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Government Works (government + work)
Selected AbstractsThe Tides of Reform Revisited: Patterns in Making Government Work, 1945,2002PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION REVIEW, Issue 1 2006Paul C. Light The past six decades have witnessed acceleration in both the number and variety of major administrative reform statutes enacted by Congress. This increase can be explained partly by the increased involvement of Congress, a parallel decrease in activity and resistance by the presidency, and heightened public distrust toward government. At least part of the variation in the tides or philosophies of reform involves a "field of dreams" effect in which the creation of new governmental structure during the 1940s, 1950s, and 1960s generated increased interest in process reforms. However, part of the acceleration and variety of reform appears to be related to the lack of hard evidence of what actually works in improving government performance. Measured by federal employees' perceptions of organizational performance, what matters most is not whether organizations were reformed in the past, but whether organizations need reform in the future and can provide essential resources for achieving their mission. [source] Proteasome inhibition with bortezomib suppresses growth and induces apoptosis in osteosarcomaINTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF CANCER, Issue 1 2010Yuriy Shapovalov Abstract Osteosarcomas are primary bone tumors of osteoblastic origin that mostly affect adolescent patients. These tumors are highly aggressive and metastatic. Previous reports indicate that gain of function of a key osteoblastic differentiation factor, Runx2, leads to growth inhibition in osteosarcoma. We have previously established that Runx2 transcriptionally regulates expression of a major proapoptotic factor, Bax. Runx2 is regulated via proteasomal degradation, and proteasome inhibition has a stimulatory effect on Runx2. In this study, we hypothesized that proteasome inhibition will induce Runx2 and Runx2-dependent Bax expression sensitizing osteosarcoma cells to apoptosis. Our data showed that a proteasome inhibitor, bortezomib, increased Runx2 and Bax in osteosarcoma cells. In vitro, bortezomib suppressed growth and induced apoptosis in osteosarcoma cells but not in nonmalignant osteoblasts. Experiments involving intratibial tumor xenografts in nude mice demonstrated significant tumor regression in bortezomib-treated animals. Immunohistochemical studies revealed that bortezomib inhibited cell proliferation and induced apoptosis in osteosarcoma xenografts. These effects correlated with increased immunoreactivity for Runx2 and Bax. In summary, our results indicate that bortezomib suppresses growth and induces apoptosis in osteosarcoma in vitro and in vivo suggesting that proteasome inhibition may be effective as an adjuvant to current treatment regimens for these tumors. Published 2009 UICC. This article is a US Government work and, as such, is in the public domain in the United States of America. [source] Governance from Below in Bolivia: A Theory of Local Government with Two Empirical TestsLATIN AMERICAN POLITICS AND SOCIETY, Issue 4 2009Jean-Paul Faguet ABSTRACT This article examines decentralization through the lens of the local dynamics it unleashed in the much-noted case of Bolivia. It argues that the national effects of decentralization are largely the sum of its local-level effects. To understand decentralization, therefore, we must first understand how local government works. The article explores the deep economic and institutional determinants of government quality in two extremes of municipal performance. From this it derives a model of local government responsiveness as the product of political openness and substantive competition. The quality of local politics, in turn, emerges endogenously as the joint product of the lobbying and political engagement of local firms and interests and the organizational density and ability of civil society. The analysis tests the theory's predictions on a database containing all Bolivian municipalities. The theory proves robust. The combined methodology provides a higher-order empirical rigor than either approach can alone. [source] The Internal Israeli Conflict: The Past, Present, and Future of the Jewish West Bank and Gaza SettlementsNEGOTIATION JOURNAL, Issue 2 2005Robert Mnookin On October 14 and 15, 2004, just days before the Israeli government submitted to the Knesset a draft legislation to authorize the evacuation of Jewish settlers from Gaza Strip and some settlements on the West Bank, a two-day conference titled "Past, Present, and Future of the Jewish West Bank and Gaza Settlements: The Internal Israeli Conflict" was held at Harvard Law School. The conference was sponsored by the Program on Negotiation at Harvard Law School, the Saltman Center for Conflict Resolution of the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, and the United States Institute of Peace. This interdisciplinary conference's six panels, whose proceedings are summarized in the series of articles that follow, explored the religious, ideological, psychological, political, legal, and international dimensions of the conflict. Presenters included former and current Israeli and American government officials, experts on resettlement policies and compensation mechanisms, and scholars from a variety of disciplines. While presentation topics covered a range of issues relating to the settlements, three broad themes arose from the conference. First, participants agreed that it is important, if not fundamental, to understand the perspectives of the national religious settlers who are the driving force behind the settlement movement. Exploring the settlers' diverse interests, fears, and identities is necessary in order to see why relocation is so threatening to them. The Israeli government can lessen opposition to withdrawal by showing the settlers empathy and reassurance, but only if government officials first achieve a true understanding of the settlers' concerns. Participants also argued that a reframing of the relocation in ideological terms could be another critical component of a solution to this problem. It may be necessary for the leaders of the settlement movement to develop a new narrative or modify the existing one in order to legitimize their relocation. Part of this narrative will involve the concept of "a greater good", the government must reassure the settlers that their sacrifice is for a higher cause. Several participants noted that Israel needs to show the settlers "tough love." When the relocations begin, many expect that there will be violence and that disturbing images will be broadcast throughout Israel and around the world. Internal disruption could put the government led by Prime Minister Ariel Sharon and