Do Role Clarity and Job Satisfaction Mediate the Relationship between Telework and Work Effort?

The empirical association between telework and work effort, as well as how this relationship is mediated by role clarity and job satisfaction, is lacking in the literature. As a consequence, the direct and indirect impact of telework on work effort in U.S. federal government agencies was examined in the article. Results indicate that telework was inversely related to work effort. Moreover, role clarity and job satisfaction did not mediate the relationship between telework and work effort. The implications these results have for theory and practice are thoroughly discussed in the article.     

From the ASEAN People's Assembly to the ASEAN Civil Society Conference: the boundaries of civil society advocacy

Civil society organisations (CSOs) have asserted their claim for participation in regional governance in Southeast Asia through multiple forums held since the late-1990s. The two most enduring are the ASEAN People's Assembly (APA), organised by ASEAN-ISIS and held seven times from 2000 to 2009, and the ASEAN Civil Society Conference (ACSC), organised by the Solidarity for Asian People's Advocacy network and held nine times from 2005 to the present. Through comparative analysis of the boundaries of CSO participation in these two events, this article explains why the APA was superseded by the ACSC, and it highlights states' growing intrusions into the ACSC. It argues that states' expanding repertoire of tactics to direct the ACSC has seen the structure of CSO participation in this event recast, challenging the view of the ACSC as an independent space for advocacy and indicating the hollowness of ASEAN's commitments to creating a ‘people-oriented’ Association.     

Uganda's decentralised primary education: musical chairs and inverted elite capture in School Management Committees

Decentralisation policies in Africa increasingly place responsibilities and resources for the provision of public services in the hands of public bodies at the lowest level, for example in School Management Committees (SMCs). This paper questions whether elite capture, which is considered a major reason for the ineffectiveness of the management of public services at a national level, also characterises SMCs. On the basis of field research in Uganda, it is argued that elite capture does not trickle down to the lowest levels in the management of public services. Copyright © 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Fatal Folic Acid Toxicity in Humans

Folic acid is B‐9 vitamin. Folic acid is prescribed commonly for pregnant women to prevent neural tube defects in the fetus, patients under chemotherapy, pernicious anemia and to reduce the risk of stroke and cardiovascular disease. Acute or chronic ingestion of a large dose of folic acid generally manifests as neurological complications, which are reversible. In this present case, a 23‐year‐old pregnant woman committed suicide by consuming folic acid tablets and succumbed to death within 36 h. Postmortem toxicological analysis detected folic acid in viscera. Death following acute consumption of folic acid is rare and has been not reported in the literature, to the best of our knowledge.     

Estimation of postmortem interval (PMI) as revealed through the analysis of annual growth in woody tissue

The discovery of human remains lying across a black spruce (Picea mariana) leader (branch) that subsequently grew up around the remains provided an opportunity to use the growth ring pattern to estimate the postmortem interval (PMI). As these remains were discovered in an advanced state of decomposition in October of 2000, and it was clear that relevant insect evidence was not forthcoming, this novel approach to estimating PMI was proposed. The asymmetrical growth of the leader resulted in a correspondingly asymmetrical pattern of its growth riings. As the date of cutting the leader was known, it was possible to evaluate the asymmetrical growth pattern to provide an estimation of PMI. Fine polishing of the cross section and computerized quantification of ring widths enabled an estimation of the displacement of the leader, and hence the time the decedent's body was so positioned. By charting the ring-width differential for the leader, it was concluded that the displacement occurred sometime between July of 1993 and May of 1994. The actual date of disappearance was confirmed to be August 24, 1993.