Federal Public Research Articles

Innovatives Schulden- und Finanzmanagement in öffentlichen Unternehmen

Journal for Pu blic and Nonprofit Services is a multidisciplinary scientific journal. It provides information, discussions and documentations, and is furthermore the organ of the Federal Public Services - German Section of CEEP e. V.

"Von den Verkehrsbetrieben der Stadt Luzern (VBL) zu den Verkehrsbetrieben Luzern (vbl). Die Verselbständigung eines kommunalen Transportunternehmens in der Schweiz – Schlüsselfaktoren der Transformation"

Journal for Pu blic and Nonprofit Services is a multidisciplinary scientific journal. It provides information, discussions and documentations, and is furthermore the organ of the Federal Public Services - German Section of CEEP e. V. The journal offers comprehensive information on the important area of public companies and provides a forum for practitioners and researchers. It is dedicated to federal, state, and local companies, mixed-economy companies, companies of trade unions, chambers, churches, political parties, foundations and associations, publicly committed companies, cooperative companies and, in particular, enterprises of the independent welfare work. The Journal is a forum for economic, political, and social scientists and legal scholars. The publication of papers and short contributions are examined by a scientific anonymous review process that guarantees a consistently high quality of contributions. Website: www.zoegu.nomos.de

Kosten und finanzielle Nachhaltigkeit in der kommunalen Wasserwirtschaft

Journal for Pu blic and Nonprofit Services is a multidisciplinary scientific journal. It provides information, discussions and documentations, and is furthermore the organ of the Federal Public Services - German Section of CEEP e. V.

Zwischen Gemeinwirtschaft und Marktorientierung – die Schweizerischen Bundesbahnen (SBB) und ihre Innovationskultur seit den 1960er-Jahren

Journal for Pu blic and Nonprofit Services is a multidisciplinary scientific journal. It provides information, discussions and documentations, and is furthermore the organ of the Federal Public Services - German Section of CEEP e. V. The journal offers comprehensive information on the important area of public companies and provides a forum for practitioners and researchers. It is dedicated to federal, state, and local companies, mixed-economy companies, companies of trade unions, chambers, churches, political parties, foundations and associations, publicly committed companies, cooperative companies and, in particular, enterprises of the independent welfare work. The Journal is a forum for economic, political, and social scientists and legal scholars. The publication of papers and short contributions are examined by a scientific anonymous review process that guarantees a consistently high quality of contributions. Website: www.zoegu.nomos.de

Projected Reduction in Healthcare Costs in Belgium After Optimization of Iodine Intake: Impact on Costs Related to Thyroid Nodular Disease

Several surveys in the last 50 years have repeatedly indicated that Belgium is affected by mild iodine deficiency. Within the framework of the national food and health plan in Belgium, a selective, progressive, and monitored strategy was proposed in 2009 to optimize iodine intake. The objective of the present study was to perform a health economic evaluation of the consequences of inadequate iodine intake in Belgium, focusing on undisputed and measurable health outcomes such as thyroid nodular disease and its associated morbidity (hyperthyroidism). For the estimation of direct, indirect, medical, and nonmedical costs related to thyroid nodular diseases in Belgium, data from the Federal Public Service of Public Health, Food Chain Safety and Environment, the National Institute for Disease and Disability Insurance (RIZIV/INAMI), the Information Network about the prescription of reimbursable medicines (FARMANET), Intercontinental Marketing Services, and expert opinions were used. These costs translate into savings after implementation of the iodization program and are defined as costs due to thyroid nodular disease throughout the article. Costs related to the iodization program are referred to as program costs. Only figures dating from before the start of the intervention were exploited. Only adult and elderly people (≥18 years) were taken into account in this study because thyroid nodular diseases predominantly affect this age group. The yearly costs due to thyroid nodular diseases caused by mild iodine deficiency in the Belgian adult population are ∼€38 million. It is expected that the iodization program will result in additional costs of ∼€54,000 per year and decrease the prevalence of thyroid nodular diseases by 38% after a 4-5-year period. The net savings after establishment of the program are therefore estimated to be at least €14 million a year. Optimization of iodine intake in Belgium should be quite cost effective, if only considering its impact on nodular thyroid disease. There are likely added benefits relating to more optimal thyroid hormone influenced brain development that are more difficult to estimate but may be even more important.

