Administrative Circumstances Research Articles

Factors Influencing Peri-Urban Land Development in Ethiopia: Evidences from Assosa City

Like other developing countries, Ethiopia has adopted its land administration system (LAS) based on socio-economic, environmental, and administrative circumstances to allocate and use the land. However, the two ineffective lines of urban and rural land tenure guidelines and legal frameworks play a surprising strategic role in access to land and peri-urban land development. Comprehensive land policies are prospects for today's peri-urban areas to become tomorrow's huge cities. This paper aims to investigate the factors influencing peri-urban land development in Assosa Town and indicate the design of effective LAS. A mixed research approach was employed, and data was collected from both primary and secondary sources. The sample respondents were selected using purposive sampling techniques and descriptive and inferential statistical data analysis methods were employed. The findings revealed that bifurcated and ineffective legal and institutional frameworks, limited public-private participation, and technical constraints adversely affect peri-urban land development. The dichotomized land use development has neglected urban fringe areas and contributed to the prevailing negative peri-urban land developments. Development resulted with limited access to serviced land and deprived of land development permit. <i>Following this, peri-urban landholders became a crucial contributor to the development of peri-urban land in a negative manner.</i> Almost all sampled households developed their land contrary to the legal frameworks and standards. The estimated results of the binary logit model indicate that several factors influence peri-urban land development, including sex, monthly household income, access to official land and land information, land disputes, the alternative land development tool, and institutional integration. It is recommended to have an all-in-one land policy and administration strategy to promote sustainable development in the study area and beyond.

Aenos International Dark-Sky Park: The first officially designated area protected from light pollution in Greece

The scope of this work is to analyse the methodology used for the official designation of the first International Dark-Sky Park in Greece which was Aenos National Park, designated in May 2023. The methodology was based on the official International Dark-Sky Park requirements of the International Dark-Sky Association with many differentiations due to specific technical challenges and administrative circumstances in Greece. The process included both technical works, light measurements, lighting retrofit as well as administrative, social and publicity activities. From beginning to completion, the designation process lasted more than three years and required hundreds of manhours to be completed. The official designation of Aenos International Dark-Sky Park provides an important opportunity for the protection of the skies of Greece from light pollution both as a case study and inspiration as well as a solid example used to push for the dark sky protection agenda which is part of a sustainable

A State of Administrative Punishment

The paper analyzes the negative legal consequences associated with the fact of bringing to administrative responsibility and circumstances occurring after the end of the execution of the sentence. These consequences are established not only by the Code of Administrative Offenses of the Russian Federation, but also by many other laws. They differ among themselves in the content and duration of the periods during which they arise and continue. Based on this, the author concludes that it is necessary to introduce a concept similar to the concept of "conviction" in criminal law into the legislation on administrative offenses, and talk about the "state of administrative punishment" that should be understood as a special legal status of a person brought to administrative responsibility, characterized by the possibility of the imposition of a more severe punishment in the event of a repeated offense and the application of other negative measures. Under the Code of Administrative Offences of the Russian Federation, the term of administrative punishment is one year, i.e. any negative consequences of being brought to administrative responsibility can take place within a year after the end of the execution of the sentence, including the possibility of imposing a more severe punishment for the repeated offense, recording the information about the facts of bringing to responsibility during employment, disseminating information about the fact of committing an offense. After the expiry of the term of administrative punishment, the person should be considered not previously brought to administrative responsibility. After that term no negative consequences associated with this fact can take place. As in criminal law, the term of administrative punishment can differentiate depending on the gravety of the offense or the type of punishment imposed. The mechanism is provided for the early termination of the state of administrative punishment.

