Nursing care practices at an outpatient care center from an integrative perspective

Aim: to analyze nursing care practices at a Specialized Outpatient Care Center from the perspective of an integrative health care activity. Method: Interviews with 24 nursing professionals were undertaken. For data analysis, Thematic Content Analysis as proposed by Bardin was applied, resulting in the following themes: the team size and its commitment to health care; professional practices and activity of the nursing team. Results: The size of the nursing team was considered insufficient, which compromises the quality of care and results in work overload and dissatisfaction of the nursing professionals. On the other hand, they were satisfied with the tasks performed day-to-day and related integrality to individual care, considered it essential and usually practiced it daily. Conclusion: It is considered that the nursing team has the potential and commitment to develop their care practice combined with the integrative perspective, and therefore providing quality health care to the population.

Work Precariousness and Risk of Accidents in Civil Construction: A study based on the Collective Work Analysis

This paper aims to describe the construction workers' activities, as well as their perceptions about risks and workload. The study, based on the Collective Work Analysis, is part of a broader public policies project for the improvement of SIVAT (Surveillance System of Work Accidents) - in the city of Piracicaba (Southeastern Brazil). Civil construction was prioritized given the epidemiological magnitude of the occurrence of work accidents and the limited efficacy of traditional surveillance initiatives in this sector due to informal employment practices, outsourcing, high staff turnover, etc. The workers have a high level of awareness concerning the risk of accidents, but they believe that the main preventive measures hinder or even make it impossible for them to carry out the tasks. Our findings question the efficacy of traditional training for adherence to safety practices, thus highlighting the need for a transformative pedagogy for preventive practices and the health promotion of workers.

Psychosocial and clinical predictors of retention in outpatient alcoholism treatment

Objective: One of the factors associated with low rates of compliance in the treatment for alcoholism seems to be the intensity of craving for alcohol. This study aimed to evaluate the associations between alcohol craving and biopsychosocial addiction model-related variables and to verify whether these variables could predict treatment retention. Methods: The sample consisted of 257 male alcoholics who were enrolled in two different pharmacological trials conducted at the Universidade de Sao Paulo in Brazil. Based on four factors measured at baseline - biological (age, race, and family alcoholism), psychiatric (depression symptoms), social (financial and marital status), and addiction (craving intensity, severity of alcohol dependence, smoking status, drinking history, preferential beverage, daily intake of alcohol before treatment) - direct logistic regression was performed to analyze these factors' influence on treatment retention after controlling for medication groups and AA attendance. Results: Increasing age, participation in Alcoholics Anonymous groups, and beer preference among drinkers were independently associated with higher treatment retention. Conversely, higher scores for depression increased dropout rates. Conclusion: Health services should identify the treatment practices and therapists that improve retention. Information about patients' characteristics linked to dropouts should be studied to render treatment programs more responsive and attractive, combining pharmacological agents with more intensive and diversified psychosocial interventions.

Environmental management in ethanol and sugarcane plants in Brazil

There has been much discussion on the importance of Brazilian ethanol in promoting a more sustainable society. However, there is a lack of analysis of whether sugarcane plants/factories that produce this ethanol are environmentally suitable. Thus, the objective of this study was to analyse stages of environmental management at four Brazilian ethanol-producing plants, examining the management practices adopted and the factors behind this adoption. The results indicate that (1) only one of the four plants is in the environmentally proactive stage; (2) all plants are adopting operational and organisational environmental management practices; (3) all plants have problems in communicating environmental management practices; and (4) the plant with the most advanced environmental management makes intense use of communication practices and is strongly oriented towards a more environmentally aware international market. This paper is an attempt to explain the complex relationship between the evolution of environmental management, environmental practices and motivation using a framework. The implications for society, plant directors and scholars are described, as well as the study's limitations.

