Public Members Research Articles

Проблемные аспекты осуществления общественного контроля за работой учреждений и органов, исполняющих наказания

We analyze the legislation and practice of public control implementation of the work of institutions and authorities that conduct sentences. We consider the basic principles and directions of the Public Monitoring Commissions (PMC) activities, we list the problem aspects of the administrations interaction of corrections facilities (CF), mass media and public members. In addition, we study the conceptual foundations of the penal system (PS), measures of legal, organizational, informational, social and economic nature aimed at transparency and improving the conditions of serving a sentence. We ascertain that in practice there are cases in which misunderstanding and ignorance of the criminal, criminal procedural and correctional law legis-lation by members of the PMC, their inability to give an objective legal as-sessment of the behavior and actions of a particular subject (remand prisoner, convicted) and officials of administrations of the Federal Penitentiary Service (FPS of Russia) often creates prerequisites for destabilizing the work of institutions of forced detention (FD) and violating the order of serving sentences. In addition, we note that there are other unresolved tasks with the procedure for protecting the rights of convicted prisoners. Thus, we points out that to date, the issues of modernization and optimization of the security system of the CF, strengthening the material base, the formation of modern information and telecommunication infrastructures, ensuring the necessary level of social protection of the PMC employees, introducing modern technologies and technical means into practice of conduct of sentences and many others have remained unresolved.

Marshall Islands

Marshall Islands Monica C Labriola For the Republic of the Marshall Islands (RMI), the period under review saw the passing of a number of public servants, community members, and advocates, including several trailblazers in nuclear and climate activism, advocacy, and scholarship. Tony deBrum devoted his life's work to the advancement of the Marshall Islands and to procuring nuclear and climate justice for Marshall Islanders. After serving on the Congress of Micronesia and the Marshall Islands' first Constitutional Convention in the 1970s, deBrum played a key role in securing independence from the Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands and in the negotiations that resulted in the RMI's first Compact of Free Association (cofa) with the United States in 1986 (Walsh and Heine 2011). His government posts spanned decades and included senator for Mājro and Kuwajleen atolls, minister of finance and foreign affairs, ambassador to the United Nations, and RMI climate ambassador (mij, 1 Sept 2017). DeBrum was a staunch advocate for justice for the survivors of the aftermath of sixty-seven nuclear tests conducted by the United States on Pikinni and Ānewetak atolls. He sought to secure a world free of nuclear weapons and in 2014 filed a lawsuit on behalf of the RMI aimed at forcing the world's nuclear powers to reengage in nuclear disarmament talks (mij, 1 Sept 2017). DeBrum was also a leader in the movement to reverse the effects of climate change and was instrumental in the passage of the Paris Agreement of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change. In addition to being nominated for a Nobel Peace Prize, deBrum was the recipient of several awards including the Nuclear Age Peace Foundation Distinguished Peace Leadership Award in 2012 and a posthumous Lifetime Achievement Award from the government of Germany in 2017 (mij, 25 Aug, 3 Nov 2017). Weeks before deBrum's passing in late August 2017, the Marshall Islands lost sitting Naṃdik Atoll Senator and Minister Mattlan (Matt) Zackhras. Prior to his service as President Hilda Heine's minister in assistance, Zackhras's portfolio during his four terms in office included the ministries of public works and of resources and development. Zackhras was instrumental in securing funding for local [End Page 170] and national sustainable development projects and was recognized for his work promoting sustainable black pearl farming, the formation of the Namdrik [Naṃdik] Copra Cooperative, and the RMI's first virgin coconut oil processing operation (mij, 11 Aug 2017). In a November 2017 special election, Naṃdik voters opted to keep Zackhras's Nitijeḷā (Parliament) seat in the family by electing his brother Wisely Zackhras to succeed him (mij, 17 Nov 2017). The RMI also lost three longtime nuclear advocates during this period. Lemeyo Abon was one of the last surviving ri-Roñḷap (ri- means person/people of/from) to have lived through the fallout of the Castle Bravo hydrogen bomb test on Pikinni Atoll on 1 March 1954. Abon recounted her experiences in books, films, newspaper articles, and a statement to the United Nations Human Rights Council in 2012; she died in February 2018. A resident of the Marshall Islands for almost fifty years, Bill Graham devoted much of his career to seeking justice and compensation for the survivors of US nuclear testing. Graham served as public advocate for the RMI Nuclear Claims Tribunal for more than twenty years and had recently been appointed to the newly established RMI National Nuclear Commission. Graham died in Honolulu on 1 March 2018, the sixty-fourth anniversary of the Castle Bravo test (mij, 9 March 2018). Nuclear scholar and advocate Dr Robert (Bob) Kiste passed away on 28 November 2017. In addition to publishing The Bikinians: A Study in Forced Migration in 1974 and working as a consultant for the Micronesian Legal Service Corporation in the 1970s, Kiste inspired scores of Pacific Islands scholars as a professor and director of the Center for Pacific Islands Studies from 1978 to 2002 (Lal 2004). Among the many other traditional leaders and prominent community members who died during this period were Mājro aḷap (lineage head) Newi Nathan; Kuwajleen aḷap and Constitutional Convention delegate Stephen "Kodri" Dribo; and Castle Bravo...

