The changing nature of financial management in local government 1980-85, with particular reference to a rate capped authority.

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The role of risk assessment in supporting a positive organisational safety culture

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Applying a public policy evaluation methodology for local socio-economic impacts: an exploration in realistic modelling

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Reporting and managing risk:a look at current practice at Tesco, RBS, local and central government

These case studies from CIMA highlight the need to embed risk management within more easily understood behaviours, consistent with the overall organisational culture. In each case, some form of internal audit team provides either an oversight function or acts as an expert link in that feedback loop. Frontline staff, managers and specialists should be completely aligned on risk, in part just to ensure that there is a consistency of approach. They should understand instinctively that good performance includes good risk management. Tesco has continued to thrive during the recession and remains a robust and efficient group of businesses despite the emergence of potential threats around consumer spending and the supply chain. RBS, by contrast, has suffered catastrophic and very public failures of risk management despite a large in-house function and stiff regulation of risk controls. Birmingham City Council, like all local authorities, is adapting to more commercial modes of operation and is facing diverse threats and opportunities emerging as a result of social change. And DCMS, like many other public sector organisations, has to handle an incredibly complex network of delivery partners within the context of a relatively recent overhaul of central government risk management processes. Key Findings: •Risk management is no longer solely a financial discipline, nor is it simply a concern for the internal control function. •Where organisations retain a discrete risk management cadre – often specialists at monitoring and evaluating a range of risks – their success is dependent on embedding risk awareness in the wider culture of the enterprise. •Risk management is most successful when it is explicitly linked to operational performance. •Clear leadership, specific goals, excellent influencing skills and open-mindedness to potential threats and opportunities are essential for effective risk management. •Bureaucratic processes and systems can hamper good risk management – either as a result of a ‘box-ticking mentality’ or because managers and staff believe they do not need to consider risk themselves.

From bilateral to trilateral governance in local government contracting in France

In France, the tradition of contracting out local public services has been predominantly one of partnership and co-operation rather than competition and antagonism. However, in recent years the traditional approach has come under intense criticism, something which has far-reaching implications for public-private governance. Adopting the socio-legal approach to the study of contract governance set out by Peter Vincent-Jones, this paper explores the discrepancy between descriptions of a traditional French approach to local public services governance, in which the bilateral values of trust and co-operation are emphasized, and a new discourse of local public services governance, which argues for detailed contract planning and close contract monitoring. It is argued that this discrepancy reveals the beginning of a shift in the governance of public service exchange relationships from relatively noncontractual and bilateral to relatively contractual and trilateral. The French case highlights the importance of regulatory and accountability frameworks to the manner in which contracting parties perceive exchange governance. © Blackwell Publishing Ltd. 2005.

Agitation conditions for the culture and detachment of hMSCs from microcarriers in multiple bioreactor platforms

In our recent work in different bioreactors up to 2.5L in scale, we have successfully cultured hMSCs using the minimum agitator speed required for complete microcarrier suspension, N JS. In addition, we also reported a scaleable protocol for the detachment from microcarriers in spinner flasks of hMSCs from two donors. The essence of the protocol is the use of a short period of intense agitation in the presence of enzymes such that the cells are detached; but once detachment is achieved, the cells are smaller than the Kolmogorov scale of turbulence and hence not damaged. Here, the same approach has been effective for culture at N JS and detachment in-situ in 15mL ambr™ bioreactors, 100mL spinner flasks and 250mL Dasgip bioreactors. In these experiments, cells from four different donors were used along with two types of microcarrier with and without surface coatings (two types), four different enzymes and three different growth media (with and without serum), a total of 22 different combinations. In all cases after detachment, the cells were shown to retain their desired quality attributes and were able to proliferate. This agitation strategy with respect to culture and harvest therefore offers a sound basis for a wide range of scales of operation.

