Factors and motivations contributing to community volunteers' participation in a nursery feeding project in Malawi

This article reports on a study to explore the factors and motivations that contribute to community volunteers' participation in a nursery feeding project in Malawi. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with community volunteers in 14 of the 32 sites in the programme. The findings pointed to a mix of intrinsic motivations, namely a deep concern for orphans and vulnerable children, a moral obligation to help, and a declared love of the work undertaken, and also to external factors such as spirituality, links of reciprocity, and the building of social capital. Understanding what motivates volunteers to take part in resource-poor settings is crucial to recognising, facilitating, and sustaining the work that they do. Further research into volunteering in the South is crucially needed.     

Le suivi de la performance,de I'incantatoire au passage à I'acte:Une étude du suivi de performance de six programmes d'aide aux entreprises1

Sommaire: Cet article étudie le suivi de la performance dans les programmes publics et exprime le potentiel que représente cet outil de gestion pour les organisations publiques. Les auteurs traitent d'une question de recherche portant sur la conformité du suivi de la performance dans les programmes sous étude pour la période 1993–1998, et des causes des écarts observés par rapport au modèle‐type de suivi de la performance. Le suivi de performance fut réaliséà cette époque de manière ad hoc et opportuniste. Leurs recherches ont permis de conclure que le suivi de performance s'est heurté d'abord à la difficulté de définir de manière univoque le concept de la « bonne » performance d'un programme. S'ensuivirent des difficultés intellectuelles et pratiques pour mesurer et évaluer ladite performance. Cependant, la difficulté de mettre en place un réel processus de suivi n'est pas imputée à cette seule cause. On observerait plutôt la convergence de plusieurs causes qui se manifestent en efforts conceptuels insuffisants, au moment de la conception et de la mise en Deuvre des programmes, pour développer et implanter un authentique suivi de la performance. Abstract: This article focuses on performance monitoring in public programs and demonstrates the potential this management tool has for public organizations. The authors examine studies dealing with the consistency of performance monitoring during the period 1993 to 1998 for the programs under review, and the reasons for the differences observed when compared with the standard model for performance monitoring. During this period, performance monitoring was done on an ad hoc and opportunistic basis. Based on their research, the authors conclude that the first obstacle to performance monitoring is the difficulty of defining, unequivocally, the concept of “good” performance with reference to a program, as well as the intellectual and practical difficulties of measuring and evaluating the said performance. However, this is not the only reason why implementing a real monitoring process is so difficult. Rather, it could be that the convergence of several causes at the time the programs are designed and implemented, which results in insufficient conceptual efforts to develop and establish an authentic performance monitoring process.     

Scrutinizing France: collecting and using newspaper intelligence during world war II

After the fall of France in June 1940, it became crucial for Britain to obtain grass-roots information on her former ally. Newspapers of all types were recognized to be a key source. This article investigates how intelligence material was gathered, analyzed and diffused and how it was used by a large number of government departments. The Royal Institute of International Affairs had set up the Foreign Research Press Service, which played an effective centralizing role. This article also demonstrates that the level of cooperation between the French and British departments was better than usually acknowledged and resulted in well-informed and perceptive reports.     

Otherness in the Pratyabhijñā philosophy

Idealism is the core of the Pratyabhijñã philosophy: the main goal of Utpaladeva (fl. c. 925–950 AD) and of his commentator Abhinavagupta (fl. c. 975–1025 AD) is to establish that nothing exists outside of consciousness. In the course of their demonstration, these ?aiva philosophers endeavour to distinguish their idealism from that of a rival system, the Buddhist Vijñānavāda. This article aims at examining the concept of otherness (paratva) as it is presented in the Pratyabhijñā philosophy in contrast with that of the Vijñānavādins’. Although, according to the Pratyabhijñā, the other subjects are not ultimately real since all subjects are nothing but limited manifestations of a single absolute subject, the fact that we are aware of their existence in the practical world has to be accounted for. The Vijñānavādins explain it by arguing the we infer the others’ existence. The Pratyabhijñā philosophers, while refuting their opponents’ reasoning as it is expounded in Dharmakīrti’s Santānāntarasiddhi, develop a particulary original analysis of our awareness of the others, stating that this awareness is neither a perception (pratyak?a) nor an inference (anumāna), but rather a guess (ūha) in which we sense the others’ freedom (svātantrya).     

National study comparing the characteristics of patients diagnosed with schizophrenia who committed homicide vs. those who died by suicide

Associations between serious mental disorder and violence are well-documented, but there is little epidemiological evidence linking these disorders and homicide risk. The reported study compares socio-demographic and clinical characteristics of people diagnosed with schizophrenia who committed homicide vs. those who died by suicide. The study is a national case series of male patients in England & Wales diagnosed with schizophrenia and convicted of homicide during 1997–2012 (n = 168), and a randomly selected comparison group of male patients with schizophrenia who died by suicide and who were matched to the homicide case series by age (n = 777). There are different patterns of behaviour in people with schizophrenia preceding homicide and suicide. Homicide perpetrators have frequently disengaged with services whilst patients who die by suicide are often in recent contact. This is important knowledge for clinical services as it indicates a different preventive emphasis despite the existence of other shared characteristics.     

AmpFlSTR profiler Plus short tandem repeat DNA analysis of casework samples, mixture samples, and nonhuman DNA samples amplified under reduced PCR volume conditions (25 microL)

As part of the validation of the AmpFlSTR Profiler Plus short tandem repeat (STR) system, under reduced polymerase chain reaction (PCR) volume conditions (i.e., 25 microL), a total of 275 casework samples were processed. Examples of profiles are presented along with amplification conditions to improve the odds of obtaining balanced and complete profiles for samples showing partial results or profiles with a descending slope. Data collected and used to develop our interpretation guidelines are included. From the mixture studies, full profiles were obtained for minor contributors, using 2 ng of DNA, with ratios of 10:1 or 1:20 and using 1 ng of DNA, with ratios of 10:1 and 1:8. The specificity of the Profiler Plus amplification reaction performed in 25 microL was examined and confirmed using a large spectrum of nonhuman DNAs. This report supports the use of the AmpFlSTR Profiler Plus STR system for casework DNA typing under reduced PCR volume conditions.     

How Exclusive is Assembly Democracy? Citizens' Assembly and Ballot Participation Compared

This paper analyses the difference between two specific forms of citizens’ involvements, namely whether a vote is cast by ballot or in a citizens’ assembly in which people gather in town halls to decide legislative questions in a deliberative manner. We show both theoretically and empirically how citizens’ assemblies and decisions at the ballot box substantially differ not only in terms of their underlying model of democracy, but also in their structural conditions and, thus, with respect to the social inequality of participation. We test our hypotheses in a Bayesian multilevel framework using real participation data collected from 15 political decisions made in a Swiss commune. Our results show that citizens’ assemblies are not only characterised by lower participation rates, but also by a particular composition of the electorate. While citizens’ assemblies are more equal regarding income groups, ballots favour a more equitable participation in terms of gender and age.