And then there were four: a study of UK market concentration - causes, consequences and the scope for market adjustment

While concentration measures are a good indicator of market structure, the link with competitiveness is more complex than often assumed. In particular, the modern theory of industrial organisation makes no clear statement regarding the impact of concentration on competition - the focus of this paper is concentration and no inferences are made about competitive aspects of the market. The extent and nature of concentration within the UK listed company audit market as at April, 2002 and, pro forma, after the collapse of Andersen is documented and analysed in detail (by firm, market segment and industry sector). The largest four firms held 90 per cent of the market (based on audit fees) in 2002, rising to 96 per cent with the demise of Andersen. A single firm, Pricewaterhouse-Coopers, held 70 per cent or more of the share of six out of 38 industry sectors, with a share of 50 per cent up to 70 per cent in a further seven sectors. The provision of non-audit services (NAS) by incumbent auditors is also considered. As at April 2002, the average ratio of non-audit fees (paid to auditor) to audit fees was 208 per cent, and exceeded 300 per cent in seven sectors. It is likely, however, that disposals by firms of their management consultancy and outsource firms, combined with the impact of the Smith Report on audit committees will serve to reduce these ratios. Another finding is that audit firms with expertise in a particular sector appeared to earn significantly higher nonaudit fees from their audit clients in that sector. The paper thus provides a solid empirical basis for debate. The subsequent discussion considers the implications for companies and audit firms of the high level of concentration in the current regulatory climate, where no direct regulatory intervention is planned

Sites of Biosynthesis of Outer and Inner Membrane Proteins of Neurospora crassa Mitochondria

Outer and inner membranes of Neurospora crassa mitochondria were separated by the combined swelling, shrinking, sonication procedure. Membranes were characterized by electron microscopy and by marker enzyme activities. A red carotenoid pigment was found to be concentrated in the outer membrane. The inner mitochondrial membrane was resolved into about 20 protein bands on polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis, whereas the outer membrane shows essentially one single protein band. Only negligible incorporation of radioactive amino acids occurs into outer membrane when isolated mitochondria are synthesizing polypeptide chains. In agreement with this observation labeling of outer membrane protein is almost entirely blocked, when whole Neurospora cells are incubated with radioactive amino acids in the presence of cycloheximide, an inhibitor of cytoplasmic protein synthesis. Finally, the essential electrophoretic protein band from outer membrane does not become labeled when mitochondria are incubated with radioactive amino acids either in vitro or in vivo in the presence of cycloheximide. It is concluded that the vast majority, if not all, of the outer membrane protein is synthesized by the cytoplasmic system and that polypeptide chains formed by the mitochondrial ribosomes are integrated into the inner mitochondrial membrane

Efficient Production of Large 39K Bose-Einstein Condensates

We describe an experimental setup and the cooling procedure for producing 39K Bose-Einstein condensates of over 4x10^5 atoms. Condensation is achieved via a combination of sympathetic cooling with 87Rb in a quadrupole-Ioffe-configuration (QUIC) magnetic trap, and direct evaporation in a large volume crossed optical dipole trap, where we exploit the broad Feshbach resonance at 402 G to tune the 39K interactions from weak and attractive to strong and repulsive. In the same apparatus we create quasi-pure 87Rb condensates of over 8x10^5 atoms.Comment: 7 pages, 5 figures; figure font compatibility improve

Clinical surveillance of thrombotic microangiopathies in Scotland, 2003-2005

The prevalence, incidence and outcomes of haemolytic uraemic syndrome (HUS) and thrombotic thrombocytopaenic purpura (TTP) are not well established in adults or children from prospective studies. We sought to identify both outcomes and current management strategies using prospective, national surveillance of HUS and TTP, from 2003 to 2005 inclusive. We also investigated the links between these disorders and factors implicated in the aetiology of HUS and TTP including infections, chemotherapy, and immunosuppression. Most cases of HUS were caused by verocytotoxin-producing Escherichia coli (VTEC), of which serotype O157 predominated, although other serotypes were identified. The list of predisposing factors for TTP was more varied although use of immunosuppressive agents and severe sepsis, were the most frequent precipitants. The study demonstrates that while differentiating between HUS and TTP is sometimes difficult, in most cases the two syndromes have quite different predisposing factors and clinical parameters, enabling clinical and epidemiological profiling for these disorders

Staying over-optimistic about the future : uncovering attentional biases to climate change messages

