Complex Partnership Research Articles

Decoupling in hybrid arrangements: Insights from the Australian defence industry

AbstractThe Australian Industry Capability (AIC) program presents an example of hybridity where national security interests are served through a complex partnership between the Department of Defence, global prime contractors, and small and medium‐sized Australian companies. Through a qualitative interview study of stakeholders in the defence industry by and triangulating findings from publicly available defence industry documents, this study aims to document the decoupling associated with the AIC program. We find that complexity and opacity, stemming from hybridity, create decoupling in the implementation of the AIC program. We also find that a lack of accountability and monitoring contributes to decoupling. We advance the literature on hybridity into the context of multi‐organisational arrangements in a unique industry and identify how decoupling can impede the achievement of policy objectives in the context of complex hybrid arrangements.Points for practitioners The Australian Industry Capability (AIC) program represents a case of complex hybrid arrangement in public sector management involving the defence industry. Hybridity of AIC arrangements creates challenges of complexity and opacity, creating conditions that give rise to decoupling. Lack of accountability and monitoring exacerbates these challenges. Potential for coupling is identified with recommendations provided.

Is partnership working? Complexities and barriers in the development of community safety practice in Wales

AbstractCommunity safety in England and Wales underwent significant change a quarter of a century ago when community safety partnerships (CSPs) were introduced as part of the Crime and Disorder Act 1998. Measures to reduce or prevent anti-social behaviour and crime became the responsibility of not just the police but multiple public and third-sector organisations working in partnership. In Wales, additional complexity exists due to most CSP partners operating and working under both the UK, and Welsh Government remit. Findings from mixed-methods research into the training needs of community safety professionals in Wales revealed that support was needed in several areas of practice, including the practicing of meaningful ‘partnership’ working and problem solving. However, given the complex partnership landscape in Wales and lack of clarity around partnership governance, coupled with a seeming overreliance on the police and local government within community safety, the success of collaborative learning and development plans is limited.

Early Childhood Field Experience Supervision: Negotiating Praxis

This case examines the complex partnership between the university teacher education program and the host school district. Many factors contribute to the expectations and requirements of both institutions, which can at times, conflict in fundamental ways. The theoretical and research-based methods of early childhood coursework are often different than the reality of those classrooms. Furthermore, the adoption of initiatives like, Culturally Responsive Teaching and Leading standards by university teacher education programs must translate to the fieldwork. School and district-wide mandates often overrule best pedagogical and developmentally appropriate practices. With these opposing perspectives how can supervisors bridge the gap between the university classroom and the primary classroom? How can supervisors support teacher candidates and mentor teachers in negotiating rigid curricular programming, and maintain professional partnerships?

Happily Ever After or Not? Marital Quality among Culturally Diverse Older-Aged Canadian Parents

The quality of partnered relationships is integral to individual and family health and well-being over the life span. Significant shifts in ethno-cultural diversity, parental roles, and family life contribute to more complex partnership experiences in North American society. Drawing from a socio-cultural life course lens, we examine parental marital satisfaction/quality in later life in terms of ethnicity, socio-demographic variables (e.g., ethnic identity, gender, age, health status) and family context (e.g., presence of children at home, intergenerational relations, retirement status). Data are drawn from a sample of 454 married/partnered adults aged 50+ with a least one child aged 19–35 who reside in Metro Vancouver, British Columbia, from four cultural groups: British, Chinese, Persian/Iranian, and South Asian. Using Ordinary Linear Regression, we model predictors of three dependent variables: global marital satisfaction and two sub-scales, including positive and negative emotional/cognitive appraisals of relationship quality. Several ethnic group contrasts were supported, with Chinese reporting lower global marital satisfaction than the South Asians and Persian/Iranians reporting lower levels of positive marital appraisals than the South Asians. In addition, these associations were nuanced by interactions between ethnicity and gender, revealing distinct relationships with the dependent variables. Results also support associations for several covariates. In particular, greater income satisfaction and those reporting lower conflict with their children had higher marital quality; and males and those reporting better health only had positive associations with the global marital satisfaction scale. Implications for theorizing relationship quality in later life and recommendations for those who work with culturally diverse older adults (e.g., mental health care professionals, community service providers) are discussed.