Analysis of the interplay between knowledge and performance management in industrial clusters

The concept of industrial clustering has been studied in-depth by policy makers and researchers from many fields, mainly due to the competitive advantages it may bring to regional economies. Companies often take part in collaborative initiatives with local partners while also taking advantage of knowledge spillovers to benefit from locating in a cluster. Thus, Knowledge Management (KM) and Performance Management (PM) have become relevant topics for policy makers and cluster associations when undertaking collaborative initiatives. Taking this into account, this paper aims to explore the interplay between both topics using a case study conducted in a collaborative network formed within a cluster. The results show that KM should be acknowledged as a formal area of cluster management so that PM practices can support knowledge-oriented initiatives and therefore make better use of the new knowledge created. Furthermore, tacit and explicit knowledge resulting from PM practices needs to be stored and disseminated throughout the cluster as a way of improving managerial practices and regional strategic direction. Knowledge Management Research & Practice (2012) 10, 368-379. doi:10.1057/kmrp.2012.23

Conceptual and Experimental Directions for Analyzing Superstition in the Behavioral Analysis of Culture

This paper examines the notions of illusions and beliefs, discussing some advantages offered by the study of these phenomena based on the concepts of superstitious behavior, superstition and superstitious rules. Among these advantages, the study highlights the possibility of researching these relationships in different levels of analysis, not only at the individual level, focusing on cultural level, this paper presents Cultural Materialism as an anthropological proposal for the consideration of these phenomena on the cultural level and based on adaptive principles, besides it discusses the experimental analysis of cultural practices and points Out how they can help to understand how people in groups behave such as they are being effective in the control of the surrounding environment (when, sometimes, in fact, they are not). The paper offers an integrative proposal which makes easier behavior analysts' dialogue with social psychologists and offers some routes from cultural analysis of illusions and beliefs.

Too Big to Ignore: Global Partnership on Small-Scale Fisheries Research - the Latin America and Caribbean network

Too Big to Ignore (TBTI; www.toobigtoignore.net) is a research network and knowledge mobilization partnership established to elevate the profile of small-scale fisheries (SSF), to argue against their marginalization in national and international policies, and to develop research and governance capacity to address global fisheries challenges. Network participants and partners are conducting global and comparative analyses, as well as in-depth studies of SSF in the context of local complexity and dynamics, along with a thorough examination of governance challenges, to encourage careful consideration of this sector in local, regional and global policy arenas. Comprising 15 partners and 62 researchers from 27 countries, TBTI conducts activities in five regions of the world. In Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC) region, we are taking a participative approach to investigate and promote stewardship and self-governance in SSF, seeking best practices and success stories that could be replicated elsewhere. As well, the region will focus to promote sustainable livelihoods of coastal communities. Key activities include workshops and stakeholder meetings, facilitation of policy dialogue and networking, as well as assessing local capacity needs and training. Currently, LAC members are putting together publications that examine key issues concerning SSF in the region and best practices, with a first focus on ecosystem stewardship. Other planned deliverables include comparative analysis, a regional profile on the top research issues on SSF, and a synthesis of SSF knowledge in LAC

The firm. Techno-organizational changes, industrial relations and performances. An enquiry on Reggio Emilia local industrial system

