Can Social Innovations in Housing Save Public Money? The Case of Slovakia

ABSTRACT

The paper deals with research into the innovative provision of public services by the non-governmental organizations in the field of housing. The paper describes the legislation of the housing system in Slovakia and aims to analyse innovation in social housing provision. The paper contributes to the knowledge on innovative social housing solutions provided by non-governmental organizations. The use of cost benefit analysis reveals the benefits of innovation in housing provision by an internationally awarded organization ETP Slovakia. The analysis proves the government´s possible savings of public expenditures if it would decide to support the innovative approach in social housing provision.     

Sources of Legitimacy in Metropolitan Governance: A Comparative Case Study of Governance Structures

Legitimacy is a central factor in democratic administrative systems, as it determines the success-or failure-of governance structures. In this article, we search for the sources of legitimacy in metropolitan governance by focusing on governance tiers and mechanisms. Auckland, Dublin, Oslo, and Montreal serve as empirical examples. We highlight the strengths and limitations of different types of metropolitan governance structures, and identify factors that may help to establish long-lasting governance structures. To be legitimate, metropolitan governance must take place at a contextually legitimate administrative level, and the governance mechanisms must be in harmony with a legitimate administrative actor.     

Cultural policy,local government and museums: an Australian perspective

This article examines cultural policy developments affecting the Australian local government sector arguing for policy that directly addresses the operational needs of small to medium museums. Over a period spanning roughly three decades, national and state government involvement in ‘community’ cultural programmes has decreased, with local authorities assuming primary funding responsibility; a process I call the ‘municipalisation of culture’. The dual imperative for councils to provide dynamic cultural facilities while demonstrating prudent spending of ratepayer money has produced a challenging climate for local museums. Using the state of New South Wales as a case study, this article explores how this shifting cultural policy landscape, together with growing instrumentalisation of cultural programmes, has transformed the perceived context and purpose of museums in local government areas. It argues that the pressures of demonstrating impact across an array of public benefits in a restricted funding climate threatens the sustainability and meaningfulness of local museums.     

Fatal intoxication with tianeptine (Stablon)

Tianeptine (Stablon), although structurally similar to tricyclic antidepressants, acts by enhancing the reuptake of serotonin. A fatal case is presented involving a 26-year-old man, found lying in bed with a "mushroom of foam" around his mouth. Empty blister packs of Stablon and a suicide note were found next to the body. A liquid-liquid extraction procedure with n-hexane: ethyl acetate and n-hexane: 2-propanol, followed by LC-DAD-MS analysis, using positive mode electrospray ionization was performed. The detection limit was 0.001 microg/mL. The toxicological results revealed the following tianeptine concentrations in the post-mortem samples: blood 5.1 microg/mL; urine 2.0 microg/mL; liver 23 microg/g; stomach contents 22 mg. Femoral blood analyses also revealed an ethanol concentration of 0.53 g/L. The present method was also developed and validated for the other post-mortem specimens, since no previous published data had confirmed the post-mortem distribution of tianeptine. The absence of other suitable direct causes of death (macroscopic or histological) and the positive results achieved with the toxicological analysis led the pathologist to rule that death was due to an intoxication caused by the suicidal ingestion of tianeptine in combination with alcohol.     

The Portuguese Cortes during the reign of Ferdinand I (1367–83): the context of the Hundred Years War (1337–1453)

This article focuses on the study of the Cortes that convened during the reign of King Ferdinand I (1367–83), which took place in the context of the wars experienced in Europe, in the Iberian peninsula and in Portugal. First, it is shown how the Hundred Years War impacted on the Iberian peninsula from the moment when Henry of Trastámara, with the support of France, opposed the rule of his half-brother, Peter of Castile. At the same time, the Portuguese King Ferdinand I presented himself as a candidate to the Castilian throne, with the support of England. The three Fernandine Wars that took place in 1369–71, 1372–73 and 1381–82 are then briefly described. Next, this article examines the eight Cortes that met during the reign of Ferdinand I, showing how they were all summoned because of the war. Finally, this article analyses the appeals made by the municipalities in the Cortes of Lisbon of 1371, the Cortes of Oporto of 1372 and the Cortes of Leiria of 1372, with special attention given to the many military, economic, social, administrative and fiscal appeals and requests arising from the ills of war. Hence, it is concluded that the Cortes were unable to solve many of these problems, even though they contributed to restraining certain abuses. They were mostly an opportunity for dialogue between the king and the commoners, as well as a mitigating factor of greater tension and social conflict in this internal and external state of war. Within the context of war, the strength of the Cortes as a representative institution was reinforced, as well as the power and representativeness of the procurators of the commoners within the Cortes.     