The lived experience of multiple sclerosis: Patient insights to guide general practitioner care.

Multiple sclerosis (MS) is a neurodegenerative disease with symptoms that are varied and unpredictable, and although there are effective medications to treat some forms of MS, there is no cure. For many, an MSdiagnosis means decades living witha chronic illness anddisability. Providing medical and support care topeople with MS can be a long and complex partnership between the patient and the general practitioner (GP). The aim of this article is to provide knowledge of the lived experience of MS and the factors leading to a reduced quality of life. Often alongside the considerable threats to physical health and neurological function that MS poses, there are also significant mental health burdens. This article uses lived experience to outline some of the crucial trigger points where support from the GP, and the wider general practice team, can have a significant impact on a positive path forward for the patient.

\u201cWe could be good partners if we work together\u201d: the perspectives of health and social service providers on the barriers to forming collaborative partnerships with social housing providers for older adults

BackgroundMany older adults are aging-at-home in social housing. However, the lack of integration between housing and health services makes it difficult for older tenants to access needed supports. We examined barriers and facilitators health and social service providers face providing on-site services to older tenants.MethodsWe conducted semi-structured qualitative interviews and focus groups with health and social service professionals (n = 58) in Toronto, Canada who provide community programs in support of older tenants who live in non-profit, rent-geared-to-income social housing. Interviews examined the barriers they faced in providing on-site services to older tenants.FindingsService providers strongly believed that collaboration with on-site housing staff led to better health and housing outcomes for older tenants. Despite the recognized benefits of partnering with housing staff, service providers felt that their ability to work effectively in the building was dependent on the staff (particularly the superintendent) assigned to that building. They also identified other barriers that made it difficult to work collaboratively with the housing provider, including staffing challenges such as high staff turnover and confusion about staff roles, a lack of understanding among housing staff about the link between housing and health, challenges sharing confidential information across sectors, and complex and inefficient partnership processes.ConclusionOlder adult tenants are increasingly vulnerable and in need of supports but the housing provider has a long history of ineffective partnerships with service providers driven by complex and inefficient staffing models, and an organizational culture that questions the role of and need for partnerships. Findings highlight the need for more effective integration of housing and health services. Simplified processes for establishing partnerships with service agencies and more opportunities for communication and collaboration with housing staff would ensure that services are reaching the most vulnerable tenants.

The doors of opportunity: How do community partners experience working as co-educators in a service-learning collaboration?

This article explores the experiences of organisations participating as Community Partners (CPs) and co-educators in a service-learning module in a Higher Education Institution (HEI) in South Wales, UK. It focuses on the opportunities and challenges faced by community organisations when working within the Service-learning (SL) model, and the relationship with the university and the students, including issues of expectation, assessment and identity. The partners provided SL placements of 30 hours or more in a range of community projects and organisations. These placements were intensely collaborative affairs. We researched the experiences of community partners to better understand the dynamics of the relationship; to better understand how to prepare community partners, HEIs and students; and to tease out how complex partnership projects like this one with multiple partners may be conducted successfully. A qualitative study was conducted. The data were collected through semi-structured interviews and analysed using Reflexive Thematic Analysis. Three main themes emerged from the data: Dynamic Tensions; For Each and Every One; and Broadening Horizons. The findings suggest that developing a transformation of the relationship is key to a strong and effective partnership. There needs to be active and dynamic collaboration between CPs and HEIs, including involvement in research projects like these, to better understand and navigate the pleasures and pains of successful cooperative relationships.