It is not unknown that the evolution of firm theories has been developed along a path paved by an increasing awareness of the organizational structure importance. From the early “neoclassical” conceptualizations that intended the firm as a rational actor whose aim is to produce that amount of output, given the inputs at its disposal and in accordance to technological or environmental constraints, which maximizes the revenue (see Boulding, 1942 for a past mid century state of the art discussion) to the knowledge based theory of the firm (Nonaka & Takeuchi, 1995; Nonaka & Toyama, 2005), which recognizes in the firm a knnowledge creating entity, with specific organizational capabilities (Teece, 1996; Teece & Pisano, 1998) that allow to sustaine competitive advantages. Tracing back a map of the theory of the firm evolution, taking into account the several perspectives adopted in the history of thought, would take the length of many books. Because of that a more fruitful strategy is circumscribing the focus of the description of the literature evolution to one flow connected to a crucial question about the nature of firm’s behaviour and about the determinants of competitive advantages. In so doing I adopt a perspective that allows me to consider the organizational structure of the firm as an element according to which the different theories can be discriminated. The approach adopted starts by considering the drawbacks of the standard neoclassical theory of the firm. Discussing the most influential theoretical approaches I end up with a close examination of the knowledge based perspective of the firm. Within this perspective the firm is considered as a knowledge creating entity that produce and mange knowledge (Nonaka, Toyama, & Nagata, 2000; Nonaka & Toyama, 2005). In a knowledge intensive organization, knowledge is clearly embedded for the most part in the human capital of the individuals that compose such an organization. In a knowledge based organization, the management, in order to cope with knowledge intensive productions, ought to develop and accumulate capabilities that shape the organizational forms in a way that relies on “cross-functional processes, extensive delayering and empowerment” (Foss 2005, p.12). This mechanism contributes to determine the absorptive capacity of the firm towards specific technologies and, in so doing, it also shape the technological trajectories along which the firm moves. After having recognized the growing importance of the firm’s organizational structure in the theoretical literature concerning the firm theory, the subsequent point of the analysis is that of providing an overview of the changes that have been occurred at micro level to the firm’s organization of production. The economic actors have to deal with challenges posed by processes of internationalisation and globalization, increased and increasing competitive pressure of less developed countries on low value added production activities, changes in technologies and increased environmental turbulence and volatility. As a consequence, it has been widely recognized that the main organizational models of production that fitted well in the 20th century are now partially inadequate and processes aiming to reorganize production activities have been widespread across several economies in recent years. Recently, the emergence of a “new” form of production organization has been proposed both by scholars, practitioners and institutions: the most prominent characteristic of such a model is its recognition of the importance of employees commitment and involvement. As a consequence it is characterized by a strong accent on the human resource management and on those practices that aim to widen the autonomy and responsibility of the workers as well as increasing their commitment to the organization (Osterman, 1994; 2000; Lynch, 2007). This “model” of production organization is by many defined as High Performance Work System (HPWS). Despite the increasing diffusion of workplace practices that may be inscribed within the concept of HPWS in western countries’ companies, it is an hazard, to some extent, to speak about the emergence of a “new organizational paradigm”. The discussion about organizational changes and the diffusion of HPWP the focus cannot abstract from a discussion about the industrial relations systems, with a particular accent on the employment relationships, because of their relevance, in the same way as production organization, in determining two major outcomes of the firm: innovation and economic performances. The argument is treated starting from the issue of the Social Dialogue at macro level, both in an European perspective and Italian perspective. The model of interaction between the social parties has repercussions, at micro level, on the employment relationships, that is to say on the relations between union delegates and management or workers and management. Finding economic and social policies capable of sustaining growth and employment within a knowledge based scenario is likely to constitute the major challenge for the next generation of social pacts, which are the main social dialogue outcomes. As Acocella and Leoni (2007) put forward the social pacts may constitute an instrument to trade wage moderation for high intensity in ICT, organizational and human capital investments. Empirical evidence, especially focused on the micro level, about the positive relation between economic growth and new organizational designs coupled with ICT adoption and non adversarial industrial relations is growing. Partnership among social parties may become an instrument to enhance firm competitiveness. The outcome of the discussion is the integration of organizational changes and industrial relations elements within a unified framework: the HPWS. Such a choice may help in disentangling the potential existence of complementarities between these two aspects of the firm internal structure on economic and innovative performance. With the third chapter starts the more original part of the thesis. The data utilized in order to disentangle the relations between HPWS practices, innovation and economic performance refer to the manufacturing firms of the Reggio Emilia province with more than 50 employees. The data have been collected through face to face interviews both to management (199 respondents) and to union representatives (181 respondents). Coupled with the cross section datasets a further data source is constituted by longitudinal balance sheets (1994-2004). Collecting