Multi-level Governance and Internally Displaced Persons Policy in Ukraine: Bridging the Gap between the Global and Local; Governmental and Civic

Abstract This paper examines the means by which Ukraine has sought to address a critical and highly complex unanticipated policy problem. This is the emergence of almost 2 million internally dislocated people (IDPs) within the country in 2014 as a consequence of major, highly violent and continuing border conflict in the country’s South and East. In large part, as a consequence of its financial and administrative circumstances, Ukraine has addressed this situation in what has been a relatively unique manner for the country, relying upon organizations other than a central government ministry to shape and implement critically important policy and service delivery. This paper documents and maps both the extensive array of organizations whose involvement has gradually led to the emergence of what has become essentially a fledgling system of multi-level governance (MLG) which has been critical to the nation’s success in addressing the very difficult and complex policy problems created by massive internal dislocation. In so doing, the paper explores MLG, both theoretically and as it has developed in actuality, in terms of Ukraine’s response to the critical problems posed by the need to address its large and serious IDP crisis. The paper also examines the issue of community adaptation by IDPs and develops two models of community response. In order to do this, the paper relies upon historical review, comparative analysis, personal interviews and the use of expert focus groups.

Call for Papers: “Process Data in Computer-Based Assessment: Opening the Black Box”

Call for Papers: “Process Data in Computer-Based Assessment: Opening the Black Box”

Assessing and allocating the financial viability risk factors in public-private partnership wastewater treatment plant projects

PurposeThis research investigates the financial viability risk factors that threaten the private investor's economic scheme in the public private partnership (PPP) wastewater treatment plant (WWTP) projects in Egypt. The aims of this study are to: (1) illustrate and cluster the financial viability risk factors in accordance with the PPP WWTP projects' nature, (2) assess the risk factors' criticality degrees according to their severity and frequency levels of the financial viability, and (3) pinpoint the suited allocation of the financial viability risk factors between the public and private parties.Design/methodology/approachRelying on the previous analysts' endeavors, the questionnaire method, the fuzzy synthetic evaluation approach and the hypothetical normal distribution curve model; the severity, frequency, criticality and allocation preference of 32 financial viability risk factors were assessed from 12 Egyptian PPP experts.FindingsThe data analysis yielded that foreign exchange risk, currency risk/inflation, license risk, construction cost-overrun and late site handover are the key factors in arising the financial viability risk issue in the PPP WWTP projects. Considering the discussion of these key risks, the study summarized that the financial viability's key risk factors are notably be affected by the economic, political and administrative circumstances of the host county. Additionally, the inflation lesion was found to be the core reason of most of the key risk factors.Originality/valueThis research originality stems from its contribution to address the gab in the PPP risk assessment literature of the concessionaire's financial viability in the WWTP projects in a country of developing economy as Egypt. This, first, enriches the scholarly based knowledge of the PPP projects' risk analysts of the developing countries. Accordingly, it moves the current PPP risk assessment research further to deeply apprehend these markets' risks. Second, it equips the policymakers in the public and private sectors of such projects with a map that clarifies their assigned risk factors and the responsibilities that each party should bear to generate a mutual stable investment environment for achieving their aims successfully. This, indeed, paves the way for more private investments to be involved in the developing markets' PPP projects with a profitable satisfactory level for the private concessionaire. In the same vein, more WWTP projects, which are highly needed for the public sector and its people, are executed.

Grit in Medical Education: Differing Perspectives of Residents and Mentors.

BackgroundIncreasing concerns about depression and burnout in residents have led to a recent focus on assessing “non-cognitive” traits in residents and residency applicants. One attribute that has received significant attention is grit, defined as trait-level perseverance and passion for long-term goals. With an objective measure available, an important question is under what circumstances of administration is that measure reliable and accurate. The goal of this study was to ascertain whether internal medicine residents and their faculty mentors were congruent in their ratings of resident grit, or if not, how the ratings differed. MethodsSubjects were internal medicine residents (N=42) at a community-based university-affiliated hospital internal medicine residency program. Near the end of the academic year 2019, residents completed the GRIT-S (short form). As each resident is assigned a mentor during their training, each resident’s mentor was also asked to complete the GRIT-S based on their view of their mentee. ResultsThis study failed to find a significant correlation between resident self-ratings of grit and those of their mentors.ConclusionsThe results of these two studies underscore the difficulty in obtaining accurate assessments of non-cognitive traits. These results further the understanding of the role of grit and raise important questions about how assessments might be used to assure validity. Further areas of inquiry into this potentially important characteristic are suggested.