Outcomes of Traditional and Enhanced Gonorrhea Partner Services in the Strengthening the US Response to Resistant Gonorrhea Project, 2017 to 2019.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention implemented Strengthening the US Response to Resistant Gonorrhea (SURRG) to build local detection and response capacity and evaluate responses to antibiotic-resistant gonorrhea outbreaks, including partner services for gonorrhea. We evaluated outcomes of traditional partner services conducted under SURRG, which involved (1) counseling index patients and eliciting sexual partners; (2) interviewing, testing, and treating partners; and (3) providing partner services to partners newly diagnosed with gonorrhea. We also evaluated outcomes of enhanced partner services, which additionally involved interviewing and testing partners of persons who tested negative, and social contacts of index patients and partners. We analyzed partner services investigation data from 8 jurisdictions participating in SURRG from 2017 to 2019. We summed total index patients, partners from traditional partner services, and partners and contacts from enhanced partner services, and calculated partner services outcomes among partners and contacts. We also visualized sexual networks from partner services data. Of 1242 index patients identified, 506 named at least 1 sexual partner. Traditional partner services yielded 1088 sexual partners, and 105 were newly diagnosed with gonorrhea. Enhanced partner services yielded an additional 59 sexual partners and 52 social contacts. Of those partners and contacts, 3 were newly diagnosed with gonorrhea. Network visualization revealed sparse networks with few complex partnership clusters. Traditional partner services for gonorrhea may be useful for eliciting, notifying, and diagnosing partners of index patients in an outbreak setting. Enhanced partner services are unlikely to be effective for eliciting, notifying, and diagnosing a substantial number of additional people.

MTOR Activity and Autophagy in Senescent Cells, a Complex Partnership.

Cellular senescence is a form of proliferative arrest triggered in response to a wide variety of stimuli and characterized by unique changes in cell morphology and function. Although unable to divide, senescent cells remain metabolically active and acquire the ability to produce and secrete bioactive molecules, some of which have recognized pro-inflammatory and/or pro-tumorigenic actions. As expected, this “senescence-associated secretory phenotype (SASP)” accounts for most of the non-cell-autonomous effects of senescent cells, which can be beneficial or detrimental for tissue homeostasis, depending on the context. It is now evident that many features linked to cellular senescence, including the SASP, reflect complex changes in the activities of mTOR and other metabolic pathways. Indeed, the available evidence indicates that mTOR-dependent signaling is required for the maintenance or implementation of different aspects of cellular senescence. Thus, depending on the cell type and biological context, inhibiting mTOR in cells undergoing senescence can reverse senescence, induce quiescence or cell death, or exacerbate some features of senescent cells while inhibiting others. Interestingly, autophagy—a highly regulated catabolic process—is also commonly upregulated in senescent cells. As mTOR activation leads to repression of autophagy in non-senescent cells (mTOR as an upstream regulator of autophagy), the upregulation of autophagy observed in senescent cells must take place in an mTOR-independent manner. Notably, there is evidence that autophagy provides free amino acids that feed the mTOR complex 1 (mTORC1), which in turn is required to initiate the synthesis of SASP components. Therefore, mTOR activation can follow the induction of autophagy in senescent cells (mTOR as a downstream effector of autophagy). These functional connections suggest the existence of autophagy regulatory pathways in senescent cells that differ from those activated in non-senescence contexts. We envision that untangling these functional connections will be key for the generation of combinatorial anti-cancer therapies involving pro-senescence drugs, mTOR inhibitors, and/or autophagy inhibitors.

Retraction Note to: Differential modulatory effects of GSK-3b and HDM2 on sorafenib-induced AIF nuclear translocation (programmed necrosis) in melanoma