The development of functional astrocyte-neuron networks derived from stem cells

There is currently great scientific and medical interest in the potential of tissue grown from stem cells. These cells present opportunities for generating model systems for drug screening and toxicological testing which would be expected to be more relevant to human outcomes than animal based tissue preparations. Newly realised astrocytic roles in the brain have fundamental implications within the context of stem cell derived neuronal networks. If the aim of stem cell neuroscience is to generate functional neuronal networks that behave as networks do in the brain, then it becomes clear that we must include and understand all the cellular components that comprise that network, and which are important to support synaptic integrity and cell to cell signalling. We have shown that stem cell derived neurons exhibit spontaneous and coordinated calcium elevations in clusters and in extended processes, indicating local and long distance signalling (1). Tetrodotoxin sensitive network activity could also be evoked by electrical stimulation. Similarly, astrocytes exhibit morphology and functional properties consistent with this glial cell type. Astrocytes also respond to neuronal activity and to exogenously applied neurotransmitters with calcium elevations, and in contrast to neurons, also exhibited spontaneous rhythmic calcium oscillations. Astroctyes also generate propagating calcium waves that are gap junction and purinergic signalling dependent. Our results show that stem cell derived astrocytes exhibit appropriate functionality and that stem cell neuronal networks interact with astrocytic networks in co-culture. Using mixed cultures of stem cell derived neurons and astrocytes, we have also shown both cell types also modulate their glucose uptake, glycogen turnover and lactate production in response to glutamate as well as increased neuronal activity (2). This finding is consistent with their neuron-astrocyte metabolic coupling thus demonstrating a tractable human model, which will facilitate the study of the metabolic coupling between neurons and astrocytes and its relationship with CNS functional issues ranging from plasticity to neurodegeneration. Indeed, cultures treated with oligomers of amyloid beta 1-42 (Aβ1-42) also display a clear hypometabolism, particularly with regard to utilization of substrates such as glucose (3). Both co-cultures of neurons and astrocytes and purified cultures of astrocytes showed a significant decrease in glucose uptake after treatment with 2 and 0.2 μmol/L Aβ at all time points investigated (p <0.01). In addition, a significant increase in the glycogen content of cells was also measured. Mixed neuron and astrocyte co-cultures as well as pure astrocyte cultures showed an initial decrease in glycogen levels at 6 hours compared with control at 0.2 μmol/L and 2 μmol/L P <0.01. These changes were accompanied by changes in NAD+/NADH (P<0.05), ATP (P<0.05), and glutathione levels (P<0.05), suggesting a disruption in the energy-redox axis within these cultures. The high energy demands associated with neuronal functions such as memory formation and protection from oxidative stress put these cells at particular risk from Aβ-induced hypometabolism. As numerous cell types interact in the brain it is important that any in vitro model developed reflects this arrangement. Our findings indicate that stem cell derived neuron and astrocyte networks can communicate, and so have the potential to interact in a tripartite manner as is seen in vivo. This study therefore lays the foundation for further development of stem cell derived neurons and astrocytes into therapeutic cell replacement and human toxicology/disease models. More recently our data provides evidence for a detrimental effect of Aβ on carbohydrate metabolism in both neurons and astrocytes. As a purely in vitro system, human stem cell models can be readily manipulated and maintained in culture for a period of months without the use of animals. In our laboratory cultures can be maintained in culture for up to 12 months months thus providing the opportunity to study the consequences of these changes over extended periods of time relevant to aspects of the disease progression time frame in vivo. In addition, their human origin provides a more realistic in vitro model as well as informing other human in vitro models such as patient-derived iPSC.

Culture, ethnicity and migration after communism:the Pontic Greeks

This book addresses the issue of emerging transnationalism in the conditions of post-socialism through focussing on migrants’ identity as a social construction resulting from their experience of the ‘transnational circuit of culture’ as well as from post-Soviet shifts in political and economic conditions in their home regions. Popov draws upon ethnographic research conducted among Greek transnational migrants living on the Black Sea coast and in the North Caucasus regions of Russia who have become involved in extensive cross-border migration between the former Soviet Union (the Russian Federation, Kazakhstan and Georgia) and Greece (as well as Cyprus). It is estimated that more than 150,000 former Soviet citizens of Greek origin have resettled in Greece since the late 1980s. Yet, many of those who emigrate do not cut their connections with the home communities in Russia but instead establish their own transnational circuit of travel between Greece and Russia. This study demonstrates how migrants employ their ethnicity as symbolic capital available for investment in profitable transnational migration. Simultaneously they rework their practices of family networking, property relations and political participation in a way which strengthens their attachment to the local territory. The findings presented in the book imply that the social identities, economic strategies, political practices and cultural representation of the Russian Greeks are all deeply embedded in the shifting social and cultural landscape of post-Soviet Russia and extensively influenced by the global movement of ideas, goods and people.

