It is the following quote by E.S Savas (1992) that truly conceptualises and forms the backdrop of this study "the word government is from a Greek word, which means 'to steer.' The job of government is to steer, not to row the boat. Delivering services is rowing, and government is not good at rowing" (Osborne and Gaebler 1992:25). Government has experienced a reformation of the way it operates, particularly in the way it achieves its policy objectives and delivers services. Governments have discarded the old style of governing and public administration in favour of New Public Management (NPM) and an entrepreneurial spirit. Both NPM and entrepreneurial government are based on the premise that governments must seek the most innovative, efficient and effective way of providing services and must do so under circumstances of fiscal constraints and scarce resources. This has resulted in Alternative Service Delivery (ASD) and Public Private Partnerships (PPPs). Local government, being at the heart of service delivery, has entered into Municipal Service Partnerships (MSPs). Public sector procurement has been used as a means of entering into these partnerships and introducing competition, thereby getting the best "value for money". The aim of this research study was to determine how the tender process has contributed to the reformation of the public sector in terms of improving service provision. The study was carried out by employing formal social science research methods. Qualitative methods have been adopted, using the Msunduzi Municipality as a case study. As part of the research methodology of this study, basic interviewing was conducted with officials within the Msunduzi Municipality. The first finding of this study was that government procurement injects competition into the market, thus reducing the cost of services delivered. Secondly, the procurement of goods and services aids government in acquiring much-needed skills, which the public sector often lacks from the private sector. Thirdly, that public procurement in a South African context has a dual purpose. Not only is government procurement aimed at reducing government expenditure, but also at redressing the equalities of the past by empowering "historically disadvantaged individuals". A fourth finding of this study is that Alternative Service Delivery (ASD) and Municipal Service Partnerships (MSPs), which are entered into through the procurement process at local government, are very controversial. While, on the one hand, ASD and MSPs are advocated by some for assisting government in acquiring much-needed financial and technical resources from the private sector which the public sector often lacks, on the other hand the private sector is often criticised by others for being motivated solely by profit-making. Thus, analyses of the findings of this study suggest that government procurement introduces competition into the market, thereby reducing the cost of services delivered, increases service delivery coverage and introduces much-needed skills that are required by the private sector. Public procurement has been employed as an important policy tool which fosters job creation and empowers once discriminated against groups such as women and the disabled. South Africa has reformed itself and has become more entrepreneurial and what was once a solely public function is now being delegated to the private sector. Therefore it can be deduced that ASD and MSPs, through procurement, has transformed the public sector in terms of service delivery and has greatly improved it. / Thesis (M.Soc.Sc.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Pietermaritzburg, 2007.

This research explores culture-led regeneration; specifically, how and why small, community-based culture-led regeneration projects potentially affect their respective communities. Methodology is founded on an in-depth case study of The Edge Artist Village in Winnipeg, supported by a literature review, quantitative research examining property values, and archival research. The practicum shows that The Edge Artist Village has had a tremendous impact on the community of North Main Street. While various stakeholders interpreted The Edge‘s impact in different ways, perceptions of safety in the community have improved, and long vacant buildings in the neighbourhood are finding new tenants. This study makes recommendations as to how planners can potentially play a role in encouraging culture-led regeneration projects such as The Edge Artist Village, and suggests ways in which private developers and municipal government can collaborate more effectively to support their communities.

The mutual in the synchronization system is analyzed in this work. The mutual in the synchronization is a double – side synchronization of interdependent tactical oscillators. Every of interdependent oscillators has influence on the frequency of other oscillators. The frequency of all oscillators will be the same and equal to the certain medium frequency which depends upon, the frequency and distances among separate oscillators of all in the settled regime of them joined into the net. The objective of the work is to analyze the synchronization system which is joined of four interdependent oscillators. The mathematical model of synchronization system is formed, analytic expressions of transitional function and differences among phases of oscillation are set transitional processes of synchronization system and differences among phases of oscillation are researched. The mathematical model of synchronization system is matrixal rectilinear dif. Equation with the argument to be late. It is solved using the method of steps and the transformation of Laplace. Exact analytical expressions of the solution components are found using Jordan’s form of descriptive matrix which describes the structure of inherent relations among the blocks of the system analytical expressions of transitional functions in the system and differences of phases of oscillation are obtained on the basis of the solution.

