SME’s disinclination towards subcontracting in the public sector markets : an attributional perspective

Purpose - This study aims to examine the causes of SME’ disinclination towards subcontracting in public sector markets. Previous studies have revealed that UK SMEs are reluctant to do business with the public sector through the subcontracting route, but the reasons for this lack of enthusiasm have not been widely researched. Design/methodology/approach- Drawing on semi-structured interviews with SMEs competing for public contracts in North West England, a qualitative study was performed, from which several themes emerged. Findings- The findings were synthesised into a framework underpinned by attribution theory, to portray situationally and dispositionally caused factors which were used to interpret SMEs behaviour. Originality- The paper contributes in a unique way to an emerging discourse on how subcontracting can facilitate the access of SMEs to government procurement spending. It adds to knowledge regarding the explanatory power of attribution theory– from its base in social psychology

Lower myostatin and higher MUC1 levels are associated with better response to mepolizumab and omalizumab in asthma: a protein–protein interaction analyses

Abstract Introduction Biomarkers are needed to inform the choice of biologic therapy in patients with asthma given the increasing number of biologics. We aimed to identify proteins associated with response to omalizumab and mepolizumab. Methods Aptamer-based proteomic profiling (SomaScan) was used to assess 1437 proteins from 51 patients with moderate to severe asthma who received omalizumab (n = 29) or mepolizumab (n = 22). Response was defined as the change in asthma-related exacerbations in the 12 months following therapy initiation. All models were adjusted for age, sex, and pre-treatment exacerbation rate. Additionally, body mass index was included in the omalizumab model and eosinophil count in the mepolizumab model. We evaluated the association between molecular signatures and response using negative binomial regression correcting for the false discovery rate (FDR) and gene set enrichment analyses (GSEA) to identify associated pathways. Results Over two-thirds of patients were female. The average age for omalizumab patients was 42 years and 57 years for mepolizumab. At baseline, the average exacerbation rate was 1.5/year for omalizumab and 2.4/year for mepolizumab. Lower levels of LOXL2 (unadjusted p: 1.93 × 10E−05, FDR-corrected: 0.028) and myostatin (unadjusted: 3.87 × 10E−05, FDR-corrected: 0.028) were associated with better response to mepolizumab. Higher levels of CD9 antigen (unadjusted: 5.30 × 10E−07, FDR-corrected: 0.0006) and MUC1 (unadjusted: 1.15 × 10E−06, FDR-corrected: 0.0006) were associated with better response to omalizumab, and LTB4R (unadjusted: 1.12 × 10E−06, FDR-corrected: 0.0006) with worse response. Protein–protein interaction network modeling showed an enrichment of the TNF- and NF-kB signaling pathways for patients treated with mepolizumab and multiple pathways involving MAPK, including the FcER1 pathway, for patients treated with omalizumab. Conclusions This study provides novel fundamental data on proteins associated with response to mepolizumab or omalizumab in severe asthma and warrants further validation as potential biomarkers for therapy selection