Point Cloud Processing System Development Based on PCL and Qt

LiDAR technology has been widely applied in various disciplines as it can obtain 3D information of targets directly and accurately. However, it is still a challenge to processing LiDAR point clouds efficiently as its huge datasets and complicated processing procedures. Current processing methods need integrate multiple software to complete the whole processing procedures to produce final results which needs lots of time effort and cause low efficiency. By analyzing the theories and methods of LiDAR data processing procedures, this research aims to develop a new point cloud processing software based on PCL and Qt. Firstly, the overall design and modules of the processing system was introduced. The main modules include data management, visualization, filtering, segmentation modeling and auxiliary function. Secondly, to improve system security and maintenance convenience, the system adopts the object-oriented programming method to encapsulate private members and methods of classes, and only open public member variables and methods are available to users. The main classes which were employed in this research were explained. Finally, indoor environments datasets were used to verify the point cloud processing system. The results showed that system has strong interactivity, intuitive display, easy to use and comprehensive features and good results can be derived.

Regional working in the East of England: using the UK National Standards for Public Involvement

Plain English summaryInvolving patients and members of the public to help shape and carry out research is recommended in health research in the United Kingdom (UK). There are a number of regional networks of Patient and Public Involvement (PPI) groups, which support the collaboration between researchers, patients and public members. We are a group of researchers, patients and public members who came together via a PPI regional network in the East of England to collaborate on a research study about the extent of feedback from researchers to PPI contributors.The aim of this paper is to use the recently developed UK National Standards for Public Involvement to structure our thinking about what worked well and what did not, within our recently completed study. We believe this paper is one of the first to use the National Standards to structure a retrospective reflection on PPI within a study.Our findings showed that there are benefits of regional working, including easier access to public members and bringing together researchers, public members and those who run PPI groups for research collaboration. The main challenges included involvement of people before studies are funded and working across organisations with different payment processes.The National Standards for Public Involvement has provided a useful framework to consider how best to involve patients and members of the public in research and could be a helpful structure to reflect on successes and challenges in individual projects and also regional, national or international comparisons of PPI in research.BackgroundRegional networks of Patient and Public Involvement (PPI) organisations, including academic institutions, health and social care services, charities, patient and public groups and individuals, can play an important part in carrying out health research. In the UK, recommendations by the National Institute of Health Research (NIHR) encourage the use of regional, collaborative networks with shared resources and training.MethodsThe newly developed UK National Standards for Public Involvement were used as a framework for a retrospective reflection of PPI within a recently completed research study which focused on feedback from researchers to PPI contributors. PPI contributors, those running PPI groups (PPI leads) and researchers involved in the study have contributed to this reflection by completing evaluation forms throughout the research alongside notes of meetings and co-authors’ final reflections.ResultsResults revealed a number of successes where the regional network was particularly useful in bringing together PPI contributors, those who lead PPI groups and researchers. The regional network helped researchers to get in touch with patients and members of the public. Challenges included involving people before funding and bureaucratic and financial barriers when working across different organisations in the region. The importance of working together in flexible, informal ways was key and on-going support for the PPI contributors was vital for continued involvement, including emotional support not just monetary. The first four National Standards of inclusive opportunities, working together, support and learning and communications were particularly useful as means of structuring our reflections.ConclusionsTo our knowledge, this is one of the first research studies to use the UK National Standards for Public Involvement as a framework to identify what worked well and the challenges of PPI processes. It is suggested that as more reflective papers are published and the National Standards are more widely used in the UK, many lessons can be learnt and shared on how to improve our Patient and Public Involvement within research studies. Evaluations or reflections such as these can further enhance our understanding of PPI with implications for regional, national and international comparisons.