The Medical Reserve Corps as Part of the Federal Medical and Public Health Response in Disaster Settings

The Secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), through the Office of the Assistant Secretary for Preparedness and Response (ASPR), coordinates federal Emergency Support Function (ESF) #8 preparedness, response, and recovery actions. To address these needs, the ASPR can draw on trained personnel from a variety of sources, both from within and outside HHS. Among the resources under the domain of HHS is the Medical Reserve Corps (MRC), directed by the Office of the Civilian Volunteer Medical Reserve Corps (OCVMRC) in the Office of the Surgeon General. MRC units are community based and function as a way to locally organize and utilize medical and public health professionals, such as physicians, nurses, pharmacists, dentists, veterinarians, and epidemiologists. Nonclinical volunteers, such as interpreters, chaplains, office workers, legal advisors, and others, can fill logistical and support roles in MRC units. This article discusses locally controlled (Hurricanes Gustav and Ike) and federalized (Hurricanes Katrina and Rita) MRC activations, and it describes the advantages of using medical volunteers in a large-scale disaster response setting.

The Anthropologist as Expert Witness in Death Penalty Mitigation

I was busy teaching classes one fall semester when I read an e-mail from a mitigation specialist with the Federal Public Defender appealing for help with a death penalty case. She was defending a client who she said was the direct descendent of Devil Anse Hatfield and Ellison Hatfield (of Hatfield and McCoy feud fame). In trying to determine how to use the client's cultural background as mitigation, she said she "didn't have a clue" if his being related to the Hatfield's was good or bad. The client had lived around coal mines his entire life, and they were researching the environmental effects of coal impoundment methods on well water. However, she wrote, "I am stuck when it comes to understanding how his cultural background (growing up in Appalachia) impacts his thinking and therefore his perspective on life." She asked for my help. Having experience as a cultural expert witness in previous death penalty cases, I volunteered to assist the defense team in making the case for life (as opposed to death) for the client.

Conflicts of power in the relationship among professionals of health under the optical of the patient

RESUMOEstudo exploratório e descritivo, de abordagem qualitativa, com o objetivo de investigar os conflitos de poder na relação de profissionais de saúde sob a óptica do paciente em um Hospital Escola Público Federal de Recife. Para a coleta de informações foi utilizado um roteiro de entrevista semi-estruturado com os pacientes e profissionais de saúde, no período Junho e Julho de 2006, após aprovação do projeto de pesquisa pelo Comitê de Ética em Pesquisa da Universidade Federal de Pernambuco e com autorização através do termo de consentimento livre e esclarecido dos participantes. A amostra foi de dez profissionais de saúde do ambulatório e da enfermaria de clínica médica; 15 pacientes que estavam sendo assistidos no ambulatório e dez pacientes das enfermarias. As entrevistas foram codificadas, transcritas e definidas as seguintes categorias: 1) Conflitos frente às relações pessoais e grupais, no ambiente físico no trabalho dos profissionais de saúde; 2) Conflitos abordados e processados na equipe de profissionais de saúde; 3) Conseqüências dos conflitos gerados na relação profissionais de saúde vs profissionais de saúde na qualidade da assistência ao paciente e, 4) Conseqüências dos conflitos de poder na relação profissionais de saúde vs paciente. A análise de cada categoria foi com base na fundamentação teórica associadas aos fatos e relatos dos entrevistados, considerando similitudes e diferenças entre as informações, relacionando-as aos conflitos de poder na relação entre profissionais de saúde sob a óptica do paciente. Palavras-chave: Conflitos; Poder; Profissionais de Saúde; Paciente.ABSTRACTExploratory and descriptive study, of qualitative boarding, whose principal objective was to investigate power conflicts in the professional relationships inside the health area under the patient’s point of view inside a Federal Public Hospital School at Recife city. A semi-structured script was used to collect the information with patients and health personnel, from June to July of 2006. The script was used after it was approved by the Ethics on Research Committee of the University Federal of Pernambuco and under the free and clarified assent term of the participants. The sample was constituted of ten clinic health professional, fifteen patients who were assisted in this clinic and ten patients from the infirmary. Then interviews where codified, transcript, and defined the following categories: 1) Conflicts towards personal and group relationships, inside the environment of health professional’s work; 2) Conflicts inside the team of health professionals; 3) Consequences of the conflicts in the health professional’s relationships vs. Quality of assistance from the health professionals and, 4) Consequences of the power conflicts vs. Patient. The analysis of each category was based on the theoretical recital associated to the facts and stories of the interviewed, considering similarities and differences in the information given, relating them to the power conflicts in the relationship between health professionals under the patient point of view. Key-words: Conflicts; Power; Health Professionals; Patient.RESUMENEstudio indagatorio y descriptivo, con enfoque cualitativo, con el objetivo general de investigar los conflictos poderosos con relación a los profesionistas de salud desde el punto de vista de los pacientes en el Hospital Escuela Publico Federal de Recife. Para la recolección de información fue aplicada una encuesta semi-estructurada a los pacientes y con los profesionistas de salud en el periodo junio y julio de 2006, después de haber sido aprobado el proyecto por el Comité de Investigaciones Éticas de la Universidad Federal de Pernambuco y con el consentimiento, posterior a la justificación, de los pacientes. La muestra se conformó por: diez profesionistas de la clínica, quince pacientes atendidos en la misma, y diez pacientes del área de enfermería. Las encuestas fueron codificadas, transcritas y definidas en las siguientes categorías: 1) Conflictos relacionados a las relaciones personales y grupales, en el ambiente físico del trabajo de los profesionistas de salud; 2) Conflictos abordados y procesados dentro del equipo de profesionistas; 3) Consecuencias de los conflictos generados relacionados entre profesionista y la calidad de la asistencia al paciente; y 4) consecuencias de los conflictos poderosos en la relación profesionista-paciente. El análisis de cada categoría fue con base a los fundamentos teóricos asociados a los hechos y relatos de los entrevistados, considerando similitudes y diferencias entre la información obtenida, relacionándolas también a los conflictos poderosos en la relación entre los profesionistas desde el punto de vista del paciente. Palabras clave: Conflictos; Poderoso; Profesionistas de salud; Paciente.