GSK-3β phosphorylates numerous substrates that govern cell survival. It phosphorylates p53, for example, and induces its nuclear export, HDM2-dependent ubiquitination, and proteasomal degradation. GSK-3β can either enhance or inhibit programmed cell death, depending on the nature of the pro-apoptotic stimulus. We previously showed that the multikinase inhibitor sorafenib activated GSK-3β and that this activation attenuated the cytotoxic effects of the drug in various BRAF-mutant melanoma cell lines. In this report, we describe the results of studies exploring the effects of GSK-3β on the cytotoxicity and antitumor activity of sorafenib combined with the HDM2 antagonist MI-319. MI-319 alone increased p53 levels and p53-dependent gene expression in melanoma cells but did not induce programmed cell death. Its cytotoxicity, however, was augmented in some melanoma cell lines by the addition of sorafenib. In responsive cell lines, the MI-319/sorafenib combination induced the disappearance of p53 from the nucleus, the down modulation of Bcl-2 and Bcl-xL, the translocation of p53 to the mitochondria and that of AIF to the nuclei. These events were all GSK-3β-dependent in that they were blocked with a GSK-3β shRNA and facilitated in otherwise unresponsive melanoma cell lines by the introduction of a constitutively active form of the kinase (GSK-3β-S9A). These modulatory effects of GSK-3β on the activities of the sorafenib/MI-319 combination were the exact reverse of its effects on the activities of sorafenib alone, which induced the down modulation of Bcl-2 and Bcl-xL and the nuclear translocation of AIF only in cells in which GSK-3β activity was either down modulated or constitutively low. In A375 xenografts, the antitumor effects of sorafenib and MI-319 were additive and associated with the down modulation of Bcl-2 and Bcl-xL, the nuclear translocation of AIF, and increased suppression of tumor angiogenesis. Our data demonstrate a complex partnership between GSK-3β and HDM2 in the regulation of p53 function in the nucleus and mitochondria. The data suggest that the ability of sorafenib to activate GSK-3β and alter the intracellular distribution of p53 may be exploitable as an adjunct to agents that prevent the HDM2-dependent degradation of p53 in the treatment of melanoma.

Maternity care for refugees living in Greek refugee camps: What are the challenges to provision?

Over a two-year period between 2015 and 2016, unprecedented numbers of people arrived in Greece fleeing conflict, persecution, and poverty. With new arrivals every day, there is a significant unmet need for health care provision, posing a challenge to the Greek Healthcare System. For pregnant refugees, a known vulnerable group, this has resulted in a complex partnership of shared maternity care between humanitarian organizations, the Greek national health care system, and European multi-state initiatives. Our aim was to understand the challenges to providing maternity care services in Greek refugee camps as perceived by health care providers. A qualitative study comprising observation and semi-structured interviews with health care providers working with pregnant refugees was conducted in five refugee camps in May 2017. Interviews were transcribed and analyzed with thematic coding. Twenty-one health care providers were interviewed and field notes taken from observational study of services in five refugee camps. Health care providers describe difficult cross-cultural communication to be their biggest challenge to caring for pregnant refugee women. The limited availability of female only safe spaces is also identified as a barrier. Lastly, the overburdened Greek public health system limits their ability to provide care. Our research supports other literature describing difficult communication and the overburdened Greek health system as significant health care barriers for pregnant refugees in Greece. There is limited literature examining the role of "safe space," and further research is needed. Stakeholders providing maternity care to refugees should look to tackle these key issues as they seek to provide care to this population.

Childhood family structure and complexity in partnership life courses

This study investigated the associations between childhood living arrangements and complex adult partnership trajectories. The authors defined first union dissolution as the event initiating a complex partnership life course, and measured the level of complexity using a weighted cumulative index of subsequent partnership episodes. The analyses were based on a representative sample of the German population born in 1971–73 from the German Family Panel and used multivariate hurdle models to estimate the probability of experiencing the initiation of a complex partnership trajectory, as well as the level of complexity. Results showed that respondents who did not grow up with both biological parents (i.e. those who experienced an alternative family structure) had both a greater likelihood of experiencing the dissolution of their own first union, and followed more complex subsequent partnership trajectories. These associations varied across types of (alternative) family structures experienced during childhood and according to the level of parental partnership (in)stability. This study contributes to our understanding of contemporary partnership complexity and its precursors using a long term life course theoretical and methodological frame. We acknowledge that continuities and disruptions in the development of adult (complex) partnership trajectories can be linked to a growing diversity of family structure in childhood. Thereby, we expand knowledge on intergenerational interdependencies of family instability and complexity beyond the reproduction of the event of union dissolution.

