Political Control of Arm’s-Length Agencies: One Standard Does Not Fit All

Contains fulltext : 191951pre.pdf (preprint version ) (Open Access) Contains fulltext : 191951.pdf (publisher's version ) (Open Access)1 maart 201716 p

De controlerende raad: In de herhaling toont zich de meester.

Contains fulltext : 230988.pdf (Publisher’s version ) (Open Access

Models of Anti-Discrimination Laws – Does Canada offer any lessons for the reform of Australia’s laws?

Looking around the world, there are various models that have been used in the design of antidiscrimination laws. In this paper I compare the model used by Canada, which has a reputation for being a leader in addressing inequality, and the model used in Australia which has come to be seen as an international laggard. Canada’s open model provides much discretion to the courts to identify what constitutes discrimination and legitimate justifications. With this scope for interpretation the courts are free to establish principles and, importantly, also to revise them over time as society changes. Australia, on the other hand, chose a more closed model, precisely defining a formula for direct discrimination and indirect discrimination, on specific grounds in specific areas, and with specific exceptions. In Australia there is growing evidence of our laws’ limitations and growing interest in legislative reform. In exploring legal reforms, I suggest that we need to consider changing not merely the legislative prescription but also the prescriptiveness of our model. Rewriting the definitions without taking a look at the bigger picture of what role our judges could and should play might help to solve a particular problem but leave us with a regulatory framework that is still ill-equipped to evolve over time. We need to re-examine both the legitimacy and capacity of our courts to take on a greater role in the protection of human rights, and specifically the promotion of substantive equality, in Australia.This conference has been generously sponsored by the School of Social and Political Sciences and the Sydney Law School, University of Sydney, in collaboration with the School of Law, University of Western Sydne

Resting state EEG relates to short- and long-term cognitive functioning after cardiac arrest

Background: Approximately half of cardiac arrest survivors have persistent cognitive impairment. Guidelines recommend early screening to identify patients at risk for cognitive impairment, but there is no consensus on the best screening method. We aimed to identify quantitative EEG measures relating with short- and long-term cognitive function after cardiac arrest for potential to cognitive outcome prediction. Methods: We analyzed data from a prospective longitudinal multicenter cohort study designed to develop a prediction model for cognitive outcome after cardiac arrest. For the current analysis, we used twenty-minute EEG registrations from 80 patients around one week after cardiac arrest. We calculated power spectral density, normalized alpha-to-theta ratio (nATR), peak frequency, and center of gravity (CoG) of this peak frequency. We related these with global cognitive functioning (scores on the Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MoCA)) at one week, three and twelve months follow-up with multivariate mixed effect models, and with performance on standard neuropsychological examination at twelve months using Pearson correlation coefficients. Results: Each individual EEG parameter related to MoCA at one week (βnATR = 7.36; P &lt; 0.01; βpeak frequency = 1.73, P &lt; 0.01; βCoG = -9.88, P &lt; 0.01). The nATR also related with the MoCA at three months ((βnATR = 2.49; P 0.01). No EEG metrics significantly related to the MoCA score at twelve months. nATR and peak frequency related with memory performance at twelve months. Results were consistent in sensitivity analyses. Conclusion: Early resting-state EEG parameters relate with short-term global cognitive functioning and with memory function at one year after cardiac arrest. Additional predictive values in multimodal prediction models need further study.</p

Programmabegroting: van beleid naar stuurbaarheid

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Digitale begrotingen: zegen of zoekplaatje?

Contains fulltext : 173861pre.pdf (preprint version ) (Open Access)An assessment of the usefullness of digitally provided budgets by Dutch municipalities4 p

De vraag bepaalt het budget?

Contains fulltext : 161061pre.pdf (preprint version ) (Open Access)In opdrachtgever-opdrachtnemer relaties in de publieke sector wordt geworsteld met kostprijzen en budgetten. Het lijkt erop dat bij het denken over kostprijzen vooral aandacht uitgaat naar aanbod en maximale budgetten. In dit artikel wordt voorgesteld om de analyse om te draaien. Vanuit het perspectief van de vraag en bekostigingsbronnen kan scherper worden beredeneerd of een eenmaal vastgestelde begroting ook echt leidend moet zijn

Governance and stakeholder involvement in the Dutch pension industry, lessons for developing countries

Contains fulltext : 131890.pdf (postprint version ) (Open Access) Contains fulltext : 131890_pub.pdf (publisher's version ) (Closed access)The article discusses governance structure and stakeholder involvement in pension plan reforms. Although the global financial crisis has put pressure on pension reforms, some reforms were implemented earlier because of sustainability issues that had emerged on the basis of, among other issues, demographic trends. We show, based on Dutch experiences, that stakeholders and individual participants in particular were only partially involved in these changes. On the basis of these findings, we propose some tools to improve stakeholder involvement, which can contribute to sustainable support from stakeholders to pension plans.07 oktober 201413 p