Teaching and researching quality indicators: a partnership with middle school students

Abstract Discussions about the quality of public education have generated concerns that are at the base of public policies such as SAEB – Sistema de Avaliação da Educação Básica [Elementary and Middle School Evaluation System], meant to work with quality standards defined by educators themselves. Some scholars accuse this system of having merely regulatory purposes. This study broadens the discussion by investigating students’ opinions on Educational Quality. Our aims are: to identify what 8th graders understand by educational quality; to investigate the prevailing educational quality concepts in school discourses; to discuss how students understand the notion of educational quality. The methodology articulates documental study and field work (questionnaire and focus groups). The collected data were analyzed with two text analysis software: Analyse Lexicale par Contexte d’un Ensemble de Segment de Texte (ALCEST) and Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS). The study involved 227 students from four different public schools (two city schools and two state schools) and members of the Education Master’s Program of a private university located in the city of São Paulo’s eastern area. The results highlight the importance of: a) participating in school dynamics and b) developing a good relationship between the students and other school members, as well as the need to: a) restore respect and trust between students and educators, b) have school activities that can make people feel valued and c) educate the teachers/researchers to encourage them to listen to their students.

Does Audit Firm Tenure Matter to Audit Committee Members? Evidence from an Accounting Dispute

SYNOPSIS This study examines the effects of Big 4 audit firm tenure on audit committee member support for the auditor in an auditor/management dispute over a subjective accounting issue. One hundred eighteen U.S. public company audit committee members participated in an experiment with audit firm tenure (short/long) manipulated randomly between subjects. The results indicate that participants in the long audit firm tenure group provide more support for the auditor in the dispute than participants in the short tenure group. Audit committee support for the auditor is positively related to audit committee member experience and CPA status, as well as perceived management pressure to meet analyst expectations, but negatively related to perceived management experience in financial reporting. Finally, audit committee members' perceptions of audit firm reliability (i.e., credibility and dependability) mediate the audit firm tenure-auditor support relation. Overall, our results suggest enhanced audit committee support for longer-tenured auditors.

A Review of Public Health Training Needs Assessment Approaches: Opportunities to Move Forward.

Assessing training needs of the public health workforce is crucial for creating professional development opportunities to improve knowledge, competence, and effectiveness of this workforce. Regional Public Health Training Centers (RPHTCs) assess workforce training needs and deliver training based on identified needs. To determine training priorities, several needs assessment surveys have been administered by RPHTCs and national public health member organizations. This study identified the types of training questions being asked to public health practitioners in the various assessment surveys implemented by RPHTCs and national membership organizations. Although the surveys measured similar overarching constructs, multiple approaches with limited consistency were used to measure training needs. Although successful in responding to the needs of their targeted constituents, the limited consistency among survey types makes generalization of findings difficult. Disseminating common metrics and aggregate survey findings would increase efficiency in determining workforce training needs and developing targeted training.

Involving minority ethnic communities and diverse experts by experience in dementia research: The Caregiving HOPE Study.