There is considerable concern that the public are not getting the message about climate change. One possible explanation is ‘optimism bias’, where individuals overestimate the likelihood of positive events happening to them and underestimate the likelihood of negative events. Evidence from behavioural neuroscience suggest that this bias is underpinned by selective information processing, specifically through a reduced level of neural coding of undesirable information, and an unconscious tendency for optimists to avoid fixating negative information. Here we test how this bias in attention could relate to the processing of climate change messages. Using eye tracking, we found that level of dispositional optimism affected visual fixations on climate change messages. Optimists spent less time (overall dwell time) attending to any arguments about climate changes (either ‘for’ or ‘against’) with substantially shorter individual fixations on aspects of arguments for climate change, i.e. those that reflect the scientific consensus but are bad news. We also found that when asked to summarise what they had read, non-optimists were more likely to frame their recall in terms of the arguments ‘for’ climate change; optimists were significantly more likely to frame it in terms of a debate between two opposing positions. Those highest in dispositional optimism seemeed to have the strongest and most pronounced level of optimism bias when it came to estimating the probability of being personally affected by climate change. We discuss the importance of overcoming this cognitive bias to develop more effective strategies for communicating about climate change

Braided Hopf algebras obtained from coquasitriangular Hopf algebras

Let $(H, \sigma)$ be a coquasitriangular Hopf algebra, not necessarily finite dimensional. Following methods of Doi and Takeuchi, which parallel the constructions of Radford in the case of finite dimensional quasitriangular Hopf algebras, we define $H_\sigma$, a sub-Hopf algebra of $H^0$, the finite dual of $H$. Using the generalized quantum double construction and the theory of Hopf algebras with a projection, we associate to $H$ a braided Hopf algebra structure in the category of Yetter-Drinfeld modules over $H_\sigma^{\rm cop}$. Specializing to $H={\rm SL}_q(N)$, we obtain explicit formulas which endow ${\rm SL}_q(N)$ with a braided Hopf algebra structure within the category of left Yetter-Drinfeld modules over $U_q^{\rm ext}({\rm sl}_N)^{\rm cop}$.Comment: 43 pages, 1 figur

AMPA Receptor Phosphorylation and Synaptic Colocalization on Motor Neurons Drive Maladaptive Plasticity below Complete Spinal Cord Injury.

Clinical spinal cord injury (SCI) is accompanied by comorbid peripheral injury in 47% of patients. Human and animal modeling data have shown that painful peripheral injuries undermine long-term recovery of locomotion through unknown mechanisms. Peripheral nociceptive stimuli induce maladaptive synaptic plasticity in dorsal horn sensory systems through AMPA receptor (AMPAR) phosphorylation and trafficking to synapses. Here we test whether ventral horn motor neurons in rats demonstrate similar experience-dependent maladaptive plasticity below a complete SCI in vivo. Quantitative biochemistry demonstrated that intermittent nociceptive stimulation (INS) rapidly and selectively increases AMPAR subunit GluA1 serine 831 phosphorylation and localization to synapses in the injured spinal cord, while reducing synaptic GluA2. These changes predict motor dysfunction in the absence of cell death signaling, suggesting an opportunity for therapeutic reversal. Automated confocal time-course analysis of lumbar ventral horn motor neurons confirmed a time-dependent increase in synaptic GluA1 with concurrent decrease in synaptic GluA2. Optical fractionation of neuronal plasma membranes revealed GluA2 removal from extrasynaptic sites on motor neurons early after INS followed by removal from synapses 2 h later. As GluA2-lacking AMPARs are canonical calcium-permeable AMPARs (CP-AMPARs), their stimulus- and time-dependent insertion provides a therapeutic target for limiting calcium-dependent dynamic maladaptive plasticity after SCI. Confirming this, a selective CP-AMPAR antagonist protected against INS-induced maladaptive spinal plasticity, restoring adaptive motor responses on a sensorimotor spinal training task. These findings highlight the critical involvement of AMPARs in experience-dependent spinal cord plasticity after injury and provide a pharmacologically targetable synaptic mechanism by which early postinjury experience shapes motor plasticity

Political trials and the suppression of popular radicalism in England, 1799-1820

This chapter examines the decision-making process between the Home Office and the government’s law officers in prosecuting individuals for sedition and treason in the period 1799–1820. The term state trial suggests a more centralised and government-led repression of popular radicalism than the process was in practice. Provincial reformers also faced the complex layers of their local justice system, which was more loyalist, committed to stamping out political radicalism. The trial of the “Thirty Eight” Manchester radicals in June 1812 demonstrates the mutable definitions of treason, sedition and processes of justice in the theatre of the court.Peer reviewe

A generalization of Gabriel's Galois covering functors II: 2-categorical Cohen-Montgomery duality

Given a group $G$, we define suitable 2-categorical structures on the class of all small categories with $G$-actions and on the class of all small $G$-graded categories, and prove that 2-categorical extensions of the orbit category construction and of the smash product construction turn out to be 2-equivalences (2-quasi-inverses to each other), which extends the Cohen-Montgomery duality.Comment: 31 pages. I moved the Sec of G-GrCat into Sec 3, and added Lem 5.6. I added more explanations in the proof of Cor 7.6 with (7.5). I added Def 7.7 and Lem 7.8 with the necessary additional assumptions in Props 7.9 and 7.11. I added Lem 8.8 with a short proof, Rmk 8.9 and the proof of Lem 8.10. The final publication is available at Springer via http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s10485-015-9416-