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The aim of the study is to explore the role of public welfare services expressed in the Swedish government's innovation policy. The focus is on municipal and county services, such as education and health care. The study is based on an analysis of 55 documents produced by the government and its agencies. Although innovation policy is a major issue in Sweden, and Sweden has a large public sector, research on innovation within this field is very limited. The results show that the municipality and county services are visible in innovation policy when they are a driving force for innovation in the private sector. This applies especially when public procurement becomes a vehicle for business innovation. Innovation is not used as a concept representing radical change and general progress of the public sector as such. When municipal welfare services become visible in the studied documents, there are often references to a need for efficiency improvements and for procurement leading to innovation. For the public sector, including local welfare services, no coherent innovation policy is present, but this study found elements that could become part of an innovation policy. Policy development is important for the future, considering the public sector ́s role in the important and increasing service sector and in the society as a whole.

Abstract. Half-Dressed rubble stone (DS) masonry structures as found in the Himalayan region are investigated using experimental and analytical studies. The experimental study included a shake table test on a one-third scaled structural model, a representative of DS masonry structure employed for public critical facilities, e.g. school buildings, offices, health care units, etc. The aim of the experimental study was to understand the damage mechanism of the model, develop damage scale towards deformation-based assessment and retrieve the lateral force-deformation response of the model besides its elastic dynamic properties, i.e. fundamental vibration period and elastic damping. The analytical study included fragility analysis of building prototypes using a fully probabilistic nonlinear dynamic method. The prototypes are designed as SDOF systems assigned with lateral, force-deformation constitutive law (obtained experimentally). Uncertainties in the constitutive law, i.e. lateral stiffness, strength and deformation limits, are considered through random Monte Carlo simulation. Fifty prototype buildings are analyzed using a suite of ten natural accelerograms and an incremental dynamic analysis technique. Fragility and vulnerability functions are derived for the damageability assessment of structures, economic loss and casualty estimation during an earthquake given the ground shaking intensity, essential within the context of risk assessment of existing stock aiming towards risk mitigation and disaster risk reduction.

AbstractBased on a survey and interviews, this article presents and analyses Israeli public opinion toward black‐market medicine (BMM) and the welfare state. In addition to providing quantitative and qualitative evidence of the existence of under‐the‐table payments in Israel, we suggest various insights into this phenomenon. While most citizens admit that they would consider making under‐the‐table payments in order to receive preferential medical treatment, when the questions mention words such as 'illegal' or 'bribe', respondents tend to be less tolerant of such activities. We find that, first, there is a basic willingness among Israeli citizens to use BMM. Second, despite this predilection, Israeli citizens are reluctant to articulate their willingness to engage in such illegal activities. This reluctance implies the existence of a moral barrier among the population as far as identifying themselves with illegal behaviour is concerned. We may infer the existence of a gap between declared attitudes and behaviour. Third, the fact that people's willingness to engage in BMM is greater than their willingness to adopt black‐market strategies in other areas signifies the special nature of health care. Finally, by connecting the phenomenon of BMM to public opinion regarding the welfare state, we point to a possible gap between normative attitudes and preferences produced by structural conditions.

AbstractThis article examines a new phenomenon in the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) referred to as specialized cities (SC). These cities, in addition to being new towns, implement innovations in selected policy areas. This article goes beyond describing the spread of SC to answering a broader question: what motivates a GCC country to adopt such policy innovation? After a quantitative overview of the phenomenon, three cases have been selected to cover three main policy areas: energy, health care, and education, in Abu Dhabi Masdar City, Dubai Healthcare City, and Qatar Education City. A preliminary analysis of each of the cases is followed by a comparative approach that aims at discovering similarities and differences, as well as developing the basis for a preliminary analytical model that explains the driving factors behind these innovations. The country adoption of a policy innovation and its diffusion are mainly the results of geographical proximity and similarity, as these proximate countries tend to have similar economic aspects and common social problems that lead to similar policy action effects. Regional competition and positive reputational mechanisms are also particularly strong determinants for diffusion. The findings suggest that in the GCC region a diffusion of the phenomena is occurring, rather than that of a specific type of SC.

