In public relations research, the concept of engagement is often theorized but seldom observed in practice. This research focuses on what public leaders learn when they undertake actions centered on learning by listening to society to implement governmental citizen engagement programs. Taking an inductive grounded approach to data analysis which draws on tools and methods of grounded theory as well as including a review of key concepts from public relations literature, a reflexive analysis of an action learning intervention involving the members of a provincial government was conducted. Results show that, when reflecting on interaction with stakeholders of the program, government members: increase their knowledge about both sides of the public organization-society relationship; become more sensitive to what listening is and implies, and, hence, more supportive of two-way communication; are challenged about the authenticity of the motivations behind their listening; become more aware of ways in which they work to build social capital; and, subsequently, increase their willingness to act together with society. This paper shows that reflection on the real implementation of engagement programs gives policy makers a better understanding of normative assumptions, and hence it instantiates public relations theories and concepts about engagement. By identifying acting-by-listening as integral to citizen engagement, it presents implications for the study and practice of public relations in public sector organizations.
Over the last 50 years there has been a paradigmatic shift in the climate of ideas and governing orthodoxy from Keynesian-corporatism to neoliberalism. Such paradigms provide the philosophical goals that are pursued by policy and practice and determine what are considered to be the legitimate means of attaining those goals. We use evolving policy and practice relating to the protection and management of street trees as a vehicle for examining the relations between the competing paradigms of corporatism and neoliberalism, and the ways that they are expressed 'on the ground'. In doing so we highlight the tensions between the amenity value and the economic value of street trees and between techniques for their estimation. The legitimacy of measures of the former, such as Helliwell and CAVAT, that embody corporatist concepts are subject to continuing challenges based on their (lack of) scientific rigour or economic principle. The strengths of measures of the latter, such as i-Tree, are emphasised on the same grounds. Such is the success of these efforts that the equation of the value of a street tree with an estimation of the price that people will pay for the ecosystem services it delivers is not seen as controversial.
The article discloses the foundations of the stock market development and understanding the essence of the stock market infrastructure based on the study of existing approaches to state regulation of the provision of financial services, in particular in the stock market. A key component of the stock market infrastructure is the implementation of exchange trading in securities, which is determined by the volume and number of securities on stock exchanges. The analysis of the conditions for the development and growth of the total volume of exchange trading in securities in the framework of the analysis of the dynamics of trading on the stock market of Ukraine in 2014–2020, which is determined by the desire to increase the capitalization of market participants. The conditions for the development of the stock market infrastructure and measures of government influence on the participants in financial relations, which will include sufficient institutional, organizational, technical, financial support for their interaction in the market, are indicated. It is noted that the key in the development of the stock market is the mechanism of state regulation and self-regulation. The directions of state regulation in the development of the stock market have been determined, which implies the implementation of measures to improve the activity of capital markets in order to attract additional investmentresources to the country's economy and reduce the barriers to access to the stock market. In this context, government regulation should help to strengthen the institutional foundations of the stock market with the improvement of the processes of issuing government debt securities, as one of the most effective tools for attracting monetary resources to the country's economy at the present stage. However, this can be achieved by developing a comprehensive strategy for managing government debt securities and studying the possibility of their targeted use for those industries or projectsthat ensure economic development and create prerequisites for expandedreproduction. ; В статье раскрыты основы развития фондового рынка и понимание сущности инфраструктура фондового рынка на основе исследования существующих подходов к государственному регулированию деятельности по предоставлению финансовых услуг, в частности на фондовом рынке. Ключевой составляющей инфраструктуры фондового рынка выступает осуществление биржевой торговли ценными бумагами, что определяется объемом и количеством ценных бумаг на фондовых биржах. Проведен анализ условий развития и роста объема биржевой торговли ценными бумагами в рамках анализа динамики торгов на фондовом рынке Украины в 2014–2020 годах, что определяется стремлением к увеличению капитализации участников рынка. Указаны условия развития инфраструктуры фондового рынка и меры воздействия со стороны государства на участников финансовых отношений, которые будут включать достаточное институциональное, организационное, техническое, финансовое обеспечение для их взаимодействия на рынке.Отмечено, что ключевым в развитии фондового рынка выступает механизм государственного регулирования и саморегулирования. Определены направления государственного регулирования в развитии фондового рынка, что предполагает реализацию мероприятий по совершенствованию деятельности рынков капитала с целью привлечения дополнительных инвестиционных ресурсов в экономику страны и уменьшения барьеры доступа к фондовому рынку. В данном контексте государственное регулирование должно способствовать укреплению институциональных основ фондового рынка с совершенствованием процессов эмиссии государственных долговых ценных бумаг, как одного из самых эффективных инструментов привлечения денежных ресурсов в экономику страны на современном этапе. Однако достичь указанного возможно путем разработки комплексной стратегии управления государственными долговыми ценными бумагами и изучение возможности их целевого использования на те отрасли или проекты, обеспечивающие экономическое развитие и создающие предпосылки для расширенного воспроизводства. ; У статті розкриті засади розвитку фондового ринку та розуміння сутності інфраструктура фондового ринку на основі дослідження існуючих підходів до державне регулювання діяльності з надання фінансових послуг, зокрема на фондовому ринку. Зазначено умови розвитку інфраструктура фондового ринку та заходи впливу з боку держави на учасників фінансових відносин, що буде включати достатнє інституціональне, організаційне, технічне, фінансове забезпечення для їх взаємодії на ринку. Зазначено, що ключовим у розвитку фондового ринку виступає механізм державного регулювання та саморегулювання.Визначено напрями державного регулювання у розвитку фондового ринку, що передбачає реалізація заходів щодо удосконалення діяльності інфраструктури ринків капіталу з метою залучення додаткових інвестиційних ресурсів в економіку країни та зменшити бар'єри доступу до фондового ринку.