How to increase citizen coproduction: replication and extension of existing research

ABSTRACT

The value of coproduction—the joint productive efforts by regular producers, such as teachers, and consumer producers, such as parents, in helping children to learn—has been recognized for some time. However, strong empirical evidence of how these benefits can be achieved is scarce, and recent research has found mixed results. A new randomized field trial replicates elements of previous studies and extends them by using an additional age-appropriate outcome measure. Methodologically, the results illustrate the challenges of carrying out replication studies because when target groups change, outcome measures also often change. Substantially, the findings suggest that a government initiative providing parents with materials and information to enhance parents’ coproduction efforts can be extended to a broader target group of parents. Together, the findings illustrate how findings from single studies should be generalized with caution and the value of working systematically with replications and extensions.     

African Green Revolution,food sovereignty and constrained livelihood choice in Mozambique

This article examines the complicated food security agendas of the African Green Revolution and the food sovereignty models in Mozambique. Drawing on fieldwork conducted by the author in Mozambique in 2014 and 2015, the paper analyses how smallholder farmers engage with these two agrarian models. Whereas the literature frequently presents the African Green Revolution and the food sovereignty in oppositional frames, this paper finds that farmers in Mozambique utilize some of the tools that these models offer in complementary rather than competing ways. One such area is the use of commercial hybrid seeds and herbicides by some farmers associated with food sovereignty, an approach that runs counter to food sovereignty’s principles of agroecology. In Mozambique, farmers’ “lived experience” of food sovereignty is more a strategic response to their limited livelihood options, using whatever tools are available to them, rather than a resistance to power.     

Validated method for the simultaneous determination of Δ-THC and Δ-THC-COOH in oral fluid, urine and whole blood using solid-phase extraction and liquid chromatography–mass spectrometry with electrospray ionization

A fully validated, sensitive and specific method for the extraction and quantification of Δ⁹-tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) and 11-nor-9-carboxy-Δ⁹-THC (THC-COOH) and for the detection of 11-hydroxy-Δ⁹-THC (11-OH THC) in oral fluid, urine and whole blood is presented. Solid-phase extraction and liquid chromatography–mass spectrometry (LC–MS) technique were used, with electrospray ionization. Three ions were monitored for THC and THC-COOH and two for 11-OH THC. The compounds were quantified by selected ion recording of m/z 315.31, 329.18 and 343.16 for THC, 11-OH THC and THC-COOH, respectively, and m/z 318.27 and 346.26 for the deuterated internal standards, THC-d₃ and THC-COOH-d₃, respectively. The method proved to be precise for THC and THC-COOH both in terms of intra-day and inter-day analysis, with intra-day coefficients of variation (CV) less than 6.3, 6.6 and 6.5% for THC in saliva, urine and blood, respectively, and 6.8 and 7.7% for THC-COOH in urine and blood, respectively. Day-to-day CVs were less than 3.5, 4.9 and 11.3% for THC in saliva, urine and blood, respectively, and 6.2 and 6.4% for THC-COOH in urine and blood, respectively. Limits of detection (LOD) were 2 ng/mL for THC in oral fluid and 0.5 ng/mL for THC and THC-COOH and 20 ng/mL for 11-OH THC, in urine and blood. Calibration curves showed a linear relationship for THC and THC-COOH in all samples (r² > 0.999) within the range investigated.The procedure presented here has high specificity, selectivity and sensitivity. It can be regarded as an alternative method to GC–MS for the confirmation of positive immunoassay test results, and can be used as a suitable analytical tool for the quantification of THC and THC-COOH in oral fluid, urine and/or blood samples.     

The Aliens Act 1905 and the Immigration Dilemma

This article considers the political context, legal framework, and administrative structures of the Aliens Act 1905. It points out the contradictions and inconsistencies of the Act and argues that these represent a wider ambivalence about the merits of control and a conflict between exclusionary and inclusive impulses. These inconsistencies, rather than undermining the Act, permitted the Act to fulfil a number of conflicting unofficial purposes. The article argues that this ambivalence persists and governments continue to seek to satisfy all sides leading to apparently incoherent legal formulations which nonetheless provide for fragile compromises.