reliable data that in turn provide reliable results needs always a great effort to which are connected uncertain results. Data at micro level are often subjected to a trade off: the wider is the geographical context to which the population surveyed belong the lesser is the amount of information usually collected (low level of resolution); the narrower is the focus on specific geographical context, the higher is the amount of information usually collected (high level of resolution). For the Italian case the evidence about the diffusion of HPWP and their effects on firm performances is still scanty and usually limited to local level studies (Cristini, et al., 2003). The thesis is also devoted to the deepening of an argument of particular interest: the existence of complementarities between the HPWS practices. It has been widely shown by empirical evidence that when HPWP are adopted in bundles they are more likely to impact on firm’s performances than when adopted in isolation (Ichniowski, Prennushi, Shaw, 1997). Is it true also for the local production system of Reggio Emilia? The empirical analysis has the precise aim of providing evidence on the relations between the HPWS dimensions and the innovative and economic performances of the firm. As far as the first line of analysis is concerned it must to be stressed the fundamental role that innovation plays in the economy (Geroski & Machin, 1993; Stoneman & Kwoon 1994, 1996; OECD, 2005; EC, 2002). On this point the evidence goes from the traditional innovations, usually approximated by R&D investment expenditure or number of patents, to the introduction and adoption of ICT, in the recent years (Brynjolfsson & Hitt, 2000). If innovation is important then it is critical to analyse its determinants. In this work it is hypothesised that organizational changes and firm level industrial relations/employment relations aspects that can be put under the heading of HPWS, influence the propensity to innovate in product, process and quality of the firm. The general argument may goes as follow: changes in production management and work organization reconfigure the absorptive capacity of the firm towards specific technologies and, in so doing, they shape the technological trajectories along which the firm moves; cooperative industrial relations may lead to smother adoption of innovations, because not contrasted by unions. From the first empirical chapter emerges that the different types of innovations seem to respond in different ways to the HPWS variables. The underlying processes of product, process and quality innovations are likely to answer to different firm’s strategies and needs. Nevertheless, it is possible to extract some general results in terms of the most influencing HPWS factors on innovative performance. The main three aspects are training coverage, employees involvement and the diffusion of bonuses. These variables show persistent and significant relations with all the three innovation types. The same do the components having such variables at their inside. In sum the aspects of the HPWS influence the propensity to innovate of the firm. At the same time, emerges a quite neat (although not always strong) evidence of complementarities presence between HPWS practices. In terns of the complementarity issue it can be said that some specific complementarities exist. Training activities, when adopted and managed in bundles, are related to the propensity to innovate. Having a sound skill base may be an element that enhances the firm’s capacity to innovate. It may enhance both the capacity to absorbe exogenous innovation and the capacity to endogenously develop innovations. The presence and diffusion of bonuses and the employees involvement also spur innovative propensity. The former because of their incentive nature and the latter because direct workers participation may increase workers commitment to the organizationa and thus their willingness to support and suggest inovations. The other line of analysis provides results on the relation between HPWS and economic performances of the firm. There have been a bulk of international empirical studies on the relation between organizational changes and economic performance (Black & Lynch 2001; Zwick 2004; Janod & Saint-Martin 2004; Huselid 1995; Huselid & Becker 1996; Cappelli & Neumark 2001), while the works aiming to capture the relations between economic performance and unions or industrial relations aspects are quite scant (Addison & Belfield, 2001; Pencavel, 2003; Machin & Stewart, 1990; Addison, 2005). In the empirical analysis the integration of the two main areas of the HPWS represent a scarcely exploited approach in the panorama of both national and international empirical studies. As remarked by Addison “although most analysis of workers representation and employee involvement/high performance work practices have been conducted in isolation – while sometimes including the other as controls – research is beginning to consider their interactions” (Addison, 2005, p.407). The analysis conducted exploiting temporal lags between dependent and covariates, possibility given by the merger of cross section and panel data, provides evidence in favour of the existence of HPWS practices impact on firm’s economic performance, differently measured. Although it does not seem to emerge robust evidence on the existence of complementarities among HPWS aspects on performances there is evidence of a general positive influence of the single practices. The results are quite sensible to the time lags, inducing to hypothesize that time varying heterogeneity is an important factor in determining the impact of organizational changes on economic performance. The implications of the analysis can be of help both to management and local level policy makers. Although the results are not simply extendible to other local production systems it may be argued that for contexts similar to the Reggio Emilia province, characterized by the presence of small and medium enterprises organized in districts and by a deep rooted unionism, with strong supporting institutions, the results and the implications here obtained can also fit well. However, a hope for future researches on the subject treated in the present work is that of collecting good quality information over wider geographical areas, possibly at national level, and repeated in time. Only in this way it is possible to solve the Gordian knot about the linkages between innovation, performance, high performance work practices and industrial relations.