his Likud party coalition in jeopardy. The government must not waver in the face of this crisis, conference participants argued. In fact, the threat of violent and disruptive resistance by settlers and their allies can be part of the solution, not just the problem. The government and relocation supporters can use this extremism to justify decisive measures and to redefine the problem for the broader population to convince them that the stability of the country is at stake. Another major conclusion of conference participants was that, while the Israeli settlement issue has unique features, there is much to be learned from comparative analysis. Other countries have dealt with settlement situations, and their experiences offer invaluable lessons. In particular, participants contrasted Israel's settlements in Gaza and the West Bank with French settlements in Algeria and English settlements in Ireland. Some pointed to the French withdrawal from Algeria, which was politically painful but ultimately successful, as an example of "tough love" that Israel should follow. Finally, the involvement of third parties to help solve this conflict is indispensable. Participants noted that while much of Israel feels alienated from the European Union and the United Nations, the Israeli government is highly sensitive to the concerns of the United States, as evidenced by Sharon's decision to show the Gaza withdrawal plan to the U.S. government before he had even raised it with his cabinet and the Israeli parliament, the Knesset. International participation could help legitimize withdrawal and reduce Israeli responsibility for Gaza's future. Third parties can apply political pressure to encourage an accountable and responsible Palestinian leadership. They may also be called upon to provide some sort of financial aid. The participants acknowledged the complexity of the settlement problem and recognized that easy solutions do not exist. Yet, if the Israeli government works toward understanding the settlers' perspectives, learns from comparative analysis, and involves third parties appropriately, the likelihood of a successful outcome increases greatly. [source] Government Enterprises & Industrial Relations in Late Qing ChinaAUSTRALIAN JOURNAL OF POLITICS AND HISTORY, Issue 1 2001David Pong This study examines the development of labour organisation and industrial action among workers in government enterprises in the late Qing (1860-1912). Because these were the largest industrial enterprises using the most advanced machinery, one expects that the workers in them would play the leading role in labour organisation. Further, during the centuries-long gestation period, the period of embryonic capitalism, workers in traditional enterprises had already developed a tradition of industrial action. Yet this tradition of protest did not appear to have contributed much to labour activism in the modern government works. Quite the contrary, it was in private industries, whether Chinese- or foreign-owned, that we find a higher level of labour organisation and activism. This is an unexpected discovery, for which an explanation is attempted. [source] At the foot of the shrew: manus morphology distinguishes closely-related Cryptotis goodwini and Cryptotis griseoventris (Mammalia: Soricidae) in Central AmericaBIOLOGICAL JOURNAL OF THE LINNEAN SOCIETY, Issue 1 2010NEAL WOODMAN Small-eared shrews (Mammalia, Soricidae) of the New World genus Cryptotis are distributed from eastern North America to the northern Andes of South America. One well-defined clade in this genus is the Central American Cryptotis mexicana group, whose members are set off from other species in the genus by their variably broader fore feet and more elongate and broadened fore claws. Two species in the C. mexicana group, Cryptotis goodwini Jackson and Cryptotis griseoventris Jackson, inhabit highlands in Guatemala and southern Mexico and are presumed to be sister species whose primary distinguishing feature is the larger body size of C. goodwini. To better characterize these species and confirm the identification of recently-collected specimens, we obtained digital X-ray images of the manus from large series of dried skins of both species. Measurements of the metacarpals and phalanges successfully separated most specimens of C. goodwini and C. griseoventris. These measurements also show that the fore feet of C. griseoventris from Chiapas, Mexico, are morphologically distinct from those of members of the species inhabiting Guatemala. Univariate, bivariate, and multivariate analyses indicate that fore foot characters are more conservative within species of the C. mexicana group than are cranio-mandibular characters. Patterns of evolution of fore foot characters that superficially appear to be linear gradations are actually more complex, illustrating individual evolutionary trajectories. No claim to original US government works. Journal compilation © 2010 The Linnean Society of London, Biological Journal of the Linnean Society, 2010, 99, 118,134. [source] Invasive Africanized honey bee impact on native solitary bees: a pollen resource and trap nest analysisBIOLOGICAL JOURNAL OF THE LINNEAN SOCIETY, Issue 1 2009DAVID W. ROUBIK Little is known of the potential coevolution of flowers and bees in changing, biodiverse environments. Female solitary bees, megachilids and Centris, and their nest pollen provisions were monitored with trap nests over a 17-year period in a tropical Mexican biosphere reserve. Invasion by feral Apis (i.e. Africanized honey bees) occurred after the study began, and major droughts and hurricanes occurred throughout. Honey bee competition, and ostensibly pollination of native plants, caused changes in local pollination ecology. Shifts in floral hosts by native bees were common and driven by plant phylogenetics, whereby plants of the same families or higher taxa were substituted for those dominated by honey bees or lost as a result of natural processes. Two important plant families, Anacardiaceae and Euphorbiaceae, were lost to competing honey bees, but compensated for by greater use of Fabaceae, Rubiaceae, and Sapotaceae among native bees. Natural disasters made a large negative impact on native bee populations, but the sustained presence of Africanized honey bees did not. Over 171 plant species comprised the pollen diets of the honey bees, including those most important to Centris and megachilids (72 and 28 species, respectively). Honey bee pollination of Pouteria (Sapotaceae) plausibly augmented the native bees' primary pollen resource and prevented their decline. Invasive generalist pollinators may, however, cause specialized competitors to fail, especially in less biodiverse environments. No claim to original US government works. Journal compilation © 2009 The Linnean Society of London, Biological Journal of the Linnean Society, 2009, 98, 152,160. [source] | ||||||||||