ABSTRACT Objective: To assess the current level of oral health knowledge and identify information sources among adolescents in Bhubaneswar, India. Material and Methods: A cross-sectional examination was conducted among 1330 adolescents aged 13 to 15 years enrolled in 24 randomly selected government and private schools in Bhubaneswar. A specially designed self-administered questionnaire was used to collect the responses. Chi-square test with a level of significance set at 5% was used for statistical analysis. Results: Parents (55%) followed by media (18%) were the major sources of oral health information among the study population, which was statistically not significant in relation to gender and school type. Many subjects (95.3%) perceived sweets could cause tooth decay; however, this was statistically significant only among school type (p<0.05). Around (45%) knew about fluoride and only 36% properly identified fluoride's action as preventing cavities. This was statistically significant among both gender and school type (p<0.05). Seventy-five percent of students effectively distinguished gum disease symptoms, which was significant only with gender (p<0.05). Around 55% identified that oral habits have an influence on oral health, which showed significance among gender (p<0.05). Conclusion: Children oral health knowledge was not satisfactory, highlighting the need to utilize parents, schoolteachers and media to provide oral health education. It's essential for designing and implementing a person-centered care model in dentistry.
6 figures, 6 tables.-- Supplementary material available. ; Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID19), caused by SARS-CoV-2, is a complex disease, with a variety of clinical manifestations ranging from asymptomatic infection or mild cold-like symptoms to more severe cases requiring hospitalization and critical care. The most severe presentations seem to be related with a delayed, deregulated immune response leading to exacerbated inflammation and organ damage with close similarities to sepsis. ; [Methods]: In order to improve the understanding on the relation between host immune response and disease course, we have studied the differences in the cellular (monocytes, CD8+ T and NK cells) and soluble (cytokines, chemokines and immunoregulatory ligands) immune response in blood between Healthy Donors (HD), COVID19 and a group of patients with non-COVID19 respiratory tract infections (NON-COV-RTI). In addition, the immune response profile has been analyzed in COVID19 patients according to disease severity. ; [Results]: In comparison to HDs and patients with NON-COV-RTI, COVID19 patients show a heterogeneous immune response with the presence of both activated and exhausted CD8+ T and NK cells characterised by the expression of the immune checkpoint LAG3 and the presence of the adaptive NK cell subset. An increased frequency of adaptive NK cells and a reduction of NK cells expressing the activating receptors NKp30 and NKp46 correlated with disease severity. Although both activated and exhausted NK cells expressing LAG3 were increased in moderate/severe cases, unsupervised cell clustering analyses revealed a more complex scenario with single NK cells expressing more than one immune checkpoint (PD1, TIM3 and/or LAG3). A general increased level of inflammatory cytokines and chemokines was found in COVID19 patients, some of which like IL18, IL1RA, IL36B and IL31, IL2, IFNα and TNFα, CXCL10, CCL2 and CCL8 were able to differentiate between COVID19 and NON-COV-RTI and correlated with bad prognosis (IL2, TNFα, IL1RA, CCL2, CXCL10 and CXCL9). Notably, we found that soluble NKG2D ligands from the MIC and ULBPs families were increased in COVID19 compared to NON-COV-RTI and correlated with disease severity. ; [Conclusions:] Our results provide a detailed comprehensive analysis of the presence of activated and exhausted CD8+T, NK and monocyte cell subsets as well as extracellular inflammatory factors beyond cytokines/chemokines, specifically associated to COVID19. Importantly, multivariate analysis including clinical, demographical and immunological experimental variables have allowed us to reveal specific immune signatures to i) differentiate COVID19 from other infections and ii) predict disease severity and the risk of death. ; The authors would like to thank the Biobank of the Aragon Health System integrated in the Spanish National Biobanks Network and the Servicios Científico Técnicos de Citometria de Flujo del CIBA for their collaboration. Work in the JP laboratory is funded by the FEDER (Fondo Europeo