Arabidopsis CRL4 Complexes: Surveying Chromatin States and Gene Expression.

CULLIN4 (CUL4) RING ligase (CRL4) complexes contain a CUL4 scaffold protein, associated to RBX1 and to DDB1 proteins and have traditionally been associated to protein degradation events. Through DDB1, these complexes can associate with numerous DCAF proteins, which directly interact with specific targets promoting their ubiquitination and subsequent degradation by the proteasome. A characteristic feature of the majority of DCAF proteins that associate with DDB1 is the presence of the DWD motif. DWD-containing proteins sum up to 85 in the plant model species Arabidopsis. In the last decade, numerous Arabidopsis DWD proteins have been studied and their molecular functions uncovered. Independently of whether their association with CRL4 has been confirmed or not, DWD proteins are often found as components of additional multimeric protein complexes that play key roles in essential nuclear events. For most of them, the significance of their complex partnership is still unexplored. Here, we summarize recent findings involving both confirmed and putative CRL4-associated DCAF proteins in regulating nuclei architecture remodelling, DNA damage repair, histone post-translational modification, mRNA processing and export, and ribosome biogenesis, that definitely have an impact in gene expression and de novo protein synthesis. We hypothesized that, by maintaining accurate levels of regulatory proteins through targeted degradation and transcriptional control, CRL4 complexes help to surveil nuclear processes essential for plant development and survival.

Digital urbanism in a transitional economy – a review of India’s municipal e-governance policy

ABSTRACTThe basic premise of India’s new urban agenda rests on widespread application Information Technology (IT) tools to improve the quality of data infrastructure, services delivery and citizen interface in existing cities. These digital urban projects are being rolled out through a complex multilayered partnership arrangement between the state agencies, the corporate sector and international agencies. This paper analyses implementation challenges of this technocentric top-down urban agenda, due to sharp spatio-economic digital divide and institutional capacity deficits. Years of neglect had made the India’s municipal bodies weak and suffer skilled human resource shortage in the areas of IT and e-governance. The paper argues that unless the e-governance applications are internalized by the elected municipal bodies, it can result in gradual outsourcing of municipal governance and reduce opportunities for public participation in local governance. Moreover, digital literacy and network infrastructure require substantial strengthening in small- and medium-sized cities, to avoid further digital polarization.

Analyse d’implantation d’une recherche-intervention sur le dépistage rapide du VIH dans la communauté gaie montréalaise

Abstract: Spot is an intervention research project that led to the implementation of a community-based rapid HIV testing service in Montreal’s gay community. A case study was undertaken to describe the process through which Spot was implemented and the contextual factors that affected this process. Qualitative analysis allowed an implementation process comprised of several phases to be identified. These phases were shaped by stakeholders’ motivations to engage in the project; complex partnership dynamics; challenges with regards to coordinating a multidisciplinary, intersectoral, intervention research project; and the day-to-day management of the intervention team.

Public service mutuals: towards a theoretical understanding of the spin-out process

Over the past few decades the policy environment in the UK has gradually sought to encourage public sector workers to ‘spin-out’ their services into social enterprises. This paper reports the common experiences and barriers experienced by four local authorities in the UK that ‘spun-out’ a public service into a social enterprise. The analysis is underpinned by Takahashi and Smutny’s (2002) theoretical model of partnerships and uses this to present a new model of the spin-out process. In doing so, the research identifies the complex partnership arrangements used in a spinout involving collaborations with staff, services users and public/private/third sector organisations.

What is the nature and value of a risk management tool in a large-scale complex programme of collaborative applied health research?