Securitization and Special Purpose Vehicles in an International Setting: a Systemic View

The present work tries to display a comprehensive and comparative study of the different legal and regulatory problems involved in international securitization transactions. First, an introduction to securitization is provided, with the basic elements of the transaction, followed by the different varieties of it, including dynamic securitization and synthetic securitization structures. Together with this introduction to the intricacies of the structure, a insight into the influence of securitization in the financial and economic crisis of 2007-2009 is provided too; as well as an overview of the process of regulatory competition and cooperation that constitutes the framework for the international aspects of securitization. The next Chapter focuses on the aspects that constitute the foundations of structured finance: the inception of the vehicle, and the transfer of risks associated to the securitized assets, with particular emphasis on the validity of those elements, and how a securitization transaction could be threatened at its root. In this sense, special importance is given to the validity of the trust as an instrument of finance, to the assignment of future receivables or receivables in block, and to the importance of formalities for the validity of corporations, trusts, assignments, etc., and the interaction of such formalities contained in general corporate, trust and assignment law with those contemplated under specific securitization regulations. Then, the next Chapter (III) focuses on creditor protection aspects. As such, we provide some insights on the debate on the capital structure of the firm, and its inadequacy to assess the financial soundness problems inherent to securitization. Then, we proceed to analyze the importance of rules on creditor protection in the context of securitization. The corollary is in the rules in case of insolvency. In this sense, we divide the cases where a party involved in the transaction goes bankrupt, from those where the transaction itself collapses. Finally, we focus on the scenario where a substance over form analysis may compromise some of the elements of the structure (notably the limited liability of the sponsor, and/or the transfer of assets) by means of veil piercing, substantive consolidation, or recharacterization theories. Once these elements have been covered, the next Chapters focus on the regulatory aspects involved in the transaction. Chapter IV is more referred to “market” regulations, i.e. those concerned with information disclosure and other rules (appointment of the indenture trustee, and elaboration of a rating by a rating agency) concerning the offering of asset-backed securities to the public. Chapter V, on the other hand, focuses on “prudential” regulation of the entity entrusted with securitizing assets (the so-called Special Purpose vehicle), and other entities involved in the process. Regarding the SPV, a reference is made to licensing requirements, restriction of activities and governance structures to prevent abuses. Regarding the sponsor of the transaction, a focus is made on provisions on sound originating practices, and the servicing function. Finally, we study accounting and banking regulations, including the Basel I and Basel II Frameworks, which determine the consolidation of the SPV, and the de-recognition of the securitized asset from the originating company’s balance-sheet, as well as the posterior treatment of those assets, in particular by banks. Chapters VI-IX are concerned with liability matters. Chapter VI is an introduction to the different sources of liability. Chapter VII focuses on the liability by the SPV and its management for the information supplied to investors, the management of the asset pool, and the breach of loyalty (or fiduciary) duties. Chapter VIII rather refers to the liability of the originator as a result of such information and statements, but also as a result of inadequate and reckless originating or servicing practices. Chapter IX finally focuses on third parties entrusted with the soundness of the transaction towards the market, the so-called gatekeepers. In this respect, we make special emphasis on the liability of indenture trustees, underwriters and rating agencies. Chapters X and XI focus on the international aspects of securitization. Chapter X contains a conflicts of laws analysis of the different aspects of structured finance. In this respect, a study is made of the laws applicable to the vehicle, to the transfer of risks (either by assignment or by means of derivatives contracts), to liability issues; and a study is also made of the competent jurisdiction (and applicable law) in bankruptcy cases; as well as in cases where a substance-over-form is performed. Then, special attention is also devoted to the role of financial and securities regulations; as well as to their territorial limits, and extraterritoriality problems involved. Chapter XI supplements the prior Chapter, for it analyzes the limits to the States’ exercise of regulatory power by the personal and “market” freedoms included in the US Constitution or the EU Treaties. A reference is also made to the (still insufficient) rules from the WTO Framework, and their significance to the States’ recognition and regulation of securitization transactions.