de Desarrollo Regional, Gobierno de Aragón, Group B29_17R), Health National Institute Carlos III (COV20-00308), Aragón Government (Fondo COVID-19), Fundación Santander-Universidad de Zaragoza (Programa COVID-19), Agencia Estatal de Investigación (SAF2017-83120-C2-1-R; PID2020-113963RBI00), Fundación Inocente, ASPANOA and Carrera de la Mujer de Monzón. EMG is funded by Agencia Estatal de Investigación (SAF2017-83120-C2-1-R and PID2020-113963RB-I00). IUM and SH are supported by a PhD fellowship from Aragon Government, CP by a PhD fellowship from AECC, LS by a PhD fellowship (FPI) from the Ministry of Science, Innovation and Universities. DDM is supported by a postdoctoral fellowship 'Sara Borrell', and MA is supported by a postdoctoral fellowship 'Juan de la Cierva-incorporacion' from the Ministry of Science, Innovation and Universities. EM and BGT are supported by Rio Hortega contract. JP is supported by the ARAID Foundation. ; Peer reviewed
Classical works on authoritarian politics mostly considered political institutions under nondemocratic regimes as mere window dressing. Yet, contemporary works dispute that idea and argue that political institutions are used to facilitate survival in power. This dissertation explored how political institutions are manipulated by the political class and the potential factors why this has contributed to political instability and lack of survival in power in Guinea-Bissau from 1994-2019, differently from what we observe in other non-democratic societies. To achieve this goal, qualitative methods and thematic analysis were carried out with three major themes emerging. First, the manipulation of institutions for survival; second, the use of institutions for co-optation and the challenges of power-sharing; third, credible threat in relation to minimization of loss. Findings of this work show the following; first, institutions in Guinea-Bissau; the legislature and political parties are the root causes of instability rather than survival. Second, leaders do co-opt potential opponents but they do not redistribute rent and power sufficiently to ensure that co-optation eliminates the risk of coups. Third, political parties are important but with weak structures, very vertical and unable to distribute rent and to anticipate threats. Fourth, political parties pose credible threats to each other due to their use of military force but access to government and parliamentary or party positions are not a guarantee that opponents will not try to oppressively remove leaders from power. Therefore, the risk of manipulating institutions for survival comes with threats, and these threats have been the driven force for instability since 1994. ; A maioria dos clássicos sobre política autoritária considerava as instituições políticas em regimes não-democráticos como mera fachada. No entanto, as obras contemporâneas tendem a disputar essa ideia e argumentam que as instituições políticas são usadas para facilitar a sobrevivência no poder. Esta dissertação explora a forma como as instituições políticas são manipuladas pela classe política e os possíveis fatores que fazem com que as instituições contribuam para a instabilidade política e a falta de sobrevivência no poder na Guiné-Bissau entre 1994-2019 contrariamente ao que se sucede na maioria dos regimes não democráticos. A fim de alcançar este objetivo, foram utilizados métodos qualitativos e uma análise de três grandes temas. Primeiro, a manipulação de instituições para a sobrevivência; segundo, a utilização de instituições para a cooptação e os desafios da partilha de poder; terceiro, a ameaça credível em relação à minimização da perda. Os resultados deste trabalho mostram o seguinte: primeiro, as instituições na Guiné-Bissau, o parlamento e os partidos políticos são as causas profundas da instabilidade e não da sobrevivência; segundo, os líderes cooptam potenciais opositores mas não redistribuem suficientemente a renda e o poder para assegurar que a cooptação elimina o risco de golpes de Estado; terceiro, os partidos políticos são importantes mas têm estruturas fracas, muito verticais e incapazes de distribuir a renda e de antecipar ameaças; quarto, os partidos políticos representam ameaças credíveis entre si devido ao uso da força militar mas o acesso ao governo e as posições parlamentares ou partidárias não são garantia de que os opositores não tentem remover opressivamente os líderes do poder. Por conseguinte, o risco de manipulação das instituições para sobreviver no poder vem com ameaças, e estas ameaças têm sido a força motriz da instabilidade desde 1994.
