Comparing online with offline citizen engagement for climate change: findings from Austria, Germany and Spain

The aim of this paper is to study the expectations of environmental senior managers, as experts in this field, about the effect of e-participation in the fight against climate change. Their experiences in, and the fulfillment of their expectations about, citizen participation in local government environmental programs have been analyzed through different questionnaires in order to answer the following research questions. What effects can be expected from citizen participation in environmental programs? What conditions are necessary for, and what barriers are there to, successful participation processes? Is e-participation more effective than traditional citizen participation? The results confirm that e-participation is only an enabler of citizen engagement in participation processes, but it does not overcome all the barriers to these processes. The success of citizen participation cannot be guaranteed merely by introducing ICTs. The integration of e-participation with traditional offline tools for citizen participation is needed

Boards of directors and performance in autonomous public sector entities

The adoption of business-like boards of directors in the public sector has to be evaluated in terms of financial and non-financial outcomes. This paper investigates, using a structural equation model, the relationship of certain board characteristics with the performance of English NHS foundation trusts. Larger and more independent boards do not harm performance. Having a woman chairing the board is related to better service quality. Boards seem to be more concerned about service quality issues than about financial problems. IMPACT A stakeholder approach when adopting boards of directors in public sector entities does not harm performance. The authors’ results provide a compelling rationale for the adoption of corporate governance mechanisms in the public sector and for improving the representativeness and status of women in the top positions of the governing bodies of public sector entities. Financial performance and service quality are not mutually exclusive in the healthcare sector. The paper provides insights to those public sector entities that have adopted, or are thinking about adopting, boards of directors to improve their governance and management

Financial Transparency in the Web 2.0 Era. An Analysis of the use of Websites and Social Media by Spanish Municipalities

The objective of this paper is to evaluate the role of websites and social media (SM) in increasing local government financial transparency. The research includes 60 Spanish municipalities classified into 4 population levels and combines quantitative and qualitative analyses: a website content examination; an exploration of the use of SM platforms; and an in-depth study of the content published in Facebook and Twitter over a one-year period. Results show that Spanish municipalities still have to make important efforts to increase their levels of financial transparency. Disclosures are mainly focused on budgetary information. The use of Facebook and Twitter by municipalities has become commonplace. However, their use for financial disclosures is underdeveloped. Most of the biggest cities have created open data portals although the disclosure of budgetary and financial datasets is limited. Municipalities have to make important efforts to comply with new demands and requirements for financial transparency. Measures should be taken to enhance transparency, particularly among medium and small municipalities. A definition of clear, structured, understandable and reusable information is needed in order to provide a common disclosure framework for public sector entities. (C) 2020 ASEPUC. Published by EDITUM - Universidad de Murcia. El objetivo de este trabajo es evaluar el papel de las páginas web y medios de comunicación social en el aumento de la transparencia de tipo financiero en las entidades locales. Esta investigación analiza 60 ayuntamientos clasificados en 4 niveles de población y combina análisis cuantitativos y cualitativos: un análisis del contenido de páginas web; una exploración del uso de medios de comunicación social; y un estudio en profundidad de los contenidos publicados en Facebook y Twitter durante un año. Los resultados muestran que los municipios españoles todavía tienen que realizar esfuerzos significativos para aumentar sus niveles de transparencia financiera. La información publicada se centra principalmente en cuestiones de tipo presupuestario. El uso de Facebook y Twitter por parte de los municipios está generalizado. Sin embargo, la utilización de estas plataformas para la revelación de información de tipo financiero está muy poco desarrollada. La mayor parte de los municipios de mayor tamaño han creado portales de datos abiertos, aunque la apertura de conjuntos de datos de tipo presupuestario o financiero es muy limitada. Los municipios tienen que realizar esfuerzos importantes para cumplir con las nuevas demandas y requerimientos de transparencia financiera. Deberían tomarse medidas para mejorar la transparencia, particularmente entre los municipios de pequeño y mediano tamaño. Asimismo, también se hace necesario definir qué se entiende por información clara, estructurada, comprensible y reutilizable para proporcionar un marco de revelación común para las entidades del sector público

High-sensitivity large-area photodiode read-out using a divide-and-conquer technique

In this letter, we present a novel technique to increase the sensitivity of optical read-out with large integrated photodiodes (PD). It consists of manufacturing the PD in several pieces, instead of a single device, and connecting a dedicated transimpedance amplifier (TIA) to each of these pieces. The output signals of the TIAs are combined, achieving a higher signal-to-noise ratio than with the traditional approach. This work shows a remarkable improvement in the sensitivity and transimpedance without the need for additional modifications or compensation techniques. As a result, an increase in sensitivity of 7.9 dBm and transimpedance of 8.7 dBO for the same bandwidth is achieved when dividing the photodiode read-out into 16 parallel paths. The proposed divide-and-conquer technique can be applied to any TIA design, and it is also independent of the core amplifier structure and fabrication process, which means it is compatible with every technology allowing the integration of PDs

