Regulation issues in the Italian local transport system: aligning transactions and governance structures

This paper refers to the concept of public governance in the light of Transaction Cost Economics (TCE). While TCE is well developed and widely applied in the private sector, only a few studies have adopted such framework to investigate the provision of public services. We aim at pointing out the coherence between peculiar typologies of transactions and a given set of governance structures, within Local Public Transport systems. The core of the analysis is the alignment between characteristics of transactions and governance structures. The empirical section addresses these issues referring to three case studies, pointing out an articulated organizational configuration in terms of actors involved and governance structures adopted. The analysis shows an alignment between the choices underlying the design of the local transport system and the outcomes expected in terms of TCE.     

Cultural definitions of elder maltreatment in Portugal

A small convenience sample of 34 participants (17 males, 17 females) from the Portuguese islands of the Azores and Madeira were asked to provide examples of how extreme, moderate, and mild maltreatment towards an elder would be defined in their culture and society. Neglect, especially psychological neglect, physical maltreatment, and psychological maltreatment were the most frequently reported types of maltreatment. References to neglect and physical maltreatment appeared most often as examples of extreme maltreatment. In general, men were somewhat more likely than women to provide examples of physical aggression in their examples of maltreatment. As examples of extreme maltreatment, females provided significantly more examples of abandonment than males. Although interpretations of the findings must be cautious because of the small sample size and limited statistical power, the study illustrates a procedure for assessing constructs of elder mistreatment in a way that attends to respondents' own constructions of the phenomenon.     

The dynamic,complex and diverse living and care arrangements of young New Zealanders: implications for policy

The living arrangements of young people in New Zealand are diverse and often complex. In this article we report the range of care and living arrangements of 209 15-year-old New Zealanders, 47 of whom identified as Māori. These young people were participants in the second generation of a cohort study. Data were collected from their parents via a life history calendar and analysed for variety and consistency of care arrangements, household membership and transitions. Few participants had a consistent pattern of parental care arrangements and most had experienced multiple changes in household composition and frequent changes of address. We conclude that the whānau/family lives of many young New Zealanders are complex and dynamic. These observations contrast with the conventional notions of family life that form the basis for New Zealand’s family policies. We argue that social policies and services impacting on young people need to reflect the lived reality of young people if they are to meet young people’s needs.     

Hidden dangers among circuit parties—A systematic review of HIV prevalence,sexual behaviors and drug abuse during the biggest gay events

ABSTRACT

Circuit parties (CP) are extended celebrations, lasting from a day to a week, primarily attended by gay and bisexual men in their thirties and forties. The increasing popularity of circuit parties may play a significant role in the epidemiology of HIV and other sexually transmitted diseases. We performed a systematic literature search in MEDLINE, without any temporal limit, using the term “circuit party”. Only articles reporting cross-sectional studies were analyzed. Ten articles, published in the period from 2001 to 2015 were included in our systematic review and reported data on samples ranging from 173 to 13,883 gay/bisexual men. The HIV prevalence among men who attended the CPs was very high, ranging from 6% to 40.8%. Sexual risk behaviors (e.g. unsafe sex or multiple partners) and drug use were particularly frequent. It wo'uld be useful to promote efficient strategies with the cooperation of party planners, catching the participants before nightlife activities in order to prevent HIV transmission and the use of recreational drugs.