Paesaggi agrari. Nuove prospettive per i sistemi territoriali: agricoltura ecologica, saperi tradizionali, scambio locale

Il paesaggio, e così anche il paesaggio agrario, può essere considerato come segno del rapporto uomo/natura, come costrutto storico che testimonia il succedersi delle diverse civilizzazioni che l'hanno generato, ma anche come spazio per l'immaginazione territoriale, come progetto per il futuro del territorio. In questo lavoro si trattano le relazioni tra questa visione del paesaggio e le forme di produzione e consumo dei prodotti agricoli, nell'ambito delle trasformazioni che l'ambito rurale sta subendo a partire dagli ultimi decenni, tra pressione dell'urbano, da un lato, e abbandono e crisi dell'agricoltura, dall'altro. Particolare attenzione è riservata a quelle esperienze che, attraverso la produzione biologica e lo scambio locale, esprimono un nuovo progetto di territorio, che prende avvio dal contesto rurale ma che pervade anche le città, proponendo anche nuove relazioni tra città e campagna. Nelle reti della filiera corta e dell'economia solidale che si concretizzano soprattutto come esperienze “dal basso”, di autogestione e partecipazione, si diffondono insieme prodotti e valori. In quest'ottica la sostenibilità ambientale non appare più come una fonte di limitazioni e esternalità negative, per dirla con il linguaggio dell'economia, ma diventa un valore aggiunto di appartenenza collettiva (equilibri ecologici, paesaggio) e un'occasione per nuove relazioni sociali e territoriali.

Application Platforms for the Internet of Things: Theory, Architecture, Protocols, Data Formats, and Privacy

The Internet of Things (IoT) is the next industrial revolution: we will interact naturally with real and virtual devices as a key part of our daily life. This technology shift is expected to be greater than the Web and Mobile combined. As extremely different technologies are needed to build connected devices, the Internet of Things field is a junction between electronics, telecommunications and software engineering. Internet of Things application development happens in silos, often using proprietary and closed communication protocols. There is the common belief that only if we can solve the interoperability problem we can have a real Internet of Things. After a deep analysis of the IoT protocols, we identified a set of primitives for IoT applications. We argue that each IoT protocol can be expressed in term of those primitives, thus solving the interoperability problem at the application protocol level. Moreover, the primitives are network and transport independent and make no assumption in that regard. This dissertation presents our implementation of an IoT platform: the Ponte project. Privacy issues follows the rise of the Internet of Things: it is clear that the IoT must ensure resilience to attacks, data authentication, access control and client privacy. We argue that it is not possible to solve the privacy issue without solving the interoperability problem: enforcing privacy rules implies the need to limit and filter the data delivery process. However, filtering data require knowledge of how the format and the semantics of the data: after an analysis of the possible data formats and representations for the IoT, we identify JSON-LD and the Semantic Web as the best solution for IoT applications. Then, this dissertation present our approach to increase the throughput of filtering semantic data by a factor of ten.

Influence of plant structure, cultural pratices and environmental conditions on the development of the bacterial canker of kiwifruits

Italy has a preeminent rank in kiwifruit industry, being the first exporter and the second largest producer after China. However, in the last years kiwifruit yields and the total cultivated area considerably decreased, due to the pandemic spread of the bacterial canker caused by Pseudomonas syringae pv. actinidiae (Psa). Several climatic conditions and cultural practices affect the development of the bacterial canker. This research work focused on the impact of agricultural practices and microclimate conditions on the incidence and epidemiology of Psa in the orchard. Therefore, the effect of fertilization, irrigation, use of bio-regulators, rootstock, training system and pruning were examined. The effect of different tunnel systems was analyzed as well, to study the plant-pathogen interaction. Considering the importance of insects as vectors in other pathosystems, the role of Metcalfa pruinosa in the spread of the bacterial canker was investigated in controlled conditions. In addition, quality and storage properties of fruits from infected plants were assessed. The study of all these aspects of the agronomic practices is useful to define a strategy to limit the bacterial diffusion in the orchard. Overall, excess nitrogen fertilization, water stress, stagnant water supplies, pruning before summer and the high number of Metcalfa pruinosa increased the Psa incidence. In contrast, tunnel covers may be useful for the control of the disease, with special attention to the kind of material.

