From “dot.org” to “dot.gov”: Professional Crossings in the Brazilian National Policy on HIV/AIDS

This article reflects on the importance of the relations between state and society in policy-making in the area of public health. Several studies in various sectors such as health, education, and social services have made similar observations on organizational dynamics and the institutionalization of different models of partnerships or contracts, often based on the analytical model of three sectors. Individuals and their networks of relationships, however, remain an almost unexplored dimension in these types of research. Against this backdrop, this study seeks to analyze the movement of HIV/AIDS activists to governmental organizations working in this same field. The analysis raises questions concerning the forms of individual and institutional learning that help to maintain the distinct character of innovation of the Brazilian policy. Professionals who cross the borders hold a different profile once they have accumulated experience working with grassroots and local NGOs, and have also had the chance to be trained and enhance their technical and managerial capacities, since the government has supported NGOs for a long period. When combined, these experiences allow them to maintain relationships with social movements and give them the ability to navigate through the government bureaucracy and handle technical information about fighting AIDS epidemics, making it possible for them to negotiate strategic collaborations reflecting the interests of different groups. Hence, they constantly reflect on the differences between government and social spaces, and keep questioning and modifying their roles in the light of potential and existing complementarities.     

A method to investigate drivers' acceptance of Blind Spot Detection System®

Lately, with the goal of improving road safety, car makers developed and commercialised some Advanced Driver Assistance Systems (ADAS) which, through the detection of blind spot areas on the vehicle's sides, could help the drivers during the overtaking and the change lane task. Despite the possible benefits to reduce lateral crashes, the overall impact on road safety of such systems have not been deeply studied yet; notably, despite some researches have been carried out, there is a lack of studies regarding the long-term usage and drivers' acceptance of those systems. In order to fill the research gap, a methodology, based on the combination of focus groups interviews, questionnaires and a small-scale field operational test (FOT), has been designed in this study; such a methodology aims at evaluating drivers' acceptance of Blind Spot Information System? and at proposing some ideas to improve the usability and user-friendliness of this (or similar) device in their future development.     

Exploring the relationship between parents’ and children’s housework time in Spain

Intergenerational transmission has been successfully employed in economic research to explain the persistence of certain economic behaviors across generations. This paper evaluates the relevance of this transmission process in the formation of gender roles during childhood. In particular, we analyze the relationship between parents?? and children??s housework allocation patterns. We propose a simple theoretical model that predicts that parents with a strong adherence to gender to traditional gender norms??as proxied by their division of household labor??are more likely to allocate housework to children in a way that reflects stereotypes of men??s and women??s domestic tasks. The empirical application is carried out with data from the 2002?C2003 Spanish Time Use Survey. The sample restricts to two-parent households with at least one child aged 10?C17?years. We find a significant positive correlation between a more egalitarian parents?? allocation of housework and a less asymmetrical distribution of domestic chores between sons and daughters.     

Redefining membership: restrictive rights and categorisation in European Union migration policy

This article analyses European Union (EU) policy-making on the rights of third-country nationals (TCN) against the backdrop of theoretical literature on the transformation of citizenship. The aim is to evaluate why and to which extent EU policy expands citizenship rights to TCNs, thus redefining the criteria for membership in the European polity. The research emphasises the role of norms and frames in policy-making and is based on secondary sources, primary documents and semi-structured interviews. The analysis reveals how the combination of a principled conflict over citizenship and a strategic conflict over competence led to a legal framework characterised by ‘restrictive rights’ and ‘politics of categorisation’. ‘Restrictive rights’ means that membership rights are granted to TCN in principle, but subject to very restrictive conditions. ‘The politics of categorisation’ refers to the political construction of migrant categories that are subject to different rights-regimes. Both phenomena have the ambiguous effect of enabling the expansion of rights to non-citizens while at the same time creating new lines of division and mechanisms of exclusion.     

