CONCENTRATION UPON AGGREGATE LEVELS OF VOTING BEHAVIOR AT AND THE TWO PARTY SYSTEM HAVE OBSCURED THE PERSISTENCE OF ELECTORAL CO-OPERATION IN MULTI PARTY SYSTEMS IN BRITISH LOCAL POLICY. THIS ARTICLE EXAMINES THE FACTORS CONTRIBUTING TO SUCCESSFUL ELECTORAL CO-OPERATION, PARTICULARLY, A FAVOURABLE LOCAL POLITICS CULTURE AND ELITE INTERACTION. THIS ARTICLE SHOWS SUCH CO-OPERATION TO BE UNSTABLE IN THE LONG RUN. THE FOCUS FOR THE STUDY IS THE BOLTON AND HUDDERSFIELD CONSTITUENCIES.
[First paragraph of Introduction]: Until recently the discipline of Public Administration, and the Social Sciences more generally, have been remarkably silent about the role of nonprofit organizations in the provision of 'public services' and their contribution toward public benefit. In fact, an understanding of the place which nonprofit organizations play within society has been an ignored subject matter; the state of affairs is such that one commentator has tellingly referred to the voluntary realm as the "invisible sector" (Hall 1997: 74). Keywords: CVSS, Centre for Voluntary Sector Studies, Working Paper Series,TRSM, Ted Rogers School of Management Citation: ; Evans, B. M. & Shields, J. (2000). Neoliberal restructuring and the third sector: reshaping governance, civil society and local relations. (Working paper Volume 2000(1)). Toronto : Ted Rogers School of Management, Centre for Volunteer Sector Studies, Ryerson University.
[First paragraph of Introduction]: The neo-liberal assault on the Keynesian welfare state and the demand that government be 'reinvented' has come to focus increased attention upon the so-called `third sector'. This has occurred because of the moves by neo-liberal governments to downloading former public responsibilities onto the market, nonprofit organizations and individuals; their desire to forge new partnership relationships with non-state actors like voluntary bodies in order to develop alternative service delivery options; and the neo-liberal assertion that intrusive government has worked to undermine voluntary citizen participation, charitable giving, and self-help. Keywords: CVSS, Centre for Voluntary Sector Studies, Working Paper Series,TRSM, Ted Rogers School of Management Citation: ; Evans, B. M. & Shields, J. (1998). 'Reinventing' the Third Sector: Alternative Service Delivery, Partnerships and the New Public Administration of the Canadian Post-Welfare State. (Working paper Volume 1998 (1)). Toronto : Ted Rogers School of Management, Centre for Volunteer Sector Studies, Ryerson University.
Manual pit-emptying – the removal of faecal sludge from pits and tanks using hands or basic tools – is a widespread practice in Bangladesh, and in other low- and middle-income countries. Despite this, little is known about the livelihoods of pit-emptiers. This paper analyses data from six cases of pit-emptying in three cities in Bangladesh, across three different operational modes: private cooperatives, government employees and self-employed workers. These cases describe the experiences of emptiers from diverse socio-economic, religious and ethnic backgrounds, operating across a formal–informal spectrum. We find that government employees and self-employed groups are deprived of basic rights, fear a loss of income brought about by mechanisation and cannot access alternative livelihoods. While the status of emptiers in private cooperatives has improved recently due to the support of governmental oranisations (GOs) and non-governmental organisations (NGOs), the extent to which these cooperatives are sustainable, without the ongoing support of NGOs or GOs, remains unclear. In all modes, sustainable livelihoods are hindered by deep-rooted social and financial barriers. Organisations can support pit-emptiers by designing sanitation interventions that prioritise the human right to decent work, focussing not only on the beneficiaries of universal sanitation, but also on those who work to implement this ambitious goal.
The Sustainable Development Goals, adopted by the Member States of the United Nations in September 2016, contain both 'Outcome' and 'Means of Implementation' targets. However, there is generally weak evidence linking the Means of Implementation to outcomes, they are imperfectly conceptualised and inconsistently formulated, and tracking their largely qualitative indicators will be difficult. In this paper, we analyse and critique the Means of Implementation targets of the Sustainable Development Goal on water and sanitation (SDG6). Improvements are recommended that would reflect: the considerable investment needed to attain SDG6; the important role of the state, including government leadership and planning; the utility of disaggregating financial and capacity-building assistance; and the need for people to realise their rights to information, voice and remedy. Recommendations are also made for relevant indicators, including indicators that are applicable to governments in both aid-providing and aid-receiving countries.