Anti-fat bias has become a critical issue to address given the moral panic over perceptions of the prevalence of 'obesity' that leads to further stigmatization of fatness ( Boero, 2007 ; Campos et al., 2006 ; Flegal et al., 2010 ; Gard, 2010 ; Tischner & Malson, 2008 ). Fat phobic attitudes result in negative outcomes for employment, relationships, and health care provision ( Teachman & Brownell, 2001 ; Maranto & Stenoien, 2000 ). The United States media has frequently been identified as a source that further reinforces stereotypes and contributes to anti-fat stigma ( Himes & Thompson, 2007 ). Specifically, the representation of fat characters in television has risen in recent years ( Himes & Thompson, 2007 ), possibly due to public pressure, marketing goals, or to better represent the general population. However, are these allegedly fat positive depictions effective alternatives to fat stigma? In the case of the Fox Television network's reality dating series featuring fat contestants, More to Love, pseudo-fat acceptance is the result. In this paper, we rely on a textual analysis of More to Love (in select episodes and promotional material) to highlight the undermining of fat acceptance in popular American media sources. We will discuss how pseudo-fat acceptance in this program further reinforces anti-fat stigma. Implications of fat stigmatizing and fat positive representation in the media will also be suggested.

Learning to be Violent? Adult education is imbued with positive thinking and subjective goals. Social, economic, and political emancipation and value-based shifts in attitudes are its theoretical and practical cornerstones. This is particularly evident in Stephen Brookfield and John Holst's Radicalizing Learning (Jossey-Bass, 2011). ―For us,‖ they write, ―adult learning is inextricably tied to creating and extending political and economic democracy – to equalizing democratic control of and access to wealth, education, health care, and creative work, and to promoting collective … forms of decision-making and labor‖ (xii). Adult education's ―traditional concern‖ is to create ―critical thinkers‖ able to counter any process of ―brainwashing or ideological manipulation‖ (2). Thus the field's contemporary goals include the encouragement of ―political and cultural democracy‖ and educating adults to learn ―how to recognize and abolish privilege around race, gender, status, and identity … [and] class‖ (4). And for radical learning in particular, the process involves the technical (i.e. learning how to ―stand up to racist speech‖), the communicative (i.e. ―learning how to bring the reality of racism to another's consciousness‖), and the emancipatory (i.e. ―integrating an alertness to racism into one's daily reasons and practice‖) (16). Brookfield and Holst use Nelson Mandela's life to illustrate how their theory is put into practice.

Prevalent incidents support the notion that toxins, produced by bacteria, fungi, plants or animals are increasingly responsible for food poisoning or intoxication. Owing to their high toxicity some toxins are also regarded as potential biological warfare agents. Accordingly, control, detection and neutralization of toxic substances are a considerable economic burden to food safety, health care and military biodefense. The present contribution describes a new versatile instrument and related procedures for array-based simultaneous detection of bacterial and plant toxins using a bioanalytical platform which combines the specificity of covalently immobilized capture probes with a dedicated instrumentation and immuno-based microarray analytics. The bioanalytical platform consists of a microstructured polymer slide serving both as support of printed arrays and as incubation chamber. The platform further includes an easy-to-operate instrument for simultaneous slide processing at selectable assay temperature. Cy5 coupled streptavidin is used as unifying fluorescent tracer. Fluorescence image analysis and signal quantitation allow determination of the toxin's identity and concentration. The system's performance has been investigated by immunological detection of Botulinum Neurotoxin type A (BoNT/A), Staphylococcal enterotoxin B (SEB), and the plant toxin ricin. Toxins were detectable at levels as low as 0.5–1 ng·mL−1 in buffer or in raw milk. ; ISSN:1424-8220