Political, Social, and Economic Life in Urfa According to The Electoral Local Reports of The Republican People’s Party (1944-1948)

Cumhuriyet Halk Partisi Türkiye Cumhuriyetinin kuruluşunda ve şekillenmesinde etkin rol oynayan bir partidir. Bu parti 27 yıllık tek parti iktidarı süresince halkla olan etkileşimini ve kendi parti örgütünü diri tutmak amacıyla sorunları yerinde tespit ederek, çözüm üretmek için farklı mekanizmalar geliştirmiştir. Bu mekanizmalardan biri Cumhuriyet Halk Partisi Genel Sekreterliği’ne gönderilmek üzere her vilayet için hazırlanan raporlardır. Raporlarda parti görevlileri seçim bölgeleri ile ilgili dönemsel olarak sosyal, ekonomik, kültürel, siyasi ve idari durum hakkında gözlemlerini, tespitlerini, halkın ve bölgenin taleplerini, ihtiyaçlarını, şikâyetlerini olumlu ve olumsuz açıdan ifade etmişlerdir. Bu çalışma 1944-1948 yılları arasında Urfa’da CHP’nin parti örgütlenmesinin ne seviyede olduğunu ve halkın yaşam koşulları ile ilgilidir. Bu araştırmada, Urfa milletvekilleri ve teşkilatı tarafından hazırlanan raporlardaki bilgiler arşiv belgeleri ışığında ortaya konulmuştur.

Does environment centralization prevent local governments from racing to the bottom? --Evidence from China

While China has achieved rapid economic growth in the past several decades, such growth has also caused serious environmental problems. Local governments' tolerance and indulgence pollution is one of the key factors. Therefore, the state has established a generally centralized environmental governance system. This empirical study proposes an Objective-Conduct-Performance model to explain environmental regulation differences between developed countries and China, and attempts to analyze local governments' environment deregulation in the context of environmental centralization using data from Chinese provinces from 1997 to 2015. Our results indicate the following findings. First, newly transferred officials exert influence that is characterized by a fall-rise pattern in CO2 emissions during the few first years of the officials' new terms. Second, the centralized environmental governance and strict legal rules may provide strong restrictions on local governments' environment deregulation. Third, market forces are a driver of local governments' environment deregulation rather than a constraint. Last but not least, top officials transferred from adjacent provinces are more likely to ease environmental regulations than those from non-adjacent provinces. Thus, we can conclude that local government officials in China have a powerful motive to ease environmental regulations, leading to a failed effort to restrain local government officials’ further measures in spite of the severity of laws, regulations, and the unfamiliarity of administrative circumstances. This is perhaps due to a lack of political and economic power structures that match environmental centralization. Asymmetric incentives make local government officials tend to prioritize the goal of economic growth over environmental quality.

Factor structure of mood over time frames and circumstances of measurement: Two studies on the Profile of Mood States questionnaire.

This paper presents the results of two studies on the invariance of the Profile of Mood States questionnaire across response time frames and circumstances of administration. We applied Spanish versions of the instrument to gather data from 1146 athletes. In the first study (N = 700), we tested the factor structure of the questionnaire in training sessions by using two different time frames: ‘right now’ (n = 350) and ‘past week’ (n = 350). In the second study (N = 446), we compared the factor structure of the questionnaire with data collected using the instruction ‘right now’ at two different circumstances: ‘training’ (n = 223) and ‘competition’ (n = 223). Data analysis was similar in both studies. We conducted multi-group confirmatory factor analyses and applied the scaled difference chi-square statistic to examine whether discrepancies in successive constrained models were significant. We observed configural equivalence between the two time frames. Furthermore, we observed metric equivalence but not scalar invariance between the different circumstances of measurement. The findings highlight the need for studies of equivalence before using a single self-report with more than one set of instructions, or under diverse circumstances. Invariance of mood scores should be examined and taken into account when interpreting individual and group mood state assessments.

