2,201 research outputs found
Monitoring in beeld: een studie naar de doorwerking van monitors in interbestuurlijke relaties
Monitoring in the Dutch public sector
An increasing stream of monitoring activities has entered the public sector. A lot of
different monitors have been implemented in the Netherlands, like the police monitor,
drugs monitor, integration monitor and the emancipation monitor. Although monitoring
of policy processes is quite prevalent in the public sector, monitoring still remains an
unexplored scientific theme, while most of the scientific attention is restricted to
performance systems. In the current mode of monitoring is often approached in a rational
way. Within the rational approach monitoring is seen as an objective search for facts in
order to improve policy. The aim of this study however, is to widen this narrow focus and
include two other perspectives as well, namely a political and cultural approach of
monitoring. These three perspectives are not mutually exclusive.
One of the assumptions of this study is that monitoring activities have impacts on
intergovernmental relationships, this because monitors are used on different
governmental levels. The impacts of monitors on intergovernmental relationships have
not been studied as of yet. This is surprising, because in policy documents monitoring is
connected with intergovernmental relationships.
Research questions
The main research question is formulated as followed: what are the impacts of monitors
on intergovernmental relationships? This main question is divided into seven research
questions
Kansen en dilemma’s van digitale democratie - Wat kan digitale burgerbetrokkenheid betekenen voor het Nederlandse parlement?
Nederlandse burgers willen meer betrokken worden bij politieke besluitvorming. Volgend voorjaar gaan we voor het eerst naar de stembus voor een nationaal referendum dat burgers zelf hebben aangevraagd. Ook het SCP-rapport Meer democratie, minder politiek en de monitor over de democratische legitimiteit in Nederland uit 2013 laten zien, dat de Nederlandse burger al jaren behoefte heeft aan meer directe betrokkenheid bij beleid en politiek. Onderzoek van het Rathenau Instituut toont aan dat ICT in belangrijke mate burgerbetrokkenheid bij het politieke proces kan faciliteren. En dat gaat verder dan het verzamelen van digitale handtekeningen voor een referendum. Open data, monitoring van sociale media, internetpeilingen, e-petities, twitteranalyses, sms-stemmingen: er zijn volop mogelijkheden om burgers directer te informeren, zelf input te laten leveren, ze te consulteren of te laten meebeslissen en te laten controleren. Mogelijkheden die voor de landelijke politiek interessant zijn, omdat op dat niveau face-to-face ontmoetingen tussen burgers en politici lastig te organiseren zijn
VLT + UVES Spectroscopy of the Low-Ionization Intrinsic Absorber in SDSS J001130.56+005550.7
We analyse high-resolution VLT+UVES spectra of the low-ionization intrinsic
absorber observed in the BAL QSO SDSS J001130.56+005550.7. Two narrow
absorption systems at velocities -600 km/s and -22000 km/s are detected. The
low-velocity system is part of the broad absorption line (BAL), while the
high-velocity one is well detached. While most narrow absorption components are
only detected in the high-ionization species, the lowest velocity component is
detected in both high- and low-ionization species, including in the excited
SiII* and CII* lines. From the analysis of doublet lines, we find that the
narrow absorption lines at the low-velocity end of the BAL trough are
completely saturated but do not reach zero flux, their profiles being dominated
by a velocity-dependent covering factor. The covering factor is significantly
smaller for MgII than for SiIV and NV, which demonstrates the intrinsic nature
of absorber. From the analysis of the excited SiII* and CII* lines in the
lowest velocity component, we find an electron density ~ 1000 cm^{-3}. Assuming
photoionization equilibrium, we derive a distance ~ 20 kpc between the
low-ionization region and the quasar core. The correspondence in velocity of
the high- and low-ionization features suggests that all these species must be
closely associated, hence formed at the same distance of ~ 20 kpc, much higher
than the distance usually assumed for BAL absorbers.Comment: Accepted for publication in A&
Monitoring: Functional or Fashionable?
An increasing stream of monitoring activities has entered the public sector. In the Netherlands there
are hundreds of monitors on a wide range, so it can be stated that monitoring is fashionable in the
Netherlands. But monitoring seems to be functional, too. Without monitoring, organisations would
not even survive. Research about the use of research information and evaluations makes clear that
information is not always used in a direct and transparent way. This statement raises three, interrelated
research questions, which we try to answer in our paper: (1) What is the amount and the character
of (intragovernmental) monitors in the public sector in the Netherlands? (2) What forms of utilisation
can be distilled and how are intragovernmental monitors used in practice? (3) How do these
functions of monitors relate to recent insights in the complexity of governmental performance and
the role information can play in complex systems?
The paper concludes with the observation that the current mode of monitoring is dominated by
rationalistic assumptions. Important functions from a complexity perspective, as learning and communicating,
seem to be underestimated. Monitoring is fashionable, but it seems to be less functional
A virtual - correspondence for projective surfaces
For a smooth projective surface satisfying and , we study deformation invariants of the pair .
Choosing a Brauer-Severi variety (or, equivalently, Azumaya algebra
) over with Stiefel-Whitney class , the invariants are
defined as virtual intersection numbers on suitable moduli spaces of stable
twisted sheaves on constructed by Yoshioka (or, equivalently, moduli spaces
of -modules of Hoffmann-Stuhler).
We show that the invariants do not depend on the choice of . Using a
result of de Jong, we observe that they are deformation invariants of the pair
. For surfaces with , we show that the invariants can
often be expressed as virtual intersection numbers on Gieseker-Maruyama-Simpson
moduli spaces of stable sheaves on . This can be seen as a
- correspondence.