Prevalent incidents support the notion that toxins, produced by bacteria, fungi, plants or animals are increasingly responsible for food poisoning or intoxication. Owing to their high toxicity some toxins are also regarded as potential biological warfare agents. Accordingly, control, detection and neutralization of toxic substances are a considerable economic burden to food safety, health care and military biodefense. The present contribution describes a new versatile instrument and related procedures for array-based simultaneous detection of bacterial and plant toxins using a bioanalytical platform which combines the specificity of covalently immobilized capture probes with a dedicated instrumentation and immuno-based microarray analytics. The bioanalytical platform consists of a microstructured polymer slide serving both as support of printed arrays and as incubation chamber. The platform further includes an easy-to-operate instrument for simultaneous slide processing at selectable assay temperature. Cy5 coupled streptavidin is used as unifying fluorescent tracer. Fluorescence image analysis and signal quantitation allow determination of the toxin's identity and concentration. The system's performance has been investigated by immunological detection of Botulinum Neurotoxin type A (BoNT/A), Staphylococcal enterotoxin B (SEB), and the plant toxin ricin. Toxins were detectable at levels as low as 0.5–1 ng·mL−1 in buffer or in raw milk.

Prevalent incidents support the notion that toxins, produced by bacteria, fungi, plants or animals are increasingly responsible for food poisoning or intoxication. Owing to their high toxicity some toxins are also regarded as potential biological warfare agents. Accordingly, control, detection and neutralization of toxic substances are a considerable economic burden to food safety, health care and military biodefense. The present contribution describes a new versatile instrument and related procedures for array-based simultaneous detection of bacterial and plant toxins using a bioanalytical platform which combines the specificity of covalently immobilized capture probes with a dedicated instrumentation and immuno-based microarray analytics. The bioanalytical platform consists of a microstructured polymer slide serving both as support of printed arrays and as incubation chamber. The platform further includes an easy-to-operate instrument for simultaneous slide processing at selectable assay temperature. Cy5 coupled streptavidin is used as unifying fluorescent tracer. Fluorescence image analysis and signal quantitation allow determination of the toxin's identity and concentration. The system's performance has been investigated by immunological detection of Botulinum Neurotoxin type A (BoNT/A), Staphylococcal enterotoxin B (SEB), and the plant toxin ricin. Toxins were detectable at levels as low as 0.5–1 ng·mL−1 in buffer or in raw milk.

The California prison system, the largest in the country and the most at risk legally, operated at almost 200 percent of rated holding capacity, with more than 160,000 inmates. A special three-judge federal court had found that these conditions, in which suicides, violence, and lack of health care and other social services were endemic, violate the Eighth Amendment's cruel and unusual punishment clause and ordered the state to reduce its prison census by as many as 46,000 inmates, to only 137.5 percent of capacity. In May 2011, the Supreme Court, in a 5-4 decision (Brown v. Plata), affirmed the lower court, upholding what dissenting justices called perhaps the most radical injunction issued by a court in our Nation's history, one based on a judicial travesty. Operating under intense legal, political, and budgetary pressures, policymakers must search desperately for other ways to reduce prison overcrowding until the necessary but politically elusive structural and policy changes can be made. Under these difficult conditions, any policy that promises to reduce overcrowding without undue risk to public safety deserves serious consideration. In what follows, I propose such a policy. Simply stated, the federal government should deport some immigrant criminals before they enter prison, not after. This would seem to be a no-brainer. Adapted from the source document.

Background: From 2006 to 2009, the Dutch government provided (sic)5 m annually for a nationwide program to reduce seclusion in psychiatric hospitals by 10% a year. We aimed to establish whether the numbers of both seclusion and involuntary medication changed significantly after the start of this national program. Methods: Using Poisson regression to estimate difference in logit slopes, we analyzed data for 1998-2009 from the Dutch Health Care Inspectorate, retrospectively examining the national numbers of seclusion and involuntary medication before and after the start of the program. Results: The difference in slopes of the numbers of seclusion before and after the start of the program was statistically significant (difference 5.2%: p < 0.001). After the start of the program seclusions dropped 2.0% per year. Corrected for the increasing number of involuntary hospitalizations this figure was 4.7% per year. The difference in slopes of the numbers of involuntary medication did not change statistically significant (difference 0.5%, n.s.). After correction for the increasing numb Conclusions: After the start of the nationwide program the number of seclusions fell, and although significantly changing, the reduction was modest and failed to meet the objective of a 10% annual decrease. The number of involuntary medications did not change; instead, after correction for the number of involuntary hospitalizations, it increased.