Conflitos socioambientais motivados por ocupação de manguezais e restingas para fins habitacionais no espaço urbano de Macaé, RJ DOI:10.5007/1807-1384.2010v7n1p242

The spontaneous occupation of mangroves and sandbanks, for habitation ends, has been carting conflicting situations in Macae, located city to the north of the State of Rio de Janeiro. Our objective is to analyze the specificities of the conflicts motivated by the occupation of growth of mangroves and sandbanks for habitation ends that won institutional visibility through accusations directed by the that she were harmed. The data were collected starting from documental research in the State Public Prosecution Service and in the Federal Public Prosecution Service. We identified three groups of actors involved in the conflicts: the ones that defend the occupants’ retreat and the restoration of the degraded areas, the ones that defend the occupants’ permanence and urbanization of the busy areas, and the ones that defend the need of a study of each situation seeking urbanization of the occupation areas, already consolidated, and removal of the families that are in risk areas or still committing the ecosystems existent. We verified that the conflicts, current of the occupation of the growth of mangroves and sandbanks, demonstrate the existence of another conflict that is related to the picture of segregation socioespacial of the city of Macae. We could conclude that the conflicts were propeller of social changes, and that still exist many challenges to be faced.

Ecosystem Services and Federal Public Lands: Start-Up Policy Questions and Research Needs

This Essay, based on a presentation at Duke Law School’s 2009 symposium, Next Generation Conservation: The Government's Role in Emerging Ecosystem Service Markets, briefly examines the emerging policy front of ecosystem services and federal public lands and proposes a set of key policy questions, research needs, and options for building on what policy work has been done to date. Part I outlines the basic context for thinking about the role federal public lands might play in the management of ecosystem services and why it is worth considering using the ecosystem services concept in public land policy. Part II proposes several key research paths that must be addressed before federal lands can be effectively managed for ecosystem service flows. Part III bears down on the different roles federal lands might play in promoting or participating in markets for ecosystem services.

Markt, Hierarchie und die dazwischen liegende Vielfalt: hybride Organisationen und Selbstverwaltungen von Allmenderessourcen regen zu innovativen Kooperationen an

Journal for Pu blic and Nonprofit Services is a multidisciplinary scientific journal. It provides information, discussions and documentations, and is furthermore the organ of the Federal Public Services - German Section of CEEP e. V.