In this article we examine a risk management tool that was used in a pilot programme of applied health research in the south-west of England funded by the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR). During a wider internal evaluation of the NIHR Collaboration for Leadership in Applied Health Research and Care for the South West Peninsula, we became interested in how risk was being defined and managed in the programme. Our search of the empirical literature showed that little attention had been given to risk governance within large-scale organisational change programmes in the health field. Through analysis of official documents and interviews with senior managers, we examined the nature and the value of the risk tool that was used by the programme managers. This highlighted that the programme was believed to be a ‘relatively risky’ initiative that required active management. The senior managers developed a risk tool for this purpose, which was regularly used throughout the pilot. It was perceived to have value in three main ways – providing assurance to members of the collaboration, responsiveness to the wider context and acceptability as part of routine programme implementation. Our analysis also highlighted intentional risk-taking within a complex partnership programme that sought to facilitate the translation of evidence into everyday practice. We discuss the implications of our insights for the further development of risk tools and the potential value of ‘edgework’ as a theoretical framework to inform further research of risk management in complex programmes.

The Land as a Community of Honour, Public Interest and Peace

Relating to the Bavarian and Austrian estates the “Gemeine Nutzen” (“common good”) is a term already appearing in 15th century sources. This observation contradicts the opinion, the “Gemeine Nutzen” is an invention of the following century. Especially the example of the Austrian estates shows, that “Lander” (“lands”) could be defined as large communities, consisting of the “Herrschaft” (“dominion”) and the estates being the “Land”, which was understood as a community of peace, honour and public interest. Simultaneously the essay comments on the discussion about Otto Brunner’s work (“Land und Herrschaft”). In several steps the essay expounds the dependance between a territorial sovereign and a “Land”. The lack of money, the lack of peace and the necessity of a good judicature were fundamental for the formation of the idea of public use. The work tries to point out, that the discussion about “Land und Herrschaft” and its reception have provoked some problematic and misleading inferences: The domination over a “Land” was a complex partnership of convenience between a relatively weak territorial sovereign and the estates not a primitive lordship over subjects.

Reliability of union histories in social science surveys: Blurred memory, deliberate misreporting, or true tales?

Abstract This paper examines the reliability of biographical information gathered retrospectively. It draws on data from the German Family Panel (pairfam), which collected information on the partnership status at first birth using two different strategies. The first strategy was to collect partnership and fertility histories separately in an event history calendar. The second strategy was to ask the respondents directly about their partnership status at first childbirth. We find that in almost 20 percent of the cases, the information collected using the two different strategies did not correspond. The dissolution of a partnership and having a complex partnership biography are strong predictors for discrepancies in the information gathered through the two different strategies. We conclude by discussing the factors that lead to the different outcomes produced by each of the two methods, and the implications of these discrepancies for the study of partnership and fertility behavior in general.

Rhizobium cellulosilyticum as a co-inoculant enhances Phaseolus vulgaris grain yield under greenhouse conditions

The Rhizobium-legume symbiosis is a complex partnership with many factors, with initial bacterial colonization of the plant root surface and primary infection as key early stages. Two molecules are strongly involved in these processes: the structural carbohydrate cellulose and the enzyme cellulase, which breaks down the former and allows rhizobia to infect the roots. Here, we report the effect on common bean (Phaseolus vulgaris L.) after co-inoculation of the non-nodulating, cellulase-overproducing strain Rhizobium cellulosilyticum ALA10B2T and the P. vulgaris-nodulating R. leguminosarum strain TPV08. In order to elucidate the effect of combined inoculation with both strains, we designed greenhouse assays, including single inoculation with strain TPV08, co-inoculation with both strains and an uninoculated treatment in non-sterile peat. Chemical fertilizers were not added. Chlorophyll content in the leaves was measured after the flowering stage by spectrophotometry and was considered to be indicative of the nutrient status of the plants. Nodule formation was observed on roots of the inoculated plants, while no nodulation was observed on roots of the uninoculated plants. The results indicate a synergistic effect between the two Rhizobium strains. Co-inoculated plants exhibited significant increases in seed yield and nitrogen content in comparison with the uninoculated control plants and with plants inoculated with a single strain. It is suggested that co-inoculation with strain ALA10B2T greatly increased the efficiency of N fixation by strain TPV08.