The internet and public bureaucracies: towards balancing competing values

Innovation in public administration is one of the central aspects of public sector reforms. Given the procedural nature of government tasks, the adoption of the Internet and related information and communication technologies (ICT) has become critical for government organisations. The aim of this paper is to discuss the implications of the diffusion Internet led innovations in the public sector on balancing public values. Rather than diminishing their benefits, we aim at highlighting challenges and dilemmas that can emerge from ICT implementation in the public sector. The paper starts by reviewing the main trends of e-government research and show a dominant view towards managerial and private sector values embedded in the literature. To propose an alternative approach, we then draw on an empirical example from Mexico, that of the Federal Transparency and Access to Government Information Law. Using Mexico’s available statistics and secondary data, the case explores how a quicker ICT-mediated interaction between citizens and government can result in social and political dilemmas. We propose to bring into play the public value paradigm to highlight these issues. Conclusions follow

The new public management, e-government and the notion of ‘public value’: lessons from Mexico

E-government has increasingly become one of the keys government’s interests. This paper discusses e- government within the context of governmental reforms heavily influenced by the New Public Management (NPM). The general vision of NPM supposes that the use of information and communication technologies (ICT) will enhance efficiency, policy effectiveness and democratic values (OCDE 2003). Based on the concept of ‘public value’ developed by Moore (1995), we discuss how e- government policies impact government’s political agendas, and not only the process throughout government deliver public services. ICT, we argue, do not only change the platform used to serve public services but also the nature of these public services. Our central argument is presented as follows: if e- government is strictly following the NPM prescriptions (efficiency and accountability), there is a risk of missing the social and political implications associated with the use of ICT in the public sector. Works addressing such other social and political values are the exception in the literature of e-government. Thus, in this paper we aim to open the way for a deeper discussion of the effects of e-government policies on public values. We draw on an empirical case from Mexico to illustrate our main arguments

Wearable High Voltage Compliant Current Stimulator for Restoring Sensory Feedback

Transcutaneous Electrical Nerve Stimulation (TENS) is a promising technique for eliciting referred tactile sensations in patients with limb amputation. Although several studies show the validity of this technique, its application in daily life and away from laboratories is limited by the need for more portable instrumentation that guarantees the necessary voltage and current requirements for proper sensory stimulation. This study proposes a low-cost, wearable high-voltage compliant current stimulator with four independent channels based on Components-Off-The-Shelf (COTS). This microcontroller-based system implements a voltage-current converter controllable through a digital-to-analog converter that delivers up to 25 mA to load up to 3.6 kΩ. The high-voltage compliance enables the system to adapt to variations in electrode-skin impedance, allowing it to stimulate loads over 10 kΩ with currents of 5 mA. The system was realized on a four-layer PCB (115.9 mm × 61 mm, 52 g). The functionality of the device was tested on resistive loads and on an equivalent skin-like RC circuit. Moreover, the possibility of implementing an amplitude modulation was demonstrated

Construction and Evaluation of Coordinated Performance Skeletons

Performance prediction is particularly challenging for dynamic foreign environments that cannot be modeled well, such as those involving resource sharing or foreign system components. Our approach is based on the concept of a performance skeleton which is a short running program whose execution time in any scenario reflects the estimated execution time of the application it represents. The fundamental technical challenge is automatic construction of performance skeletons for parallel MPI programs. The steps are 1) generation of process execution traces and conversion to a single coordinated logical program trace, 2) compression of the logical program trace, and 3) conversion to an executable parallel skeleton program. Results are presented to validate the construction methodology and prediction power of performance skeletons. The execution scenarios analyzed involve network sharing, different architectures and different MPI libraries. The emphasis is on identifying the strength and limitations of this approach to performanc

Dopamine neuronal loss contributes to memory and reward dysfunction in a model of Alzheimer's disease

Alterations of the dopaminergic (DAergic) system are frequently reported in Alzheimer’s disease (AD) patients and are commonly linked to cognitive and non-cognitive symptoms. However, the cause of DAergic system dysfunction in AD remains to be elucidated. We investigated alterations of the midbrain DAergic system in the Tg2576 mouse model of AD, overexpressing a mutated human amyloid precursor protein (APPswe). Here, we found an age-dependent DAergic neuron loss in the ventral tegmental area (VTA) at pre-plaque stages, although substantia nigra pars compacta (SNpc) DAergic neurons were intact. The selective VTA DAergic neuron degeneration results in lower DA outflow in the hippocampus and nucleus accumbens (NAc) shell. The progression of DAergic cell death correlates with impairments in CA1 synaptic plasticity, memory performance and food reward processing. We conclude that in this mouse model of AD, degeneration of VTA DAergic neurons at pre-plaque stages contributes to memory deficits and dysfunction of reward processing

Inhibition of cell proliferation, migration and invasion of B16-F10 melanoma cells by α-mangostin