Patient and public involvement is imperative to ensure relevance of research. There is a growing literature on the theoretical underpinning on patient and public involvement including level and processes of involvement. The aim of this paper is to describe a person-centred and culturally sensitive approach to working with minority ethnic communities, involving carers, people living with dementia, members of the public and carer support workers, as used in the Caregiving HOPE study; and the influence of the approach on the study's research processes and outcomes. Patient and public involvement members were considered experts by experience and involved with study conception, design, conduct and dissemination. The perspective of the experts by experience is also presented in this article. The level and nature of involvement was influenced by each individual's needs and desires which changed over the course of the study. The approach had a significant impact on study outcomes as evidenced by successful recruitment and engagement at a national level, but was not without challenges with greater flexibility required and fuller consideration of financial and time costs required. Benefits of the approach included strong engagement, improved outcomes (successful recruitment of seldom heard groups) and meaningful relationships between researchers and experts by experience. A person-centred and culturally sensitive approach is required with patient and public involvement to ensure involvement is not detrimental to those involved, is meaningful and enjoyable and has a positive impact on the research.

Public and patient involvement in dementia research: Time to reflect?

Public and patient involvement in research is a well-established requirement for applications to many grant-awarding bodies. Numerous models of consultation, collaboration and leadership have been developed to support all stages of research, from ideas development through to project execution and dissemination of findings. However, the interface between researchers and lay members is not always a happy one; scientific 'fact' may not square with lived experience; clinical researchers may regard their accumulated knowledge from working with many people with dementia and their families as 'more valid' than the individual experience(s) of a small number of public and patient involvement representatives; public and patient involvement members can fall victim to tokenism and manipulation. In this opinion piece, I consider the nature of representation in public and patient involvement in dementia research, and whether identifying disconfirmatory cases provides greater value than current consensus building approaches. I conclude by encouraging researchers to listen, reflect and embrace the opportunity to engage with alternative perspectives.

공기업 구성원의 내부성과평가에 대한 공정성 지각이 조직시민행동에 미치는 영향에 관한 연구

본 연구는 중앙정부 공기업을 대상으로 내부성과관리제도인 조직평가와 개인평가에 대한 공정성 지각이 조직시민행동에 미치는 영향과 이 과정에서 조직신뢰의 매개효과를 분석하는 것을 목적으로 하고 있다. 본 연구의 가설검증 결과, 조직성과평가에 대한 분배공정성과 절차공정성 지각은 공히 조직시민행동에 통계적으로 유의한 정(+)의 영향을 미치는 것으로 확인되었다. 그러나 개인성과평가의 경우에는 절차공정성만이 조직시민행동에 통계적으로 유의한 정(+)의 영향을 미치는 것으로 나타났다. 그리고 조직성과평가에 대한 분배 및 절차공정성 인식과 개인성과평가에 대한 절차공정성 인식이 조직시민행동에 영향을 미치는 과정에서 조직신뢰가 완전매개역할을 하는 것이 통계적으로 확인되었다. 이러한 본 연구의 실증분석 결과는 공기업의 내부성과관리제도가 ‘주인 없는 대리인’이라는 공기업의 행태적 약점을 극복할 수 있도록 조직신뢰와 조직시민행동을 촉진하기 위해서는 성과평가방법의 설계와 관련하여 절차적 공정성을 확보하고, 성과평가 결과를 활용하는 과정에서 ‘성과와 보상의 연계’에 관한 분배적 공정성을 제고할 필요가 있다는 점을 시사하고 있다. 특히, 개인성과평가보다는 조직성과평가의 공정성 확보가 더 중요하다는 점이 확인되었다.

Estimation of radiological parameters associated with mining and processing of coastal sand in Binh Dinh province, Vietnam

In Vietnam mining industry is significantly contributing to the socio-economic development. For the industrialization, many kinds of minerals are being exploited and processed that caused the Earth surface to be disconcerted leading to the increase of erosion of soil that possibly carries radioactive nuclides of the natural radioactive chains. Mining could cause increasing radioactive background to the miners as well as to the public members around the mines. This paper presents radiological parameters associated with mining and processing ilmenite minerals in coastal sand for titanium for export in Binh Dinh province, Central Part of Vietnam.