Isospin phases of vertically coupled double quantum rings under the influence of perpendicular magnetic fields

Vertically coupled double quantum rings submitted to a perpendicular magnetic field $B$ are addressed within the local spin-density functional theory. We describe the structure of quantum ring molecules containing up to 40 electrons considering different inter-ring distances and intensities of the applied magnetic field. When the rings are quantum mechanically strongly coupled, only bonding states are occupied and the addition spectrum of the artificial molecules resembles that of a single quantum ring, with some small differences appearing as an effect of the magnetic field. Despite the latter has the tendency to flatten the spectra, in the strong coupling limit some clear peaks are still found even when $B\neq 0$ that can be interpretated from the single-particle energy levels analogously as at zero applied field, namely in terms of closed-shell and Hund's-rule configurations. Increasing the inter-ring distance, the occupation of the first antibonding orbitals washes out such structures and the addition spectra become flatter and irregular. In the weak coupling regime, numerous isospin oscillations are found as a function of $B$.Comment: 27 pages, 11 figures. To be published in Phys. Rev.

Radio over fiber: An alternative broadband network technology for Iot

Wireless broadband access networks have been positioning themselves as a good solution for manufacturers and users of IoT (internet of things) devices, due mainly to the high data transfer rate required over terminal devices without restriction of information format. In this work, a review of two Radio over Fiber strategies is presented. Both have excellent performance and even offer the possibility to extend wireless area coverage where mobile networks do not reach or the 802.11 network presents issues. Radio Frequency over Fiber (RFoF) and intermediate Frequency over Fiber (IFoF) are two transmission strategies compatible with the required new broadband services and both play a key role in the design of the next generation integrated optical–wireless networks, such as 5G and Satcom networks, including on RAU (Remote Antenna Unit) new functionalities to improve their physical dimensions, employing a microelectronic layout over nanometric technologies

Customer preferences versus managerial decision-making in open innovation communities: the case of Starbucks

Customers can participate in open innovation communities posting innovation ideas, which in turn can receive comments and votes from the rest of the community, highlighting user preferences. However, the final decision about implementing innovations corresponds to the company. This paper is focused on the customers’ activity in open innovation communities. The aim is to identify the main topics of customers’ interests in order to compare these topics with managerial decision-making. The results obtained reveal first that both votes and comments can be used to predict user preferences; and second, that customers tend to promote those innovations by reporting more comfort and benefits. In contrast, managerial decisions are more focused on the distinctive features associated with the brand imageJunta de Andalucia. Consejería de Economía, Innovación, Ciencia y Empleo P12-SEJ-328Ministerio de Economía y Competitividad ECO2013-43856-

Immunospecific Antibody Concentration in Egg Yolk of Chickens Orally Immunised with Varying Doses of Bovine Serum Albumin and the Mucosal Adjuvant, RhinoVax®, using Different Immunization Regimes

Antibody harvested from eggs of immunised chickens, IgY, has proven to be a non-invasive alternative to  antibodies purified from serum of mammals. Taking the non-invasive concept further, the development of  oral immunization techniques combined with IgY harvest from chicken eggs may subsequently eliminate  all regulated procedures from polyclonal antibody production. In the present study, we report the effects of  varying the temporal administration mode of the antigen (immunogen) comparing dosing on three consecutive  days with dosing on five consecutive days, and of incorporating a mucosal adjuvant. Two antigen  doses were compared: 30 mg bovine serum albumin (BSA) and 300 mg BSA, with and without the mucosal  adjuvant, RhinoVax®, administered to laying chickens. The egg yolk of chickens dosed with BSA in combination  with 20% RhinoVax®, contained significantly higher concentrations of immunospecific IgY than  did egg yolks of chickens fed with BSA without adjuvant. The most efficient dose in the RhinoVax®-treated  groups was 300 mg BSA regardless of whether the chickens were initially immunised daily for three or  five days. A 3-day dosing regime with BSA alone also induced immunospecific IgY production. This study  confirms that RhinoVax® is an efficient oral adjuvant. It also demonstrates the efficacy of daily immunizations  on three or five consecutive days on immunospecific IgY production. The chickens received oral  booster immunizations one and two months after the initial immunization. No real effect could be recorded  after the second and third immunization, although the study did provide some evidence of memory  based on an optimum IgY concentration recorded after the 2nd immunization.