Rewarding civil service performance through team bonuses : findings, analysis and recommendations

Performance-related pay within public organizations is continuing to spread. Although it can help to strengthen an entrepreneurial spirit in civil servants, its implementation is marred by technical, financial, managerial and cultural problems. This article identifies an added problem, namely the contradiction that exists between a managerial discourse that emphasizes the team and collective performance, on the one hand, and the use of appraisal and reward tools that are above all individual, on the other. Based on an empirical survey carried out within Swiss public organizations, the analysis shows that the team is currently rarely taken into account and singles out the principal routes towards an integrated system for the management and rewarding of civil servants.

Una nova societat civil: accions col·lectives de masses a l'Espanya postransicional (ca. 1982-2002)

INFORME DE RECERCA: Aquest treball ha consistit en una indagació sobre la protesta socialrecent al nostre país (Espanya, 1982-2002); específicament, sobre els principals episodis contemporànisd'acció col.lectiva que han esclatat a Espanya i a Catalunya, amb dos paràmetresdelimitadors bàsics:a) haver-se produït en el periode postransicional, és a dir, amb la fase de resolució dela transició política ja culminada (cosa que, com altres investigadors, hipotitzemque es produí pel 1982, amb el primer relleu democràtic i pacífic del Govern iamb el que anomenem transició institucional ja acabada); per tant, entre 1982 i2003 aproximadament.b) haver mobilitzat un seguiment massiu i adquirit, degut a aquest motiu, a vegadesreforçat per altres, una significació política excepcional, fora d'allò que esconsidera normal en l'activitat política quotidiana (itenint en conseqüència un impacte molt notable en el decurs mateix delperiode postransicional).

Cultura obrera y prensa anarquista: radiografia de Guerra di Classe, plataforma de los anarquistas italianos durante la Guerra Civil en Catalunya, 1936-1938

Giovanni C. Cattini is a young historian who offers an itemized study on Berneri's Guerra di Classe: he refers the first moments and also the definitive crisis of this newspaper after Berneri¿s assassination in May 1937. This is not the first work devoted to this militant platform has been annalysed but Cattini's approach observes not only the ideological and political contest maintained with other sectors of the libertarian movement but the contrived militant tools that have allowed its existance during the Spanish Civil War.

Cultura obrera y prensa anarquista: radiografia de Guerra di Classe, plataforma de los anarquistas italianos durante la Guerra Civil en Catalunya, 1936-1938

Giovanni C. Cattini is a young historian who offers an itemized study on Berneri's Guerra di Classe: he refers the first moments and also the definitive crisis of this newspaper after Berneri¿s assassination in May 1937. This is not the first work devoted to this militant platform has been annalysed but Cattini's approach observes not only the ideological and political contest maintained with other sectors of the libertarian movement but the contrived militant tools that have allowed its existance during the Spanish Civil War.

Report on the Iowa Civil Rights Commission for the year ended June 30, 2012

Report on the Iowa Civil Rights Commission for the year ended June 30, 2012

La legislación civil y eclesiástica concerniente a las supersticiones y a las pervivencias idolátricas en la Hispania de los siglos VI-VII.

La legislación hispana de los siglos VI y VII (tanto la civil como la canónica) nos ofrece múltiples ejemplos relativos a la pervivencia de supersticiones y prácticas idolátricas. Las leyes visigodas pertinentes atañen principalmente a la toma de augurios y al uso de la magia, ambas consideradas perniciosas y castigadas severamente. Por su parte, los cánones eclesiásticos, aunque también regularon la cuestión de los augurios y de la magia, dedicaron casi toda su atención al problema de la herencia del paganismo (algo que no observamos en la legislación civil). El análisis de las fuentes narrativas contemporáneas nos permite comprobar que éste era un problema real y cotidiano y que su inclusión en los códigos legislativos no respondía a una mera necesidad de llenar lo que podría haber supuesto un vacío legal.

La depuración del personal del Museo Arqueológico de Barcelona y del Servicio de Investigaciones Arqueológicas después de la Guerra Civil (1939-1941)

Al finalizar la Guerra Civil española (1936-1939), el personal del Museu d' Arqueologia y de la Secció d'Excavacions i Arqueologia del Servei del Patrimoni Artístic, Historic i Científic (SPAHC) de la suprimida Generalitat de Catalunya fue sometido a depuración por parte del Juzgado Militar Especial de Funcionarios de la Diputación Provincial de Barcelona. La llegada como nuevo director de Martín Almagro Basch, en substitución del exiliado Pere Bosch Gimpera, y el resultado de la reorganización subsiguiente marcaron el desarrollo de la investigación arqueológica en Cataluña hasta finales de la década de 1960.

A Monte Carlo-based procedure for independent monitor unit calculation in IMRT treatment plans.

Intensity-modulated radiotherapy (IMRT) treatment plan verification by comparison with measured data requires having access to the linear accelerator and is time consuming. In this paper, we propose a method for monitor unit (MU) calculation and plan comparison for step and shoot IMRT based on the Monte Carlo code EGSnrc/BEAMnrc. The beamlets of an IMRT treatment plan are individually simulated using Monte Carlo and converted into absorbed dose to water per MU. The dose of the whole treatment can be expressed through a linear matrix equation of the MU and dose per MU of every beamlet. Due to the positivity of the absorbed dose and MU values, this equation is solved for the MU values using a non-negative least-squares fit optimization algorithm (NNLS). The Monte Carlo plan is formed by multiplying the Monte Carlo absorbed dose to water per MU with the Monte Carlo/NNLS MU. Several treatment plan localizations calculated with a commercial treatment planning system (TPS) are compared with the proposed method for validation. The Monte Carlo/NNLS MUs are close to the ones calculated by the TPS and lead to a treatment dose distribution which is clinically equivalent to the one calculated by the TPS. This procedure can be used as an IMRT QA and further development could allow this technique to be used for other radiotherapy techniques like tomotherapy or volumetric modulated arc therapy.

Profiling safety of intravitreal injections for retinoblastoma using an anti-reflux procedure and sterilisation of the needle track.

BACKGROUND: The preservation of globe integrity has always been a major concern during the treatment of retinoblastoma for fear of extraocular or metastatic spread. Intravitreal chemotherapy has been attempted as a desperate salvage therapy only for eyes with refractory retinoblastoma. Published data on the safety and efficacy of this route are, however, limited. METHODS: A modified technique of intravitreal injection in eyes with retinoblastoma is described. All children with retinoblastoma who received one or more intravitreal injections using this technique were retrospectively reviewed concerning ocular complications of the injection procedure as well as clinical or histopathological evidence of tumour spread. RESULTS: 30 eyes of 30 children with retinoblastoma received a total of 135 intravitreal injections, with a median follw-up duration of 13.5 months. No extraocular spread was seen on clinical follow-up in any patients and there was no tumour contamination of the retrieved entry sites histopathologically analysed among the five enucleated eyes. No significant ocular side effects were observed except transient localised vitreous haemorrhage (3/135). CONCLUSION: This technique is potentially safe and effective at a low cost and may play a promising role, especially in the treatment of recurrent and/or resistant vitreous disease in retinoblastoma, as an alternative to enucleation and/or external beam radiotherapy. However, this treatment should not replace the primary standard of care of retinoblastoma and should not be considered in group E eyes. Its application should be approved by an ophthalmological-oncological team and it should be performed by an experienced eye surgeon in a tertiary referral centre after careful selection of a tumour-free injection site.