Deprescribing: An educational imperative.

The Bruyère Evidence-Based Deprescribing Guideline Symposium included a forum on health professional education that brought together health professionals, researchers, professional organization representatives and public members. The goal was to facilitate partnerships among educators and to build knowledge, skills and support for behaviour change to integrate the use of evidence-based deprescribing guidelines into health care professional education. Participant discussions were analyzed under the thematic headings of teaching, learning, and assessment, impact of heuristics in learning, the importance of patient/public understanding and the role of leadership in enabling curricular change to include deprescribing. Deprescribing is considered to be on a continuum with prescribing, and it was recognized that related skills are not consistently taught or assessed, which may be interpreted by learners and health professionals as being less important than diagnostic or other skills. Strategies used currently to teach prescribing may also imply that it is a technical skill, not enabling learners to understand that prescribing and deprescribing involve complex tasks requiring patient consultation. Social barriers to deprescribing were also discussed and the importance of patient perspective in teaching prescribing/deprescribing was recognized. Based on the symposium discussions, the authors make several recommendations that include better teaching of optimal prescribing and deprescribing within an interprofessional context, that education be supported from the pre-licensure, post-graduate levels through to continuing professional development, and that assessment, demonstrating competence in prescribing and deprescribing, be embedded within programs.

Pharmaceutical care in community pharmacies in Jordan: a public survey.

Objective:This study aims to assess the views and attitudes of the general public towards the current role of pharmacists in Jordan.Methods:This study is a cross-sectional quantitative questionnaire-based study. After a thorough literature review on public perspectives of pharmaceutical care services, a draft questionnaire was designed. This questionnaire was examined and discussed in a focus group of invited public members and was amended accordingly to reach the final draft. The questionnaire was administered using a structured interview technique in which members of the public were asked a series of questions by a trained pharmacist. The study took a place over a period of six months, from January to June 2013. Individuals were recruited from urban and rural areas of Jordan.Results:A total of 1214 respondents were interviewed during the study. Of the respondents, 67.8% were female. Most of the respondent were married (64%) and had a university degree (88.5%). Approximately half of the respondents (55.1%) had no previous knowledge of pharmaceutical care. A relative majority of respondents considered the most important activity performed by pharmacists to be dispensing medications (46.2%), followed by patient counseling (34.6%). The majority of respondents (86.4%) believed that pharmacists have a role in providing healthcare services, and 68% of respondents reported that in order to serve their needs, a pharmacist must consider the patient’s needs and engage patients in determining medication timing and options.Conclusions:The plurality of respondents believed in the importance of pharmacists in providing pharmaceutical care services. However, respondents expected much from pharmacists and felt that their current role was unsatisfying.

Let food be thy medicine and medicine be thy food: A bibliometric analysis of the most cited papers focusing on nutraceuticals and functional foods

The current study aimed to identify and analyze the 100 most cited papers on the topic of nutraceuticals and functional foods. Scopus database was searched to extract bibliometric data. Two-thirds of the 100 most cited papers were reviews. Papers were mostly published in food science and nutrition journals, and one-third were published in seven journals, namely: British Journal of Nutrition (6), Critical Reviews in Food Science and Nutrition (6), Journal of Food Science (5), Trends in Food Science and Technology (5), American Journal of Clinical Nutrition (4), Food Chemistry (4) and Journal of Nutrition (4). Topics with high citation counts dealt with prebiotics, probiotics, antioxidants and phenolic content. Hot topics with over 1000 citations per paper include bifidobacterium (1147), colon (1032) and lipid metabolism (1013). The United States and Europe were major places of origin. These results can serve as a quick benchmarking reference for researchers or general public members.

Using HIV Surveillance Data to Link People to HIV Medical Care, 5 US States, 2012-2015.

