towards a new approach of the elections-to-policy nexus

This introduction briefly presents the central debates, challenges and puzzles addressed in the book. The focus is on the policy relevance of election campaigns, approached through the lens of two core requirements, i.e. differentiation in the electoral supply and mandate responsiveness. The chapter describes the climate of scepticism that prevails as to how contemporary democracies meet these principles. It points to current approaches limitations’ in conceptual and empirical terms. It then delineates the main arguments of the book’s alternative approach. Based on an agenda-setting perspective, our theoretical framework bridges studies of policy and issue competition, relying on unique empirical evidence covering five West European countries since the 1980s. Finally, the chapter provides an outline of the remaining chapters.

Edge computing for Vehicle to Everything: a short review

Vehicle to Everything (V2X) communications and services have sparked considerable interest as a potential component of future Intelligent Transportation Systems. V2X serves to organise communication and interaction between vehicle to vehicle (V2V), vehicle to infrastructure (V2I), vehicle to pedestrians (V2P), and vehicle to networks (V2N). However, having multiple communication channels can generate a vast amount of data for processing and distribution. In addition, V2X services may be subject to performance requirements relating to dynamic handover and low latency communication channels. Good throughput, lower delay, and reliable packet delivery are the core requirements for V2X services. Edge Computing (EC) may be a feasible option to address the challenge of dynamic handover and low latency to allow V2X information to be transmitted across vehicles. Currently, existing comparative studies do not cover the applicability of EC for V2X. This review explores EC approaches to determine the relevance for V2X communication and services. EC allows devices to carry out part or all of the data processing at the point where data is collected. The emphasis of this review is on several methods identified in the literature for implementing effective EC. We describe each method individually and compare them according to their applicability. The findings of this work indicate that most methods can simulate the EC positioning under predefined scenarios. These include the use of Mobile Edge Computing, Cloudlet, and Fog Computing. However, since most studies are carried out using simulation tools, there is a potential limitation in that crucial data in the search for EC positioning may be overlooked and ignored for bandwidth reduction. The EC approaches considered in this work are limited to the literature on the successful implementation of V2X communication and services. The outcome of this work could considerably help other researchers better characterise EC applicability for V2X communications and services.

Introduction to the EQIPD quality system

While high risk of failure is an inherent part of developing innovative therapies, it can be reduced by adherence to evidence-based rigorous research practices. Numerous analyses conducted to date have clearly identified measures that need to be taken to improve research rigor. Supported through the European Union's Innovative Medicines Initiative, the EQIPD consortium has developed a novel preclinical research quality system that can be applied in both public and private sectors and is free for anyone to use. The EQIPD Quality System was designed to be suited to boost innovation by ensuring the generation of robust and reliable preclinical data while being lean, effective and not becoming a burden that could negatively impact the freedom to explore scientific questions. EQIPD defines research quality as the extent to which research data are fit for their intended use. Fitness, in this context, is defined by the stakeholders, who are the scientists directly involved in the research, but also their funders, sponsors, publishers, research tool manufacturers and collaboration partners such as peers in a multi-site research project. The essence of the EQIPD Quality System is the set of 18 core requirements that can be addressed flexibly, according to user-specific needs and following a user-defined trajectory. The EQIPD Quality System proposes guidance on expectations for quality-related measures, defines criteria for adequate processes (i.e., performance standards) and provides examples of how such measures can be developed and implemented. However, it does not prescribe any pre-determined solutions. EQIPD has also developed tools (for optional use) to support users in implementing the system and assessment services for those research units that successfully implement the quality system and seek formal accreditation. Building upon the feedback from users and continuous improvement, a sustainable EQIPD Quality System will ultimately serve the entire community of scientists conducting non-regulated preclinical research, by helping them generate reliable data that are fit for their intended use.

The Core Requirements of the International Rule of Law in the Practice of States

Is it possible to identify some foundational elements of international law that can be generally accepted by all States? Can such core elements reach a normative threshold to be considered requirements rather than “values” or “virtues” ? And finally, what are these core requirements of the international rule of law? This contribution propositions that, indeed, such core elements exist, identifies them—non-arbitrariness, consistency and predictability—from the practice of States at the international level and conceptualises them as the minimum requirements of the international rule of law. It presents an empirical study of statements of governments at the United Nations (UN) during a five-year period (2012–2017), accompanying the relevant findings with references to decisions and opinions of the International Court of Justice (ICJ).