Determinants of local government pension funding: Empirical evidence from Florida

The financial community is well aware that continued underfunding of state and local government pension plans poses many public policy and fiduciary management concerns. However, a well-defined theoretical rationale has not been developed to explain why and how public sector pension plans underfund. This study uses three methods: a survey of national pension experts, an incomplete covariance panel method, and field interviews.^ A survey of national public sector pension experts was conducted to provide a conceptual framework by which underfunding could be evaluated. Experts suggest that plan design, fiscal stress, and political culture factors impact underfunding. However, experts do not agree with previous research findings that unions actively pursue underfunding to secure current wage increases.^ Within the conceptual framework and determinants identified by experts, several empirical regularities are documented for the first time. Analysis of 173 local government pension plans, observed from 1987 to 1992, was conducted. Findings indicate that underfunding occurs in plans that have lower retirement ages, increased costs due to benefit enhancements, when the sponsor faces current year operating deficits, or when a local government relies heavily on inelastic revenue sources. Results also suggest that elected officials artificially inflate interest rate assumptions to reduce current pension costs, consequently shifting these costs to future generations. In concurrence with some experts there is no data to support the assumption that highly unionized employees secure more funding than less unionized employees.^ Empirical results provide satisfactory but not overwhelming statistical power, and only minor predictive capacity. To further explore why underfunding occurs, field interviews were carried out with 62 local government officials. Practitioners indicated that perceived fiscal stress, the willingness of policymakers to advance funding, bargaining strategies used by union officials, apathy by employees and retirees, pension board composition, and the level of influence by internal pension experts has an impact on funding outcomes.^ A pension funding process model was posited by triangulating the expert survey, empirical findings, and field survey results. The funding process model should help shape and refine our theoretical knowledge of state and local government pension underfunding in the future. ^

Without women: Masculinities, gay male sexual culture and sexual behaviors in Miami, Florida

Recent studies have reported alarmingly high rates of HIV infection and risky sexual behaviors among gay men in Miami, Florida. Previous research has suggested that the risky sexual behaviors of many gay men reflect the pursuit of intimacy and love, and that barriers to intimate relationships among gay men may stem from traditional masculinity norms. This dissertation examines the meanings which gay men ascribe to their sexual behaviors, as well as the intersections of those meanings with both traditional masculinity constructions and Miami's gay male sexual culture. ^ The study is based upon participant observation, print media content analysis, surveys and ethnographic interviews of a purposive snowball sample of 30 Cuban American, Puerto Rican, African American and Anglo gay men who reside in Miami-Dade County, Florida. Analysis of research questions was accomplished through grounded theory methods and descriptive and non-parametric statistics, including Pearson chi-square, Fisher's Exact and Mann-Whitney U tests. ^ The study shows that culturally-specified masculinity norms vary in the relative importance ascribed to heterosexual prowess, economic providership and competitiveness. These cultural differences appear important not only to the timing of sexual awareness and to the strength of homosexual stereotyping as effeminacy, but also to men's strategies in coming out as gay. The meanings men attributed to their sexual behaviors were, however, constructed in response to both inherited masculinity norms and the hypermasculine structure of Miami's gay male sexual culture. In addition to providing an ethnographic account of this subculture, the study elaborates men's issues relative to casual sex and committed relationships. Unprotected anal intercourse with casual partners during the previous twelve months was associated with growing up without one's father in the home, having been teased for effeminacy during childhood, being defensive about one's masculinity, not trusting men, having been cheated on by boyfriends, and believing that long-term gay male relationships are problematic. ^ It is concluded that the continuing epidemic of HIV infections among local gay men, as well as the hypermasculine form of the gay sexual subculture itself, are nihilistic symptoms embedded in the masculinist gender structure of the larger society. ^

The socialization of adjunct faculty into the academic culture of a public community college campus