From 2012 through 2015, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) provided funding to 5 health departments for demonstration projects using HIV surveillance data to link people with newly diagnosed HIV to care. We assessed how well these health departments established linkage to care, how the demonstration projects helped them with this work, and if they sustained these activities after CDC funding ended. We obtained quantitative and qualitative data on linkage-to-care activities from health department communications and progress reports submitted to CDC. We calculated and combined linkage-to-care results for the 5 health departments, and we compared these results with the combined linkage-to-care results for 61 health departments that received CDC funding for routine HIV prevention activities (eg, HIV testing, linkage to and reengagement in HIV care, HIV partner services) and for the same 5 health departments when they used only routine HIV prevention activities for linkage to care. Of 1269 people with a new HIV diagnosis at the 5 health departments, 1124 (89%) were linked to care, a result that exceeded the 2010-2015 National HIV/AIDS Strategy goal (85%), the CDC Funding Opportunity Announcement performance standard (80%), and combined results for the 61 health departments (63%) and the same 5 health departments (66%) using routine HIV prevention activities. Benefits of the projects were improved collaboration and coordination and more accurate, up-to-date surveillance data. All health departments continued linkage-to-care activities after funding ended. Using HIV surveillance data to link people with HIV to care resulted in substantial clinical and public health benefits. Our observations underscore the importance of collaboration among medical providers, public health staff members, community-based organizations, and people with HIV to ensure the best possible clinical and public health outcomes.

Selective friends in C++

SummaryThere is a strong prejudice against the friendship access control mechanism in C++. People claim that friendship breaks the encapsulation, reflects bad design, and creates too strong coupling. However, friends appear even in the most carefully designed systems, and if it is used judiciously (like using the attorney‐client idiom), they may be better choice than widening the public interface of the class.In this paper, we investigate how the friendship mechanism is used in C++ programs. We have made measurements on several open source projects to understand the current use of friends. Our results show various holes and errors in friend usage, like friend functions accessing only public members or not accessing members at all or the class, which declare friends has no private members at all. The results also show that friend functions actually use only a low percentage of the private members they were granted to access, which is a source of errors.These results have motivated us to propose a selective friend language construct for C++, which can restrict friendship only to well‐defined members. Such a new language element may decrease the degradation of encapsulation and significantly increase the diagnostic capacity of the compiler. We have created a proof‐of‐concept implementation based on the LLVM/Clang compiler infrastructure to show that such constructs can be established with a minimal syntactical and compilation overhead.

The recent formulation of “having reasonable grounds to believe”

PurposeThe purpose of this study is to analyse the challenges in devising a suitable formulation to determine whether a person had reasonable grounds to believe that property dealt with represented the proceeds of an indictable crime in the context of money laundering offences. The paper also examines the Hong Kong Court of Final Appeal’s recent formulation in HKSAR v. Yeung Ka Sing, Carson (decided July 2016) and evaluates international standards.Design/methodology/approachThe methodology adopted is partly a technical analysis of the various interpretations of “having reasonable grounds to believe” alongside a comparative approach drawing on international standards of the mens rea threshold and the position in the UK.FindingsThe findings are that the Court of Final Appeal’s formulation of “having reasonable grounds to believe” is the best possible outcome given the confines of the statutory provisions. The study confirms that the threshold set by the Court of Final appeal surpasses international standards; however, it argues that current international standards are in need of review.Originality/valueThis paper offers insight into the latest mens rea threshold of “having reasonable grounds to believe” in the context of Hong Kong’s anti-money laundering laws and compares international standards of the mens rea threshold. The discussion is of value to a wide audience both in Hong Kong and globally. It aims to provide guidelines to legal practitioners, law enforcement personnel, persons in the private and public sectors, academics and members of the public. This paper also seeks to provoke discussion as to whether international standards on the mens rea threshold should be reviewed with a view to strengthening international cooperation on the prevention of money laundering.