This paper models theoretically and investigates empirically the consequences on local economic performance of state mandates on financially distressed authorities. In particular, I analyze the switch from systematic state bailout of regional health care deficits to selectively mandated hikes in regions' own business income tax rates that took place in Italy around the mid 2000s, and exploit such dramatic switch to identify the impact of tax policy on the economy. I model factor input use within a multi-jurisdiction neoclassical framework, where production takes place in plants, and physical capital requires energy in fixed proportions depending on the size of energy-saving capital that is installed along with physical capital. Energy-saving capital can be interpreted either as tangible information technology (IT) equipment (e.g., computer-aided line speed control devices) or as intangible assets (e.g., process design skills) lowering a plant energy requirement. The estimation results based on panel data for the Italian provinces and regions over a decade (2000-2010) reveal that, by raising the user cost of capital, mandated business income tax hikes stimulate province-level business energy use, lending support to the hypothesis of short run substitution between energy and energy-saving capital, and hamper the employment of human resources in science and technology (S&T) occupations, the latter being interpretable as a proxy for energy-saving capital.

Background: From 2006 to 2009, the Dutch government provided €5 m annually for a nationwide program to reduce seclusion in psychiatric hospitals by 10% a year. We aimed to establish whether the numbers of both seclusion and involuntary medication changed significantly after the start of this national program.Methods: Using Poisson regression to estimate difference in logit slopes, we analyzed data for 1998-2009 from the Dutch Health Care Inspectorate, retrospectively examining the national numbers of seclusion and involuntary medication before and after the start of the program.Results: The difference in slopes of the numbers of seclusion before and after the start of the program was statistically significant (difference 5.2%: p < 0.001). After the start of the program seclusions dropped 2.0% per year. Corrected for the increasing number of involuntary hospitalizations this figure was 4.7% per year. The difference in slopes of the numbers of involuntary medication did not change statistically significant (difference 0.5%, n.s.). After correction for the increasing number of involuntary hospitalizations the difference turned significant (difference 3.3%, p = 0.002).Conclusions: After the start of the nationwide program the number of seclusions fell, and although significantly changing, the reduction was modest and failed to meet the objective of a 10% annual decrease. The number of involuntary medications did not change; instead, after correction for the number of involuntary hospitalizations, it increased.

Background: Previous studies examining body image from a cross-cultural perspective have tended to neglect samples from different ethnic groups or along a rural–urban continuum. To overcome this limitation, the present study examined positive body image among rural and urban women from three major indigenous ethnic groups in Sabah, Malaysia. Method: A total of 202 women completed the Body Appreciation Scale, as well as measures of media exposure and financial security, and provided their demographic details. Results: Results showed that there were significant rural–urban differences in body appreciation, with rural participants having significantly higher body appreciation than urban participants. A comparison with a previous data set of West Malaysian women (Swami & Chamorro-Premuzic, 2008) showed that the current urban sample had significantly lower body appreciation and that the rural group had significantly higher body appreciation. Further results showed that research site (urban vs rural) explained 11.0% of the variance in body appreciation. Participant body mass index and exposure to western forms of media explained an additional 2.0% of the variance. Conclusion: These results suggest that there are differences in body image between rural and urban women. Results are discussed in relation to the promotion of positive body image, particularly in developing societies where health care resources may be limited.

The article deals with concept of legal abortion that is being recognized in Lithuania according to its legislation in force and case-law. The present analysis is significant in theory as well as in legal practice. In addition, the importance of this analysis can be illustrated in figures: about 8000 to 9000 legal abortions are still performed in Lithuania annually. In general, abortion is recognized to be legal if it is performed at the request of the pregnant woman by person with the right arising from law to terminate pregnancy at a health care establishment in the absence of contraindications. The article deals with both, i. e. the above-mentioned requirements for legal abortion that follow from the Criminal code of Lithuania and that are provided for in other laws. Lithuanian legislation provides for requirements for termination of pregnancy that are different in their importance. That is why it remains unclear when a person will be held legally liable for the violation of particular requirements and when will not. Therefore it is come to a conclusion that the concept of legal abortion in this sense can be treated to be evaluative. In other words the content of the concept in particular cases can depend on the circumstances of certain case and evaluation of requirements that were violated.