AbstractThe bioaerosol exposure data from the study by Akpeimeh, Fletcher, and Evans (2019) was used to compute the risk of infection from the exposure of dumpsite workers to Aspergillus fumigatus and Escherichia coli O157:H7. A stochastic (Markov Chain) model was used to model the transport of the inhaled dose though the human respiratory system and then integrated into the beta‐Poisson dose–response model to estimate workers risks of respiratory and gastrointestinal (GI) infection. The infection risk was computed based on workers exposure to E. coli O157:H7 at 10–50% pathogen ingestion rate and pathogen‐indicator ratio (P:I) of 1:103 and 1:104, while exposure to A. fumigatus was based solely on the average initial exposure dose. The results showed that after 11 hours of exposure, workers engaged in scavenging, waste sorting, and site monitoring were at risk of respiratory and GI infection in the magnitude of 10−1. However, the risk estimates associated with specific areas of the dumpsite showed that, the risk of GI infection at the active area ranged between 3.23 × 10−3–1.56 × 10−2 and 3.25 × 10−4–1.62 × 10−3; dormant area 2.06 × 10−3–1.01 × 10−2 and 2.09 × 10−4–1.04 × 10−3; entrance 1.85 × 10−3–9.09 × 10−3 and 1.87 × 10−4–9.27 × 10−4; boundary 1.82 × 10−3–8.82 × 10−3 and 2.09 × 10−4–8.94 × 10−4 for P:I = 1:103 and 1:104 respectively, while the risk of respiratory infection risks were in the magnitude of 10−1 for all four locations. The estimated risk of workers developing respiratory and gastrointestinal infections were high for all activities assessed at the dumpsite.
This is the final version of the article. Available from MDPI via the DOI in this record. ; Impacts from floods in urban areas can be diverse and wide ranging. These can include the loss of human life, infrastructure and property damages, as well as other kinds of nuisance and inconvenience to urban life. Hence, the ability to identify and quantify wider ranging effects from floods is of the utmost importance to urban flood managers and infrastructure operators. The present work provides a contribution in this direction and describes a methodological framework for analysing cascading effects from floods that has been applied for the Sukhumvit area in Bangkok (Thailand). It demonstrates that the effects from floods can be much broader in their reach and magnitude than the sole impacts incurred from direct and immediate losses. In Sukhumvit, these include loss of critical services, assets and goods, traffic congestion and delays in transportation, loss of business and income, disturbances and discomfort to the residents, and all these can be traced with the careful analysis of cascading effects. The present work explored the use of different visualization options to present the findings. These include a casual loop diagram, a HAZUR resilience map, a tree diagram and GIS maps. ; The research leading to these results has received funding from the European Union Seventh Framework Programme (FP7/2007–2013) under Grant Agreement No. 603663 for the research project PEARL (Preparing for Extreme and Rare events in coastaL regions). The authors are grateful to Opticits for providing the HAZUR software licence, within the collaboration of the EU H2020 research project RESCCUE (RESilience to cope with Climate Change in Urban arEas—a multisectorial approach focusing on water) Grant Agreement 700174.
BACKGROUND: Individuals with severe mental health problems are at risk of social exclusion, which may complicate their recovery. Mental health and social care staff have, until now, had no valid or reliable way of assessing their clients' social inclusion. The Social Inclusion Questionnaire User Experience (SInQUE) was developed to address this. It assesses five domains: social integration; productivity; consumption; access to services; and political engagement, in the year prior to first psychiatric admission (T1) and the year prior to interview (T2) from which a total score at each time point can be calculated. AIMS: To establish the validity, reliability, and acceptability of the SInQUE in individuals with a broad range of psychiatric diagnoses receiving care from community mental health services and its utility for mental health staff. METHOD: Participants were 192 mental health service users with psychosis, personality disorder, or common mental disorder (e.g., depression, anxiety) who completed the SInQUE alongside other validated outcome measures. Test-retest reliability was assessed in a sub-sample of 30 participants and inter-rater reliability was assessed in 11 participants. SInQUE ratings of 28 participants were compared with those of a sibling with no experience of mental illness to account for shared socio-cultural factors. Acceptability and utility of the tool were assessed using completion rates and focus groups with staff. RESULTS: The SInQUE demonstrated acceptable convergent validity. The total score and the Social Integration domain score were strongly correlated with quality of life, both in the full sample and in the three diagnostic groups. Discriminant validity and test-retest reliability were established across all domains, although the test-retest reliability on scores for the Service Access and Political Engagement domains prior to first admission to hospital (T1) was lower than other domains. Inter-rater reliability was excellent for all domains at T1 and T2. CONCLUSIONS: The component ...