Cleaning up the paper trail – our clinical notes in open view

PurposeIreland’s physicians have a legal and an ethical duty to protect confidential patient information. Most healthcare records in Ireland remain paper based, so the purpose of this paper is to: assess the protection afforded to paper records; log highest risk records; note the variations that occurred during the working week; and observe the varying protection that occurred when staff, students and public members were present.Design/methodology/approachA customised audit tool was created using Sphinx software. Data were collected for three months. All wards included in the study were visited once during four discrete time periods across the working week. The medical records trolley’s location was noted and total unattended medical records, total unattended nursing records, total unattended patient lists and when nursing personnel, medical students, public and a ward secretary were visibly present were recorded.FindingsDuring 84 occasions when the authors visited wards, unattended medical records were identified on 33 per cent of occasions, 49 per cent were found during weekend visiting hours and just 4 per cent were found during morning rounds. The unattended medical records belonged to patients admitted to a medical specialty in 73 per cent of cases and a surgical specialty in 27 per cent. Medical records were found unattended in the nurses’ station with much greater frequency when the ward secretary was off duty. Unattended nursing records were identified on 67 per cent of occasions the authors visited the ward and were most commonly found unattended in groups of six or more.Practical implicationsThis study is a timely reminder that confidential patient information is at risk from inappropriate disclosure in the hospital. There are few context-specific standards for data protection to guide healthcare professionals, particularly paper records. Nursing records are left unattended with twice the frequency of medical records and are found unattended in greater numbers than medical records. Protection is strongest when ward secretaries are on duty. Over-reliance on vigilant ward secretaries could represent a threat to confidential patient information.Originality/valueWhile other studies identified data protection as an issue, this study assesses how data security varies inside and outside conventional working hours. It provides a rationale and an impetus for specific changes across the whole working week. By identifying the on-duty ward secretary’s favourable effect on medical record security, it highlights the need for alternative arrangements when the ward secretary is off duty. Data were collected prospectively in real time, giving a more accurate healthcare record security snapshot in each data collection point.

Private Enterprise Development in a One-Party Autocratic State: The Case of Alibaba Group in China’s E-Commerce

This study attempts to explain China’s industrial development with special reference to e-commerce. It argues that in a one-party autocratic regime such as China, the collaboration between government officials and private entrepreneurs in strategic industries can promote industrial growth. Since Internet can jeopardize communist party’s goal of maintaining cohesiveness and absolute political power, the Chinese government has imposed surveillance on private operation in all IT operations. Specifically, in e-commerce industry, through collaborations with private enterprises, the communist party can “kill two birds in one arrow.” On the one hand, party members are able to preserve national security and maintain social and financial stability by closely monitoring the private enterprise operation. Moreover, party members can seize tangible and non-tangible benefits from the growth in e-commerce firms. On the other hand, private e-commerce enterprises, by building close connection with public officials and senior party members, can obtain strong support from the government, and thus boosting its business growth. This argument is applied to explain the miraculous growth of Alibaba Group, a private e-commerce enterprise in China. In particular, the paper attempts to show the relationship between the Chinese government and the private entrepreneur in the e-business development and how their collaboration enhances growth in the Internet market.

Quantification of scatter radiation from radiographic procedures in a neonatal intensive care unit.

In a neonatal intensive care unit (NICU), preterm infants are often exposed to a large number of radiographic examinations, which could cause adjacent neonates, family caregivers and staff members to be exposed to a dose amount due to scatter radiation. To provide information on scatter radiation exposure levels in a NICU, to compare these values with the effective dose limits established by the European Union and to evaluate the effectiveness of radiation protection devices in this setting. Radiation exposure levels due to scatter radiation were estimated by passive detectors (thermoluminescent dosimeters) and direct dosimetric measurements (with a dose rate meter); in the latter case, an angular map of the scatter dose distribution was achieved. The dose due to scatter radiation to staff in our setting is approximately 160 μSv/year, which is markedly lower than the effective dose limit for workers established by the European Union (20 mSv/year). The doses range between 0.012 and 0.095 μSv/radiograph. Considering a mean hospitalization period of 3 months and our NICU workload, the corresponding scatter radiation dose to an adjacent patient and/or his/her caregiver is at most 40 μSv. For distances greater than 1m from the irradiation field, both scatter dose absorbed by a staff member during a year and that by an adjacent patient and/or his/her caregiver during hospitalization is less than 1mSv, which is the exposure limit for public members in a year.