Policy School Deans Want It All: Results of a Survey of APSIA Deans and Top-50 Political Science Department Chairs on Hiring and Promotion

How do intellectual leaders of professional schools of international affairs, whose institutions primarily educate and train master's students for careers in government, the non-governmental sector, and the private sector, differ from academic administrators in disciplinary departments, whose primary raison d’être is producing the next generation of scholars whose primary task is to conduct basic research, in terms of how they see the academic enterprise and their expectations of faculty research and writing? The results of our recent survey of deans of the Association of Professional Schools of International Affairs (APSIA), the leading professional body for international relations-oriented policy schools, and chairs of Top-50 political science departments, reveal some predictable differences but also some surprising overlap. Specifically, we find a clear convergence between disciplinary departments and APSIA schools on the core requirements for promotion and tenure: Peer-reviewed publications in high-impact scholarly journals and leading university presses. But rather than relax demands for other activities by their faculty as they hold them to the expectations of their disciplines, APSIA deans still expect significant policy and broader public engagement from them. In other words, policy schools’ faculties face a greater array of professional demands than their disciplinary colleagues. APSIA schools simultaneously embrace the disciplinary criteria for excellence and still try to maintain a close policy focus as they seek to bridge the gap between these two worlds. How feasible this effort will turn out to be hinges on whether policy school faculty can indeed do it all.

Corporate governance paradigms of hazardous industries: Enduring challenges of Britain’s civil nuclear industry

This article discusses risk management processes in Britain’s civil nuclear industry from a corporate governance perspective. As an example of a hazardous industry that can inflict catastrophic environmental damage and fatalities, effective governance of Britain’s nuclear industry is a critical issue. Yet the industry’s history of corporate governance suggests that processes of corporate governance have regularly failed to meet core requirements of its stakeholders. A core requirement is for governance designs that recognize the interests of public owner–stakeholders. In meeting this requirement, the article offers a framework for a relationship-driven form of corporate governance that enables meaningful stakeholder engagement in decision-making.

Developing Traffic Congestion Detection Model Using Deep Learning Approach: A Case Study of Addis Ababa City Road

The traffic system is one of the core requirements of a civilized world and the development of the country depends on it in many aspects. In Ethiopia, the number of vehicles and pedestrians is increasing at a high rate from time to time. Excessive numbers of traffic on roads and improper control of traffic create traffic congestion. Uncontrolled traffic congestion hinders the transportation of goods and commuters from place to place and increases the volume of carbon emitted into the air. It can also either hampers or stagnates schedule, business, and commerce. Many images and video processing approaches have been researched in the literature on how to detect traffic congestion. One such approach is that of using background and foreground subtraction, convolutional neural network, and Average frame difference and deep learning method used to detect traffic congestion from different video sources. From the review one-stage object detector identified as the best methods to detect traffic congestion with acceptable accuracy and speed. In this study one-stage object detectors are used to detect traffic congestion from recorded video. Data is collected from different video footage and frames extracted from videos to prepare a dataset for the thesis. The extracted frames were labeled manually as congested and uncongested. To train, the models pre-trained weights were used. YOLOV3 and YOLOV5 model used for experimentation. Accuracy and speed metrics used to evaluate the performance of the models. A YOLOV3 model achieved 41.6 FPS and 68.6 % mAP on a testing dataset.

Engineering Human–Machine Teams for Trusted Collaboration

The way humans and artificially intelligent machines interact is undergoing a dramatic change. This change becomes particularly apparent in domains where humans and machines collaboratively work on joint tasks or objects in teams, such as in industrial assembly or disassembly processes. While there is intensive research work on human–machine collaboration in different research disciplines, systematic and interdisciplinary approaches towards engineering systems that consist of or comprise human–machine teams are still rare. In this paper, we review and analyze the state of the art, and derive and discuss core requirements and concepts by means of an illustrating scenario. In terms of methods, we focus on how reciprocal trust between humans and intelligent machines is defined, built, measured, and maintained from a systems engineering and planning perspective in literature. Based on our analysis, we propose and outline three important areas of future research on engineering and operating human–machine teams for trusted collaboration. For each area, we describe exemplary research opportunities.

Cooperative Unit Systems: 2. Organizational Strategies

This 8-page document introduces the core requirements and organizational considerations for replicating a cooperative animal unit. Written by Alyssa Schortinghouse, and published by the UF/IFAS 4-H Youth Development Department, August 2020.