This is the final version. Available on open access from MDPI via the DOI in this record ; Expanding populations and increased urbanisation are causing a strain on cities worldwide as they become more frequently and more severely affected by extreme weather conditions. Critical services and infrastructure are feeling increasing pressure to be maintained in a sustainable way under these combined stresses. Methods to better cope with these demanding factors are greatly needed now, and with the predicted impacts of climate change, further adaptation will become essential for the future. All cities comprise a complex of interdependent systems representing critical operations that cannot function properly independently, or be fully understood in isolation of one another. The consequences of localised flooding can become much more widespread due to the inter-relation of these connected systems. Due to reliance upon one another and this connectedness, an all-encompassing assessment is appropriate. Different model representations are available for different services and integrating these enables consideration of these cascading effects. In the case study city of Bristol, 1D and 2D hydraulic modelling predicting the location and severity of flooding has been used in conjunction with modelling of road traffic and energy supply by linking models established for these respective sectors. This enables identification of key vulnerabilities to prioritise resources and enhance city resilience against future sea-level rise and the more intense rainfall conditions anticipated. ; European Union Horizon 2020
To assess whether the spread of infection with HIV can be reduced by changes in behaviour among groups most at risk because of their sexual practices sexual behaviour was monitored among 1050 homosexual men tested for HIV infection at a genitourinary medicine clinic in west London from November 1984 to September 1987. Four cohorts, defined by date of presentation, were studied by questionnaire at their presentation, and blood samples were analysed. Between the first and last cohorts there was a considerable fall in the proportion reporting casual relationships (291/329 (88%) v 107/213 (50%] and high risk activities, such as anoreceptive intercourse with casual partners (262/291 (90%) v 74/106 (70%], with the greatest changes occurring before the government information campaign began in 1986. Nevertheless, half of the men in the last cohort studied reported having casual partners. Multiple logistic regression showed that behavioural risk factors for HIV infection most closely resembled those for hepatitis B and that previous sexually transmitted diseases (syphilis, hepatitis B, and anogenital herpes) were themselves independent risk factors. A history of syphilis ranked above anoreceptive intercourse as the strongest predictor of HIV infection. Actively bisexual men showed a much lower prevalence of HIV infection (3/57, 5%) than exclusively homosexual men (113/375, 30%). Sexual behaviour among homosexual men changed during the period studied, and the incidence of HIV infection fell, although more education programmes directed at homosexual men are needed to re-emphasise the dangers of infection.
We describe a new octoploid species of African clawed frog (Xenopus) from the Lendu Plateau in the northern Albertine Rift of eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo. This species is the sister taxon of Xenopus vestitus (another octoploid), but is distinguished by a unique morphology, vocalization and molecular divergence in mitochondrial and autosomal DNA. Using a comprehensive genetic sample, we provide new information on the species ranges and intra-specific diversity of African clawed frogs from the Albertine Rift, including the details of a small range extension for the critically endangered Xenopus itombwensis and previously uncharacterized variation in Xenopus laevis. We also detail a new method for generating cytogenetic preparations in the field that can be stored at room temperature for up to 3 weeks. While extending our understanding of the extant diversity in the Albertine Rift, this new species highlights components of species diversity in ancestral African clawed frogs that are not represented by known extant descendants.
This is the final version of the article. Available from the publisher via the DOI in this record. ; Water, energy, food, land and climate form a tightly-connected nexus in which actions on one sector impact other sectors, creating feedbacks and unanticipated consequences. This is especially because at present, much scientific research and many policies are constrained to single discipline/sector silos that are often not interacting (e.g., water-related research/policy). However, experimenting with the interaction and determining how a change in one sector could impact another may require unreasonable time frames, be very difficult in practice and may be potentially dangerous, triggering any one of a number of unanticipated side-effects. Current modelling often neglects knowledge from practice. Therefore, a safe environment is required to test the potential cross-sectoral implications of policy decisions in one sector on other sectors. Serious games offer such an environment by creating realistic 'simulations', where long-term impacts of policies may be tested and rated. This paper describes how the ongoing (2016-2020) Horizon2020 project SIM4NEXUS will develop serious games investigating potential plausible cross-nexus implications and synergies due to policy interventions for 12 multi-scale case studies ranging from regional to global. What sets these games apart is that stakeholders and partners are involved in all aspects of the modelling definition and process, from case study conceptualisation, quantitative model development including the implementation and validation of each serious game. Learning from playing a serious game is justified by adopting a proof-of-concept for a specific regional case study in Sardinia (Italy). The value of multi-stakeholder involvement is demonstrated, and critical lessons learned for serious game development in general are presented. ; The work described in this paper has been conducted within the project SIM4NEXUS. This project has received funding from the European Union's Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under Grant Agreement No. 689150 SIM4NEXUS.