This thesis analyzes the development of national justice processes in Uganda in the wake of war in order to address key theoretical dilemmas that have recently emerged in the field of transitional justice. I focus on closely connected debates over the exclusion of socioeconomic justice, the relationship between international, national and local actors, the role of transitional justice discourse, and ultimately, the future of the field itself. Based on fieldwork undertaken in Kampala, the Acholi district and the temporary international arena created in Kampala for the 2010 ICC Review Conference, this thesis traces the role of local, national and international actors in the war itself, the search for peace, and the current post-conflict period. I examine the ways in which actors at all levels narrate the northern conflict and accordingly negotiate and contest the nature, scope and course of post conflict justice. I argue that the struggle for a meaningful approach to transitional justice is global in dimension. The power to define and perform postwar justice is concentrated in the hands of the state. A high risk persists that Uganda's transitional justice policy will prove an empty performance of 'victor's justice.' International and domestic actors alike have shaped and justified the Ugandan Government's self-interested approach and facilitated the dominance of international criminal justice. Conversely, civil society actors at all levels in Uganda draw on transitional justice as a radical language of resistance to fight for meaningful change. As long as it fails to address socioeconomic issues and structural violence however, transitional justice discourse will ultimately fall short of giving political voice to local priorities, and activating long-term social transformation. I argue that the field of transitional justice must be re-envisioned to embrace socioeconomic justice, in order to impel the endless pursuit of a just society. This task will require the collective efforts of a global constellation of actors.

This research explores culture-led regeneration; specifically, how and why small, community-based culture-led regeneration projects potentially affect their respective communities. Methodology is founded on an in-depth case study of The Edge Artist Village in Winnipeg, supported by a literature review, quantitative research examining property values, and archival research. The practicum shows that The Edge Artist Village has had a tremendous impact on the community of North Main Street. While various stakeholders interpreted The Edge‘s impact in different ways, perceptions of safety in the community have improved, and long vacant buildings in the neighbourhood are finding new tenants. This study makes recommendations as to how planners can potentially play a role in encouraging culture-led regeneration projects such as The Edge Artist Village, and suggests ways in which private developers and municipal government can collaborate more effectively to support their communities.

Cardiomyocyte perinatal development is characterized by the transition from a hyperplastic to a hypertrophic growth. We hypothesize that genetic factors and processes in the cardiac perinatal transitional program can be identified by a systematic analysis of different stages in heart development. Microarray expression patterning of mRNAs and microRNAs uncovered a perinatal cardiogenomic switch between 5 and 7 days post-birth. Gene ontology analysis revealed cellular and metabolic processes as highly representative Biological Processes. Moreover, approximately 40% of known mice transcription factors are significantly (p<0.05) fluctuating between embryonic day 19 and 10 days post-birth. As the heart matures, cardiomyocytes progressively exit cell cycle with day 5 as a pivotal point. Hypertrophy entails cardiomyocyte binucleation which may be promoted by Protein Regulator of Cytokinesis (Prc1) and its interactors. Temporal cardiac transcription expression analysis provides insight into underlining effectors within the cardiac perinatal transitional program as well as cardiac pathology.

This dissertation investigated a very specialised, highly sensitive and complex research area in policing known as undercover policing or covert policing operations. This is the first examination to be conducted in the Australasian policing context and the only known research to explore, empirically, undercover operatives' experiences of returning to mainstream police duties after completing their covert duties.----- There were two main research objectives in this dissertation. The first was to develop research methodology specific for use with undercover police officers. The second main objective was to conduct an empirical investigation to identify the psychological processes associated with the reintegration or re-assimilation of undercover police officers into mainstream policing environments. Social identity theory was applied to deconstruct undercover police officers' reintegration experiences.----- Given the closed and protected nature of covert policing, careful consideration to methodological and ethical issues required high priority in the development of research practices. Addressing these considerations in research practices protected the anonymity and security of those involved in the research. Tailoring research methods to suit the officers' circumstances and satisfy police managements' security concerns improved the practical application of research methods and research relations with police members and, therefore, the quality of the findings.----- In developing a research methodology for specific use with undercover police officers, a multi-method approach was adopted. Data triangulation with the use of a variety of data sources and methodological triangulation with the use of multiple methods and multiple indicators were employed. This technique proved constructive in creating a more holistic perspective of undercover policing and officers' experiences of re-assimilation.----- In theoretical terms, the major issue under investigation is of negotiating dual memberships or multiple identities. Three studies are reported. The first study is a field study, in which the researcher spent more than 18 months in the covert policing context, as a participant observer. Through field research, the researcher was able to learn about the Australasian covert policing context; obtain in-house police documents; define research issues and hypotheses; understand methodological considerations; identify a psychological theoretical framework; and examine &quotthe fit " between theory and the social dynamics of covert policing. Other benefits of becoming immersed in the working life of undercover police officers and the police organisation included understanding the ways of proceeding and the social and organisational structure that exists among covert personnel.----- The second study interviewed 20 former covert police personnel, from two police jurisdictions, who had been reintegrated for more than three years. The majority of officers found returning to mainstream police duties a difficult experience and two separate profiles of reintegration experiences emerged from the data. This study identified the presence of more than one police identity among former operatives. It found that some officers internalise aspects of the undercover policing norms and use these police norms to define aspects of the self both as a police officer and as an individual. That is, role-playing the undercover police persona became an extension of the officer as an individual and contributed positively to their personal self-worth. It was noted that the majority of officers expressed cognitive confusion over how to behave in the mainstream policing environment after covert duties had ceased.----- The other profile to emerge from the data was of officers who characterised their undercover policing experiences as being more integrated into their overall police persona. Officers interviewed in this study employed different identity decision-making strategies to restructure their police identities. In sum, this study found that the extent, to which the undercover and mainstream memberships were integrated cognitively, influenced officers' experiences of reintegration.----- The third study is a cross-sectional design using survey methods. Thirty-eight trainees, 31 currently operational and 38 former undercover operatives from four police jurisdictions took part in this study. A group of mainstream police officers matched according to former operatives' age, gender and years of policing experience was also included. This study found that police identities change over the phases of undercover police work and that changes in former operatives' mainstream police identity were a function of covert police work. Cross-sectional comparisons revealed that former operatives' undercover police identity had declined since covert policing, however, officers' mainstream police identity had not significantly increased. Failure to increase identification with mainstream police after undercover police work has ceased has a number of implications in terms of predicting re-assimilation. Operatives most likely to experience difficulties were those who resisted the mainstream police identification and reported difficult relations with their mainstream peers. Trends analysis revealed that despite the physical change, 'cognitive' re-assimilation actually commences in the second year of the operatives' reintegration. These exploratory analyses revealed that following return to the mainstream policing environment, identity stressors were mostly likely to be experienced in the first year of reintegration.----- To determine psychological adjustment since undercover police work, the person-environment fit was also investigated in the study. Operatives' current perceptions of working in the mainstream context were reported using a number of behavioural and organisational indicators. Overall, this study found that former operatives remain committed to their policing profession, however, those who experienced identity stress during the re-assimilation process were less satisfied with their current work duties and failed to find their work interesting, tended to perceive undercover duties as having been detrimental to their career, and expressed greater intentions to leave the service within 12 months of the survey. Overall former operatives' satisfaction and commitment levels were not significantly different from mainstream officers. Mainstream police, however, reported being under greater pressure and felt more overworked in the mainstream context than former operatives. In summary, these organisational indicators revealed that the difficulties of re-assimilation and intentions to leave the service are more related to the stress of modifying officers' police identity during this period than the workload characteristics of mainstream policing.----- Overall these studies demonstrated that the process of negotiating police identities is an important psychological dynamic present in undercover operatives' reintegration experiences. The identity stress experienced during this period was shown to have a number of organisational-behavioural consequences, such as problematic intergroup relations and greater intentions to leave the police service after undercover police work. Based on findings from this research a number of practical recommendations are made and suggestions for the direction of future research are outlined. Contributions to theory are also discussed.