Local Capitalism and Civic Engagement: The Potential of Locally Facing Firms

AbstractThe twin forces of globalization and devolution have created administrative circumstances that strain the problem‐solving capacity of local governments and increase the importance of nongovernmental processes and institutions. The literature suggests that locally owned firms are more likely to engender higher levels of civic engagement critical to buttressing that problem‐solving capacity. This research adds an additional dimension, investigating to whom those firms sell and through which supply channels. Using survey results from hundreds of local firms across five study sites, this research demonstrates that locally facing firms—that is, firms that intentionally interface with community members and other local businesses—are associated with greater levels of civic and political engagement compared with locally owned firms that sell their products to customers elsewhere. Findings suggest that local governments should look beyond the local/nonlocal ownership binary to consider how private firms can be partners in serving and supporting their communities.

Duplication or experimentation: how local governors make policies under new administrative circumstances

ABSTRACTThis article shows that turnover of local governors increases the similarity of fiscal policies using the data of 320 prefectural-level cities from 2005 to 2012 in China. More generally, local governors duplicate successful experience rather than explore policies accommodating the specificity of their ruling areas when they are faced with new administrative circumstances. The structure and effects of the network resulting from the imitation of policies could be an important research topic in the future.

Clinical use of ferric carboxymaltose in patients with solid tumours or haematological malignancies in France.

This study collected data on the use of ferric carboxymaltose (FCM) in a cancer patient population in France to evaluate the feasibility and the conditions of use of FCM in routine clinical practice beyond the limiting criteria of clinical trials. This observational, prospective study of patients with a solid tumour or a haematological malignancy who have received treatment with FCM after 01 July 2011 evaluated data about the circumstances of iron administration, concomitant medication and laboratory tests in the period from 3 months prior to the first FCM administration (baseline) until 3 months post-baseline. Data from 367 FCM-treated patients were analysed. FCM was mainly given as a single dose at baseline (69.2%) and without additional erythropoiesis-stimulating agent (ESA, 64.3%). The median total iron dose was 1000 mg per patient. Median haemoglobin (Hb) levels of FCM-treated patients improved from 10.3 g/dL (interquartile range 9.5, 11.1 g/dL) at baseline to 11.8 g/dL (11.1, 13.0 g/dL) until the end of the 3-month observational period. Patients treated with FCM alone or additional ESA achieved similar median Hb increase (1.3 [0.4, 2.1] g/dL and 1.4 [0.4, 2.5] g/dL, respectively). Patients with baseline Hb up to 11.0 g/dL and serum ferritin up to 500 ng/mL and beyond achieved stable median Hb levels ≥11.0 g/dL without signs of iron overload. No severe or serious adverse reaction and no hypersensitivity reactions were reported. The results of this observational study confirm the effectiveness and tolerability of FCM when given in clinical routine practice alone or in combination with an ESA.

The Study of Public Administration in Hong Kong and Macao: Evolutionary Paths and Implications

Comparatively speaking, the birth and the growth of public administration programmes, at both undergraduate and postgraduate levels, in Hong Kong and Macao have been a response to the increasing need for the training of students and civil servants in the discipline of public administration. Since the 1990s, the proliferation of Master of Public Administration (MPA) programmes in both the Hong Kong and Macao Special Administrative Regions can be explained by the demand for local people to govern the two places in accordance with the principle of ‘one country, two systems’. The content of various MPA programmes also reflects the changing political and administrative circumstances; its public administration focus has been accompanied by core courses training students from a variety of disciplines, ranging from public finance to economics, from public policy analyses to globalization, and from regional planning to a deeper understanding of mainland Chinese government and politics. In both Hong Kong and Macao, some graduates from both the Bachelor and Master programmes have joined the civil service or enhanced their skills in public sector management and governance. Although the medium of instruction varies from one university to another, their programme objective shares one thing in common: the imperative of training existing civil servants and students to join the governments of Hong Kong and Macao. This paper compares and contrasts the development of public administration programmes in Hong Kong and Macao and examines its theoretical implications for the changing relations between politics and public administration.