This study investigated the socialization of adjunct faculty into the academic culture of a community college campus. Because of the increased utilization of adjunct faculty, the need to socialize them to effectively function within the organizational culture has become more acute. A review of the literature revealed that when employees are socialized, they are more committed to the goals and welfare of the organization, are less likely to leave the organization, and are more productive and innovative. Therefore, it is important that administrators have programs and practices in place that would help to integrate adjunct faculty into the academic culture. The model of organizational socialization (Chao, O'Leary-Kelly, Wolf, Klein, & Gardner, 1994) formed the framework for this study, which was guided by the following research questions: How do adjunct faculty members describe their socialization into the culture of their college campus? How do administrators describe their roles and that of the organization in the socialization of adjunct faculty members? What organizational programs and activities are in place for the socialization of adjunct faculty? The North Campus of Miami Dade College was the site for this study, as it is a campus with a long history of utilizing adjunct faculty members and one that has a clearly-stated mission of adjunct faculty socialization. A qualitative case study method was used, and data collection included interviews and the review and analysis of institutional documents. The participants included 11 adjunct faculty members, 4 department chairpersons, the campus president, and the college training and development coordinator. The study revealed that there were structured and consistent professional development programs, but these conflicted with the schedules of adjunct faculty. Overall, adjunct faculty found support from the leadership; however, they revealed a need for more mentoring, more interactions with full-time faculty, and more input in decision making concerning textbooks and curricula. Implications and recommendations for practice include making professional development more accessible and relevant to adjunct faculty, developing a formal mentoring program where full-time faculty and veteran adjunct faculty mentor novice adjunct faculty, and involving adjuncts in decisions regarding curriculum and textbook selection.

COMUNICAÇÃO E CULTURA LOCAL NA RÁDIO COMUNITÁRIA BOA NOVA FM EM SENHORA DE OLIVEIRA, MG

Estudo sobre a Rádio Comunitária Boa Nova FM do município de Senhora de Oliveira-MG, no que se refere às suas configurações e as relações com a comunidade local. Os objetivos são identificar o sistema de funcionamento da rádio comunitária como forma de compreender até que ponto ela se insere no cotidiano oliveirense e articula a movimentação local, sobretudo em períodos eleitorais; averiguar o tipo de informação veiculada; observar o sentimento dos ouvintes em relação à mesma. O estudo se baseia em pesquisa bibliográfica para tecer as teorias e nortear todo o processo de pesquisa e no estudo de caso por meio de procedimentos metodológicos como a pesquisa documental, a pesquisa participante e entrevistas semi-estruturadas, além de uma pesquisa de recepção junto aos ouvintes. Conclui-se que a rádio Boa Nova, que convive harmoniosamente com a comunicação comunitária estabelecida também pelo alto falante, articula de forma simplória a informação e a cultura local em suas práticas, pois há reprodução de conteúdo da mídia convencional, além de não haver uma participação ampla da associação comunitária que é sua mantenedora. Apesar da falta de conhecimento técnico da maioria dos locutores e da relação político partidária presente na emissora, há compatibilidade entre o que a rádio veicula e o interesse dos ouvintes

Patterns of local R&D cooperation of foreign subsidiaries in an intermediate country: innovative and structural factors

We attempt to contribute to a better understanding of cooperative innovation patterns of foreign subsidiaries (FS) in Spain as a representative intermediate country, going deeply into three main aspects: firstly, a sectoral taxonomy which combines international technological dynamism and revealed technological advantage as a way to understand such patterns. Secondly we focus our attention on innovative intensive subsidiaries, assuming they are the most important ones for hosting countries. Thirdly, we combine innovation and structural-competitive variables to explain local cooperation. We found more intense cooperation of FS with local agents in dynamic specialization sectors, as well as the fact that this is mostly carried out in a complementary mode with inner knowledge capabilities of the companies. Cooperative activities are influenced by economicstructural factors of the Spanish economy, particularly in highly innovative companies. Cooperative strategies of domestic firms might also have an influence on those of foreign subsidiaries.