In this study, we have evaluated the potential antineoplastic effects of α-mangostin (α-M), the most representative xanthone in Garcinia mangostana pericarp, on melanoma cell lines. This xanthone markedly inhibits the proliferation of high-metastatic B16-F10 melanoma cells. Furthermore, by deeply analyzing which steps in the metastatic process are influenced by xanthone it was observed that α-M strongly interferes with homotypic aggregation, adhesion, plasticity and invasion ability of B16-F10 cells, probably by the observed reduction of metalloproteinase-9 activity. The antiproliferative and antimetastatic properties of α-M have been established in human SK-MEL-28 and A375 melanoma cells. In order to identify pathways potentially involved in the antineoplastic properties of α-M, a comparative mass spectrometry proteomic approach was employed. These findings may improve our understanding of the molecular mechanisms underlying the anti-cancer effects of α-M on melanoma

Genetic pre-participation screening in selected athletes: a new tool for the prevention of sudden cardiac death?

Sudden cardiac death (SCD) of athletes is a topical issue. “Borderline cardiac abnormalities”, which occur in ~2% of elite male athletes, may result in SCD, which may have a genetic base. Genetic analysis may help identify pathological cardiac abnormalities. We performed phenotype-guided genetic analysis in athletes who, pre-participation, showed ECG and/or echo “borderline” abnormalities, to discriminate subjects at a greater risk of SCD. Methods: We studied 24 elite athletes referred by the National Federation of Olympic sports; and 25 subjects seeking eligibility to practice agonistic sport referred by the Osservatorio Epidemiologico della Medicina dello Sport della Regione Campania. Inclusion criteria: a) ECG repolarization borderline abnormalities; b) benign ventricular arrhythmias; c) left ventricular wall thickness in the grey zone of physiology versus pathology (max wall thickness 12-15 mm in females; 13-16 mm in males). Based on the suspected phenotype, we screened subjects for the LMNA gene, for 8 sarcomeric genes, 5 desmosomal genes, and cardiac calcium, sodium and potassium channel disease genes. Results: Genetic analysis was completed in 37/49 athletes, 22 competitive and 27 non-competitive athletes, showing “borderline” clinical markers suggestive of hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM,n. 24), dilated cardiomyopathy (n. 4), arrhythmogenic right ventricular dysplasia/cathecholaminergic polymorphic ventricular tachycardia (ARVD/CPVT, n. 11), long QT syndrome (LQTS, n. 4), sick sinus syndrome (SSS, n. 5), Brugada syndrome (BrS, n. 1). We identifyed 11 mutations in 9 athletes (an ARVD athlete was compound heterozygote for the PKP2 gene and an HCM athlete was double heterozygote for the MYBPC3 and TNNT2 genes): 3 known mutations related to LQTS, HCM and ARVD, respectively, and 8 novel mutations, located in the SCN5A, RyR2, PKP2, MYBPC3 and ACTC1 genes. The new mutations were absent in ~800 normal chromosomes and were predicted “probably damaging” by in silico analysis. Patch clamp analysis in channelopathies indicated for some mutation abnormal biophysical behavior of the corresponding mutant protein. Conclusion: Genetic analysis may help distinguish between physiology and pathology in athletes with clinically suspected heart disease

The Index-Based Subgraph Matching Algorithm (ISMA): Fast Subgraph Enumeration in Large Networks Using Optimized Search Trees

Subgraph matching algorithms are designed to find all instances of predefined subgraphs in a large graph or network and play an important role in the discovery and analysis of so-called network motifs, subgraph patterns which occur more often than expected by chance. We present the index-based subgraph matching algorithm (ISMA), a novel tree-based algorithm. ISMA realizes a speedup compared to existing algorithms by carefully selecting the order in which the nodes of a query subgraph are investigated. In order to achieve this, we developed a number of data structures and maximally exploited symmetry characteristics of the subgraph. We compared ISMA to a naive recursive tree-based algorithm and to a number of well-known subgraph matching algorithms. Our algorithm outperforms the other algorithms, especially on large networks and with large query subgraphs. An implementation of ISMA in Java is freely available at http://sourceforge.net/projects/isma

Roadmaps to Utopia: Tales of the Smart City

Notions of the Smart City are pervasive in urban development discourses. Various frameworks for the development of smart cities, often conceptualized as roadmaps, make a number of implicit claims about how smart city projects proceed but the legitimacy of those claims is unclear. This paper begins to address this gap in knowledge. We explore the development of a smart transport application, MotionMap, in the context of a £16M smart city programme taking place in Milton Keynes, UK. We examine how the idealized smart city narrative was locally inflected, and discuss the differences between the narrative and the processes and outcomes observed in Milton Keynes. The research shows that the vision of data-driven efficiency outlined in the roadmaps is not universally compelling, and that different approaches to the sensing and optimization of urban flows have potential for empowering or disempowering different actors. Roadmaps tend to emphasize the importance of delivering quick practical results. However, the benefits observed in Milton Keynes did not come from quick technical fixes but from a smart city narrative that reinforced existing city branding, mobilizing a growing network of actors towards the development of a smart region. Further research is needed to investigate this and other smart city developments, the significance of different smart city narratives, and how power relationships are reinforced and constructed through them