although governance arrangements are now designed to be more inclusive than they were before the CFP (Common Fisheries Policy) reforms, they do still involve exclusions, and uneven power relations that are not always readily apparent. The paper is based on research carried out by the author, comprising a case study of the CFP governance reforms. The research includes analysis of EU policy documents, press reports and websites and over 50 interviews with key players in North Sea fisheries governanc
Apparatus for conducting flow electrophoresis in the substantial absence of gravity
A zero-g, constant flow electrophoretic separating apparatus is presented. The apparatus is composed a deflecting member to spread carrier fluid across a conduit, and an end wall with a valve located in the conduit past the separation electrodes from which layers of carrier and sample may be extracted. Electrode electrolyte is separated from the carrier and continually circulated and cleaned
Holder exponent spectra for human gait
The stride interval time series in normal human gait is not strictly
constant, but fluctuates from step to step in a complex manner. More precisely,
it has been shown that the control process for human gait is a fractal random
phenomenon, that is, one with a long-term memory. Herein we study the Holder
exponent spectra for the slow, normal and fast gaits of 10 young healthy men in
both free and metronomically triggered conditions and establish that the stride
interval time series is more complex than a monofractal phenomenon. A slightly
multifractal and non-stationary time series under the three different gait
conditions emerges.Comment: 23 pages, 12 figures, 9 Table
Outcome assessment after hip fracture : is EQ-5D the answer?
Objectives: To study the measurement properties of a joint specific patient reported outcome measure, a measure of capability and a general health-related quality of life (HRQOL) tool in a large cohort of patients with a hip fracture.
Methods: Responsiveness and associations between the Oxford Hip Score (a hip specific measure: OHS), ICEpop CAPability (a measure of capability in older people: ICECAP-O) and EuroQol EQ-5D (general health-related quality of life measure: EQ-5D) were assessed using data available from two large prospective studies. The three outcome measures were assessed concurrently at a number of fixed follow-up time-points in a consecutive sequence of patients, allowing direct assessment of change from baseline, inter-measure associations and validity using a range of statistical methods.
Results: ICECAP-O was not responsive to change. EQ-5D was responsive to change from baseline, with an estimated standardised effect size for the two datasets of 0.676 and 0.644 at six weeks and four weeks respectively; this was almost as responsive to change as OHS (1.14 at four weeks). EQ-5D correlated strongly with OHS; Pearson correlation coefficients were 0.74, 0.77 and 0.70 at baseline, four weeks and four months. EQ-5D is a moderately good predictor of death at 12 months following hip fracture. Furthermore, EQ-5D reported by proxies (relatives and carers) behaves similarly to self-reported scores.
Conclusions: Our findings suggest that a general HRQOL tool such as EQ-5D could be used to measure outcome for patients recovering from hip fracture, including those with cognitive impairment
Warwick hip trauma study : a randomised clinical trial comparing interventions to improve outcomes in internally fixed intracapsular fractures of the proximal femur : protocol for The WHiT Study
Background
Controversy exists regarding the optimal treatment for patients with displaced intracapsular fractures of the proximal femur. The recognised treatment alternatives are arthroplasty and internal fixation. The principal criticism of internal fixation is the high rate of non-union; up to 30% of patients will have a failure of the fixation leading to revision surgery. We believe that improved fracture healing may lead to a decreased rate of failure of fixation. We therefore propose to investigate strategies to both accelerate fracture healing and improve fixation that may significantly improve outcomes after internal fixation of intracapsular femoral fractures. We aim to test the clinical effectiveness of the osteoinductive agent platelet rich plasma and conduct a pilot study of a novel fixed-angle fixation system.
Design
We have planned a three arm, single centre, standard-of-care controlled, double blinded, pragmatic, randomised clinical trial. The trial will include a standard two-way comparison between platelet-rich plasma and standard-of-care fixation versus standard-of-care fixation alone. In addition there will be a subsidiary pilot arm testing a fixed-angle screw and plate fixation system
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