The transition movement and food sovereignty: from local resilience to global engagement in food system transformation

The emergence of grassroots social movements variously preoccupied with a range of external threats, such as diminishing supplies of fossil energy or climate change, has led to increased interest in the production of local food. Drawing upon the notion of cognitive praxis, this article utilises transition as a trajectory guided by an overarching cosmology that brings together a broad social movement seeking a more resilient future. This ‘grand narrative’ is reinforced by ‘transition movement intellectuals’ who serve to shape an agenda of local preparedness in the face of uncertainty, rather than structural analysis of the global system. In this context, growing and producing food offers important multi-functional synergies by reconnecting people to place and its ecological endowments and serves to provide a vital element in civic mobilisation. Yet, local food could also become a means to build international solidarity in defence of food sovereignty and establish a global coalition opposed to the corporate agri-food agenda of biotechnologies, land grabbing and nutritional impoverishment.

Beyond the Convent Walls: The Local and Japan-wide Activities of Daihongan’s Nuns in the Early Modern Period (c. 1550–1868)

This dissertation examines the social and financial activities of Buddhist nuns to demonstrate how and why they deployed Buddhist doctrines, rituals, legends, and material culture to interact with society outside the convent. By examining the activities of the nuns of the Daihongan convent (one of the two administrative heads of the popular pilgrimage temple, Zenkōji) in Japan’s early modern period (roughly 1550 to 1868) as documented in the convent’s rich archival sources, I shed further light on the oft-overlooked political and financial activities of nuns, illustrate how Buddhist institutions interacted with the laity, provide further nuance to the discussion of how Buddhist women navigated patriarchal sectarian and secular hierarchies, and, within the field of Japanese history, give voice to women who were active outside of the household unit around which early modern Japanese society was organized.

Zenkōji temple, surrounded by the mountains of Nagano, has been one of Japan’s most popular pilgrimage sites since the medieval period. The abbesses of Daihongan, one Zenkōji’s main sub-temples, traveled widely to maintain connections with elite and common laypeople, participated in frequent country-wide displays of Zenkōji’s icon, and oversaw the creation of branch temples in Edo (now Tokyo), Osaka, Echigo (now Niigata), and Shinano (now Nagano). The abbesses of Daihongan were one of only a few women to hold the imperially sanctioned title of eminent person (shōnin 上人) and to wear purple robes. While this means that this Pure Land convent was in some ways not representative of all convents in early modern Japan, Daihongan’s position is particularly instructive because the existence of nuns and monks in a single temple complex allows us to see in detail how monastics of both genders interacted in close quarters.

This work draws heavily from the convent’s archival materials, which I used as a guide in framing my dissertation chapters. In the Introduction I discuss previous works on women in Buddhism. In Chapter 1, I briefly discuss the convent’s history and its place within the Zenkōji temple complex. In Chapter 2, I examine the convent’s regular economic bases and its expenditures. In Chapter 3, I highlight Daihongan’s branch temples and discuss the ways that they acted as nodes in a network connecting people in various areas to Daihongan and Zenkōji, thus demonstrating how a rural religious center extended its sphere of influence in urban settings. In Chapter 4, I discuss the nuns’ travels throughout the country to generate new and maintain old connections with the imperial court in Kyoto, confraternities in Osaka, influential women in the shogun’s castle, and commoners in Edo. In Chapter 5, I examine the convent’s reliance upon irregular means of income such as patronage, temple lotteries, loans, and displays of treasures, and how these were needed to balance irregular expenditures such as travel and the maintenance or reconstruction of temple buildings. Throughout the dissertation I describe Daihongan’s inner social structure comprised of abbesses, nuns, and administrators, and its local emplacement within Zenkōji and Zenkōji’s temple lands.

Exploring these themes sheds light on the lives of Japanese Buddhist nuns in this period. While the tensions between freedom and agency on the one hand and obligations to patrons, subordination to monks, or gender- and status-based restrictions on the other are important, and I discuss them in my work, my primary focus is on the nuns’ activities and lives. Doing so demonstrates that nuns were central figures in ever-changing economic and social networks as they made and maintained connections with the outside world through Buddhist practices and through precedents set centuries before. This research contributes to our understanding of nuns in Japan’s early modern period and will participate in and shape debates on the roles of women in patriarchal religious hierarchies.