As an application, we express Vafa-Witten invariants
of in terms of Vafa-Witten invariants of . We also show
how formulae from Donaldson theory can be used to obtain upper bounds for the
minimal second Chern class of Azumaya algebras on with given division
algebra at the generic point.Comment: 47 page
Improvement in low back movement control, decreased pain and disability, resulting from specific exercise intervention
Open Access JournalBackground: The study was conducted to assess whether patient-specific functional impairment and experienced daily disability improved after treatment to address active movement control of the low back.
Method: A prospective study was carried out in two outpatient physiotherapy practices in the German-speaking part of Switzerland. 38 patients (17 males and 21 females) suffering from non-specific low back pain (NSLBP) and movement control impairment were treated. The study participants had an average age of 45 ± 13 years, an average height of 170 ± 8 cm and an average weight of 73 ± 15 kg. Patients were assessed prior and post treatment. Treatment was aimed at improving movement control of the lumbar spine, pain and disability. Six physiotherapists treated each patient on average nine times (SD 4.6). Treatment effects were evaluated using a set of six movement control tests (MCT), patient-specific functional pain scores (PSFS) and a Roland and Morris disability questionnaire (RMQ). Means, standard deviations, confidence intervals and paired t-tests were calculated. The effect size (d) was based on the change between t1 (time prior intervention) and t2 (time post intervention) using a significance level of p 0.8 being considered a large effect. Power calculations were performed for type I & II error estimation.
Results: Movement control (MCT) showed a 59% improvement from 3.2 (max 6) to 1.3 positive tests (d = 1.3, p < 0.001), complaints (PSFS) decreased 41% from 5.9 points (max 10) to 3.5 (d = 1.3, p < 0.001), and disability (RMQ) decreased 43% from 8.9 to 5.1 points (d = 1.0, p < 0.001).
Conclusions: The results of this controlled case series study, based on prior and post intervention, showed that movement control, patient specific functional complaints and disability improved significantly following specific individual exercise programs, performed with physiotherapeutic intervention. The results obtained warrant performance of a randomized controlled trial (RCT) to substantiate our findings
Jet Acceleration by Tangled Magnetic Fields
We explore the possibility that extragalactic radio jets might be accelerated
by highly disorganized magnetic fields that are strong enough to dominate the
dynamics until the terminal Lorentz factor is reached. Following the
twin-exhaust model by Blandford & Rees (1974), the collimation under this
scenario is provided by the stratified thermal pressure from an external
medium. The acceleration efficiency then depends on the pressure gradient of
that medium. In order for this mechanism to work there must be continuous
tangling of the magnetic field, changing the magnetic equation of state away
from pure flux freezing (otherwise conversion of Poynting flux to kinetic
energy flux is suppressed). This is a complementary approach to models in which
the plasma is accelerated by large scale ordered fields. We include a simple
prescription for magnetic dissipation, which leads to tradeoffs among
conversion of magnetic energy into bulk kinetic energy, random particle energy,
and radiation. We present analytic dynamical solutions of such jets, assess the
effects of radiation drag, and comment on observational issues, such as the
predicted polarization and synchrotron brightness. Finally, we try to make the
connection to observed radio galaxies and gamma-ray bursts.Comment: 15 pages, 10 figures, accepted for publication in Ap
Social media monitoring: Responsive governance in the shadow of surveillance?
__Abstract__
Social media monitoring is gradually becoming a common practice in public organizations in the Netherlands. The main purposes of social media monitoring are strategic control and responsiveness. Social media monitoring poses normative questions in terms of transparency, accountability and privacy. We investigate practices of social media monitoring in four Dutch public organizations. Policy departments seem to be more strongly orientated towards monitoring, whereas organizations involved in policy implementation seem to be more inclined to progress to webcare. The paper argues for more transparency on social media monitoring
Using New Submillimetre Surveys to Identify the Evolutionary Status of High-z Galaxies
This paper describes a key submillimetre survey which we are currently
conducting to address some of the outstanding questions in cosmology - how, at
what epoch and over what period of time did massive galaxies form at high
redshift? A summary of the technical feasibility of future submillimetre
observations with new ground-based, airborne and satellite telescopes is also
presented.Comment: 6 pages, 3 postscript figures, LaTex uses Kluwer book style file
crckapb10.sty, to appear in "Observational Cosmology with the New Radio
Surveys", 13-15 January 1997, Puerto de la Cruz, Tenerife, M.Bremer,
N.Jackson, I.Perez-Fournon (eds.), Kluwe
What Determines the Depth of BALs? Keck HIRES Observations of BALQSO 1603+300
We find that the depth and shape of the broad absorption lines (BALs) in
BALQSO 1603+3002 are determined largely by the fraction of the emitting source
which is covered by the BAL flow. In addition, the observed depth of the BALs
is poorly correlated with their real optical depth. The implication of this
result is that abundance studies based on direct extraction of column densities
from the depth of the absorption troughs are unreliable. Our conclusion is
based on analysis of unblended absorption features of two lines from the same
ion (in this case the Si IV doublet), which allows unambiguous separation of
covering factor and optical depth effects. The complex morphology of the
covering factor as a function of velocity suggests that the BALs are produced
by several physically separated outflows. The covering factor is ion dependent
in both depth and velocity width. We also find evidence that in BALQSO
1603+3002 the flow does not cover the broad emission line region.Comment: 13 pages, 2 figures, accepted for publication in Ap
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