Longitudinal Factor Analysis of Public Expenditure Composition and Human Development in Brazil After the 1988 Constitution

The way public policies are managed in Brazil has changed since the 1988 Federal Constitution. This study aimed to identify how changes in the structure of public expenditure composition at Brazilian federal states influenced local human development in these states. The states’ public expenditures were categorized according to their nature as spending indices whereas human development was measured through a human development index (HD). To verify the relationships between these variables, an accounting-social theoretical model was created and estimated through latent growth modeling (LGM). The LGM measurement period comprised five administration cycles of the Brazilian states (1988–2011). Variables were measured on data of the second year of state government term; their mean initial values and growth rates were recorded. Results show that, influenced by policies of centralized regulation promoted by the federal government, only the social spending growth rates had statistically significant effect on the human development growth rate, although not considered of great magnitude. Among mean initial values, the most significant was that of minimum spending (SIm), which denotes the direct impact of the Fiscal Accountability Law [Lei de Responsabilidade Fiscal, in Portuguese] on human development improvements. The mean initial value of economic spending also showed a positive and significant effect on HD growth rate.     

Information security governance: pending legal responsibilities of non-executive boards

The study shows that a structural conflict of interest in non-executive boards exists due to missing corporate governance structures and a lack of awareness for legal issues with regard to information security risks. Non-executive boards receive information on strategic security threats as a part of their oversight function to fulfill investor interest in transparency. At the same time, they act as representatives of company stakeholders and have an interest to counteract to information security risks based on the stakeholder’s risk disposition. If not properly structured by corporate governance rules, these different interests may lead to regulatory aberrations on non-executive board level. The study analyses a Deutsche Telekom AG case where non-executive board members, employees, and journalists fell victim to a spying scandal subject to the German telecommunications secrecy law in 2005–2006. The analysis demonstrates how the handling of information security on non-executive board level bears governance risks as well as legal risks that are insufficiently addressed in corporate governance research. The paper contributes to avoid a reproduction of events in the future, by suggesting the principle of a segregation of duties on non-executive boards as well as providing an overview of relevant legislative requirements that clarify tasks of non-executive board members with regard to information security. The study therefore helps protecting corporations and their stakeholders from similar consequences of missing corporate security governance.     

Can We Perceive Near Miss? An Empirical Study

Near misses are a special kind of reinforcement which increases one’s desire to play. The aim of this paper is to examine the perception of near misses in normal population. We used a slot machine simulation running on a PC, where participants had to play four rounds with different near miss ratios (0, 15, 30 and 45%). Our sample consisted of 159 individuals with mean age of 22.8 and with no or little gambling experience. For data analysis we used chi-squared goodness-of-fit test and exact binomial test. Despite the fact, that there was a notable effect of near misses results showed that the subjects could not perceive trials of them.     

Does the Person‐of‐the‐Therapist Training (POTT) Promote Self‐Care? Personal Gains of MFT Trainees Following POTT: A Retrospective Thematic Analysis

As we recognize how taxing our profession can be, therapist's self‐care has become a salient topic in mental health. However, we are still discerning how to promote self‐care in our practice and in training. In this paper, we present a study on the personal gains that MFT students experienced after participating in the Person‐of‐the‐Therapist Training (POTT). We propose that the reported changes (better understanding of self, change to self, relational changes, and change as a process) constitute improvements in the trainees’ well‐being, and can therefore be considered self‐caring behaviors and practices. We state that models like POTT, that focus on embracing our vulnerability, can help clinicians be more caring toward ourselves. We conclude this paper by presenting clinical and training recommendations.     

The division problem with voluntary participation

The division problem consists of allocating a given amount of a homogeneous and perfectly divisible good among a group of agents with single-peaked preferences on the set of their potential shares. A rule proposes a vector of shares for each division problem. The literature has implicitly assumed that agents will find acceptable any share they are assigned to. In this article we consider the division problem when agents’ participation is voluntary. Each agent has an idiosyncratic interval of acceptable shares where his preferences are single-peaked. A rule has to propose to each agent either to not participate or an acceptable share because otherwise he would opt out and this would require to reassign some of the remaining agents’ shares. We study a subclass of efficient and consistent rules and characterize extensions of the uniform rule that deal explicitly with agents’ voluntary participation.