Innovationsmanagement in gemeinwohlorientierten öffentlichen Unternehmen – Herausforderungen und Chancen am Beispiel der Deutschen Sparkassenorganisation

Journal for Pu blic and Nonprofit Services is a multidisciplinary scientific journal. It provides information, discussions and documentations, and is furthermore the organ of the Federal Public Services - German Section of CEEP e. V.

Ineffizienz und Strukturunterschiede in der deutschen Wasserversorgung

Journal for Pu blic and Nonprofit Services is a multidisciplinary scientific journal. It provides information, discussions and documentations, and is furthermore the organ of the Federal Public Services - German Section of CEEP e. V.

Potenziale und Nutzen einer Pfadkostenrechnung auf Basis von Behandlungspfaden für Einrichtungen im Gesundheitswesen

Journal for Pu blic and Nonprofit Services is a multidisciplinary scientific journal. It provides information, discussions and documentations, and is furthermore the organ of the Federal Public Services - German Section of CEEP e. V.

Der öffentliche Auftrag der deutschen Sparkassen aus der Perspektive des Stakeholder-Managements

Journal for Pu blic and Nonprofit Services is a multidisciplinary scientific journal. It provides information, discussions and documentations, and is furthermore the organ of the Federal Public Services - German Section of CEEP e. V.

Assessing Partisan Bias in Federal Public Corruption Prosecutions

The 2007 U.S. Attorney firing scandal raised the specter of political bias in the prosecution of officials under federal corruption laws. Has prosecutorial discretion been employed to persecute enemies or shield allies? To answer this question, I develop a model of the interaction between officials contemplating corruption and a prosecutor deciding whether to pursue cases against them. Biased prosecutors will be willing to file weaker cases against political opponents than against allies. Consequently, the model anticipates that in the presence of partisan bias, sentences of prosecuted opponents will tend to be lower than those of co-partisans. Employing newly collected data on public corruption prosecutions, I find evidence of partisan bias under both Bush (II) and Clinton Justice Departments. However, additional evidence suggests that these results may understate the extent of bias under Bush, while overstating it under Clinton.

Assessing Partisan Bias in Federal Public Corruption Prosecutions

The 2007 U.S. Attorney firing scandal raised the specter of political bias in the prosecution of officials under federal corruption laws. Has prosecutorial discretion been employed to persecute enemies or shield allies? To answer this question, I develop a model of the interaction between officials contemplating corruption and a prosecutor deciding whether to pursue cases against them. Biased prosecutors will be willing to file weaker cases against political opponents than against allies. Consequently, the model anticipates that in the presence of partisan bias, sentences of prosecuted opponents will tend to be \textit{lower} than those of co-partisans. Employing newly collected data on public corruption prosecutions, I find evidence of partisan bias under both the Bush (II) and Clinton Justice Departments. However, additional evidence suggests that these results may understate the extent of bias under Bush, while overstating it under Clinton.

Service Learning im Rahmen der Speziellen Betriebswirtschaftslehre „Public & Nonprofit Management“ – Eine Fallstudie

Journal for Pu blic and Nonprofit Services is a multidisciplinary scientific journal. It provides information, discussions and documentations, and is furthermore the organ of the Federal Public Services - German Section of CEEP e. V.

Modernisierung des Bilanzrechts – Auswirkungen auf öffentliche Unternehmen und Verwaltungen

Journal for Pu blic and Nonprofit Services is a multidisciplinary scientific journal. It provides information, discussions and documentations, and is furthermore the organ of the Federal Public Services - German Section of CEEP e. V.

Assessment of the chemical contamination in home-produced eggs in Belgium: General overview of the CONTEGG study

This overview paper describes a study conducted for the Belgian Federal Public Service of Health, Food Chain Safety and Environment during 2006–2007. Home-produced eggs from Belgian private owners of hens were included in a large study aiming to determine concentration levels of various environmental contaminants. By means of the analyses of soil samples and of kitchen waste samples, obtained from the same locations, an investigation towards the possible sources of contaminants was possible. Eggs, soils, faeces and kitchen waste samples were checked for the presence of dioxins, PCBs (including dioxin-like PCBs), organochlorine pesticides, trace elements, PAHs, brominated flame retardants and mycotoxins. The study design, sampling methodology and primary conclusions of the study are given. It was found that in some cases dioxin-like compounds were present at levels that are of concern for the health of the egg consumers. Therefore, measures to limit their contamination in eggs, produced by hens of private owners, were proposed and deserve further attention.