Policy Advice and a Central Agency: The Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet

Providing policy advice is often the epitome of a public service career, the opportunity to have a direct influence on policy. Yet there is a wide range of circumstances in which policy advice might be sought, requiring different information, timetables and depths of analysis. This will necessitate the development of a number of skills and be dependent on the political and administrative circumstances. Using the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet as a case study, we develop a typology of policy advice, ranging from intelligence gathering, to reviewing options, coordinating policy and sometimes initiating strategy. We illustrate the implications of these differing types of work to show how public servants must approach policy advising, conscious of and within a framework that supports different approaches to policy work according to the situation.

“Help ons bou” – Die Daisyfield-inrigting en die impak van sendingwerk en godsdienstige bearbeiding in ‘n weeshuisomgewing in Rhodesië (1910 – 1948)

Since the founding of Rhodesia during the last decade of the nineteenth century, many Afrikaner immigrants settled in the country in search of a new life and job opportunities. As a result of the Anglo-Boer War (1899-1902), the devastating effect of natural diseases and to some extent due to subjugation by the British colonial authorities, the majority of these Afrikaners lived in a state of poverty. Subsequently, the prevalence of an increasing number of destitute or parentless children in need of care became a cause of grave concern to the Afrikaner community, especially the Dutch Reformed Church in Rhodesia. Through the initiative of and demand by several Dutch Reformed missionaries and clergy the ideal of educating orphans in a Christian Calvinist environment was realised when the Daisyfield orphanage (later located between Bulawayo and Gwelo) was established on the 30th of January 1911. Between 1910 and 1948 the orphanage gradually developed into a successful and efficacious institution for Afrikaner orphans, in spite of sometimes difficult financial and administrative circumstances. During its existence the institution became a symbol of courage and hardihood for the Afrikaner minority, as well as for the upholding of Afrikaner Christian and cultural values. Apart from focusing on the history of the Daisyfield institution, this article also seeks to address and discuss the inherent influence of the Dutch Reformed missionaries and clergy on the instilment of religious education in an orphan environment.

La inestable capital de la gobernación de Sonora y Sinaloa (1732-1823): una reseña preliminar

La gobernación de Sonora y Sinaloa fue creada el año de 1732 con el propósito de unificar políticamente las provincias existentes en el noroeste continental novohispano (El Rosario, Maloya, Copala, Culiacán, Sinaloa, Ostimuri y Sonora). Su primer gobernador residió en la villa de Sinaloa, por lo que esa población se convirtió en la primera capital de la gobernación. Pronto, sin embargo, la sede de los gobiernos provinciales empezó a cambiar y, con ello, la ubicación de la capital. El autor de este artículo establece la secuencia de esos cambios y refiere las circunstancias político-administrativas que los fueron determinando.

Health-Related Quality of Life in Cancer Patients—More Answers but Many Questions Remain