The conceptual understanding of security and the practicalities of national defence are interdependent. In many countries both are undergoing significant change. This work provides an international context but focuses on Australian defence, arguing that a transition is underway from old security thinking to new, and that this is evidenced by changes in policies and practical activities. The aim of this work is to demonstrate the interdependence between the current reconceptualisation of security and the practicalities of national defence. Old security thinking concerns military power relationships between states, in contrast with new security thinking, which uses a broader conceptual framework. These are described, providing benchmarks for the subsequent analysis. While it is acknowledged that change has occurred in security thinking throughout history, those developments observed since the end of the Cold War and the rise of globalisation signify a fundamental shift. To explore this shift, recent developments in the defence policies and military activities of four relevant nations are examined, providing an international context for the consideration of the primary case study of Australian defence. This case study draws on historical descriptions and empirical data to analyse developments in four spheres - Australian defence policy, current Australian Defence Force activities, recent military developments and contemporary Australian public debate. The weight of evidence supports the thesis of a transition in both security thinking, described as transitional security thinking, and ADF activities. Tensions are observed between the requirements of defending a nation against attack, and contributing to the expanding requirements of the broadened security agenda. Despite these tensions, the expansion in both security thinking and the associated activities of armed forces, is likely to continue. This expansion has important implications for Australia???s defence capabilities which are increasingly required to meet the demands of refocused national security. These demands contribute to the pressing challenges of convergence and overstretch. A strategy of integration is recommended to address these challenges and it follows the principles of whole-of-government security and sustainable partnerships. The application of these principles will require the ADF to emphasise capabilities with versatility and adaptability.

Thesis (PhD)--Macquarie University. Division of Society, Culture, Media & Philosophy, Department of Media. / Bibliography: leaves 391-427. / Preamble or redesigning Poland: 1989-2004 -- Introducing Polish cinema -- Of (post) transitional Polishness and film -- Of the Polish film industry, culture and criticism 1989-2004: a story in three acts -- Of nostalgia and arcadias in heritage films -- Of the People's Republic and its memory -- Of the transitional ethos -- Of (post) transitional comic relief -- Conclusion. / This thesis examines patterns of (post) transitional developments in Polish cinema between 1989 and 2004. It proposes a three-stage approach to the analysis of transitional continuities in films about the mythical Polish past, The Polish People's Republic (PRL), the contemporary reality and contemporary Polish comedies. / Mode of access: World Wide Web. / iv, 427 leaves

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Missouri-Columbia, 2004. / Typescript. Vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 92-102). Also available on the Internet.