Comparing expectations and experiences of care for sexually transmitted infections in general practice: a qualitative study

Background A key aim of England's National Strategy for Sexual Health is to extend high-quality sexual health services in primary care. Objectives To explore the expectations and experiences of men and women who initially presented at their general practice with a suspected sexually transmitted infection in order to identify areas where change could improve service delivery. Methods Semi-structured interviews were carried out in six general practices and two genitourinary medicine (GUM) clinics in Brent primary care trust (London) and Bristol (southwest England). Patients within general practice, and GUM patients who had initially attended general practice were eligible to participate. Interview transcripts were analysed using thematic analysis. Results 49 patients (29 women, 20 men) were interviewed. Patients approaching their GP practice typically expected written referral or in-house care, but this expectation was often not met. Absence of formal referral, lack of information and perceived avoidance of sexual health matters by practitioners were commonly cited as reasons for disappointment. However, a dedicated service within general practice met expectations well. Conclusion Purchasers and providers of all general practice services should ensure that any patient consulting in primary care with a suspected sexually transmitted infection can either receive appropriate care there, or a formal and supported referral to a specialised GUM clinic or primary care service.

Is hatchery stocking a help or harm? Evidence, limitations and future directions in ecological and genetic surveys

Hatchery fish stocking for stock enhancement has been operated at a massive and global scale. However, the use of hatchery fish as a means of stock enhancement is highly controversial, and little is known about its effects on wild stock and consequences for stock enhancement. Here we review the scientific literature on this subject in order to address a fundamental - question is hatchery stocking a help or harm for wild stock and stock enhancement? We summarized 266 peer-reviewed papers that were published in the last 50 years, which describe empirical case studies on ecology and genetics of hatchery stocks and their effects on stock enhancement. Specifically, we asked whether hatchery stock and wild stock differed in fitness and the level of genetic variation, and whether stocking affected population abundance. Seventy studies contained comparisons between hatchery and wild stocks, out of which 23 studies showed significantly negative effects of hatchery rearing on the fitness of stocked fish, and 28 studies showed reduced genetic variation in hatchery populations. None of these studies suggested a positive genetic effect on the fitness of hatchery-reared individuals after release. These results suggest that negative effects of hatchery rearing are not just a concern but undeniably present in many aquaculture species. In a few cases, however, no obvious effect of hatchery rearing was observed, and a positive contribution of hatchery stock to the abundance of fish populations was indicated. These examples suggest that there is a chance to improve hatchery practices and mitigate the negative effects on wild stocks, although scientific data supporting the positive effect on stock enhancement are largely missing at this moment. Technically, microsatellite-based parentage assignments have been proven as a useful tool for the evaluation of reproductive fitness in natural settings, which is a key for stock enhancement by hatchery-based stocking. We discuss implications of these results, as well as their limitations and future directions. (C) 2010 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Nation building in Bosnia and Herzegovina: Cooperation, coordination and collaboration

Cross-sectoral interorganizational relationships in post-conflict situations occur regularly. Whether formal task forces, advisory groups or other ad hoc arrangements, these relations take place in chaotic and dangerous situations with urgent and turbulent political, economic and social environments. Furthermore, they typically involve a large number of players from many different nations, operating across sectors, and between multiple layers of bureaucracy and diplomacy. The organizational complexity staggers many participants and observers, as do the tasks they are charged with completing. Reform efforts in Bosnia and Herzegovina starting in 1995 may serve as the archetype model of conflict, transition and development for the 21st century. It wins this honor due not to its particular programmatic successes and failures, rather to the interorganizational complexity of the International Community. From the massive response to the crisis, to the modern nation-building policies it spawned, and the development assistance practices and institutional arrangements it created, the Bosnian development experience has much to offer by way of lessons learned. This manuscript frames the unique Bosnian development situation, and provides lessons learned from the experience of nation building given local realities. Pettigrew (1992) called this "contextualizing." While network and/or organizational structure, strategy and process explain many interorganizational relationship issues, the development variables identified in this manuscript prove equally important, yet elusive and difficult to measure despite their very real and overt presence.