Patient-reported outcomes, including health-related quality of life, symptoms, and functional status are well established in oncology. They can describe the clinical course of cancer, aid in the selection of optimal treatment, or allow comparison of cancer patient populations with those with other diseases and with the general population. In this issue of the Journal, two reports ( 1 , 2 ) provide new insight into different aspects of health-related quality of life in cancer patients. The Medical Outcomes Survey Short Form 36 (MOS SF-36) ( 3 ) quality-of-life questionnaire was used in both reports; it is a well-validated, reliable, generic quality-of-life instrument that can be used in both medically ill and healthy populations in a valid fashion; it provides information on several aspects of functioning and yields two composite scores — physical and mental. The MOS SF-36 was supplemented with additional patient-reported outcomes in both studies. Reeve et al. ( 1 ) studied individuals aged 65 years or older who did or did not develop cancer during a 2-year period. They evaluated change in these two groups, matching or adjusting for key variables associated with quality of life, including age, comorbidity, education, sex, race or ethnicity, marital status, smoking status, and circumstances of questionnaire administration. Not unexpectedly, those who developed one of several common malignancies (prostate, breast, bladder, colorectal, kidney, and lung cancer and nonHodgkin lymphoma) experienced a statistically signifi cantly greater reduction in physical functioning than those who did not develop cancer. This difference was clinically signifi cant (>0.5 SD) in patients with non-Hodgkin lymphoma and kidney and non – small cell lung cancer. Having cancer was also associated with a reduced ability to perform many activities of daily living, although specifi c impacts differed across cancer types. Only lung cancer patients experienced statistically signifi cant increases in bodily pain and statistically and clinically signifi cant reductions in mental health scores. Reductions in social functioning and vitality were cancer specifi c. The demonstration that a diagnosis of cancer adversely impact quality of life relative to the general population is an important one

Implications of incomplete registration of deaths on long‐term survival estimates from population‐based cancer registries

International comparison of population-based cancer survival is a key component of monitoring progress against cancer. Its validity depends to an unknown degree on completeness of ascertainment of deaths in the cancer registries involved which may vary according to legal and administrative circumstances. The aim of this study was to assess the impact of incomplete registration of deaths through various mechanisms on the validity of long-term absolute and relative survival estimates. For that purpose, we simulated underascertainment of deaths through linkage failure of registry data with death certificates with probabilities between 0.1 and 5%, and underascertainment of deaths by unregistered annual emigration with probabilities between 0.05 and 2%, using data from the Finnish Cancer Registry. The expected impact on estimates of 5-, 10- and 15-year absolute and relative survival was assessed. We demonstrate that even modest levels of under-registration of deaths may lead to severe overestimation of long-term survival estimates, ranging from 0 to 31 percent units in the scenarios assessed. In general, relative survival is much more affected than absolute survival, and potential problems are much larger for relative survival estimates in older compared with younger patients. Potential overestimation strongly increases with length of follow-up, and this increase is particularly pronounced for under-registration of deaths because of unrecorded emigration. Every effort should be made in cancer registry based survival analyses to ascertain deaths with close to 100% completeness. When such completeness cannot be achieved, long-term relative survival estimates and their comparison across populations must be interpreted with much caution.

Reforming the Law of Environmental Standing and Third Party Appeal Rights in Victoria

This Occasional Paper considers the need to update Victorian environmental law in connection with the law of standing and the rights of third parties to appeal the decisions of environmental regulators. Two recent events have combined to make such a consideration timely and appropriate. First, during the recent election strong commitments were made to give Victorians a better Government by revitalising Victoria's democracy, restoring the checks and balances that keep government honest and accountable, and returning proper standards of conduct to government. In the environmental context, it was emphasised that underpinning Labors approach to conservation and the environment is a fundamental commitment to greater accountability and public scrutiny. As discussed below, opening up the law of standing and expanding third party appeal rights would help to ensure that these important commitments are met. Second, the impetus to consider reforming the law of standing in the environmental realm has also been prompted by the recent unanimous High Court of Australia ruling in Truth About Motorways Pty Ltd v Macquarie Infrastructure Management Ltd. The High Court held that open standing provisions are beyond any doubt constitutional. More importantly, however, in Truth About Motorways the High Court emphasised that open standing provisions serve salutary public interest purposes in contemporary administrative circumstances. It seems advisable in such circumstances to seriously the adequacy of the current standing and third party appeal arrangements in Victoria. The need for such a review becomes even more apparent when one discovers, as discussed below, that except in two important but limited circumstances, open standing and third party appeal rights in Victorian environmental law are lacking.