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

New fusion rules and \cR-matrices for SL(N)qSL(N)_q at roots of unity

We derive fusion rules for the composition of $q$-deformed classical representations (arising in tensor products of the fundamental representation) with semi-periodic representations of $SL(N)_q$ at roots of unity. We obtain full reducibility into semi-periodic representations. On the other hand, heterogeneous \cR-matrices which intertwine tensor products of periodic or semi-periodic representations with $q$-deformed classical representations are given. These \cR-matrices satisfy all the possible Yang Baxter equations with one another and, when they exist, with the \cR-matrices intertwining homogeneous tensor products of periodic or semi-periodic representations. This compatibility between these two kinds of representations has never been used in physical models.Comment: 12 page

Health funder requirements for data management and sharing

A set of guides that describe data management and sharing requirements established by funding agencies that support LSHTM research projects

IDEAS project - Professional advice network study in Ethiopia

The IDEAS project sought to improve the health and survival of mothers and babies through generating evidence to inform policy and practice. This collection contains quantitative data, collection tools and documentation associated with a social network analysis study of the professional advice networks used by health care workers in Ethiopia. The cross-sectional, mixed-methods observational network study compared professional advice networks of 160 healthcare workers in 8 primary health care units (PHCUs) across four regions of Ethiopia; Amhara, Oromia, SNNP and Tigray. PHCUs include a health centre and typically 5 satellite health posts. Data captured included health care worker advice seeking and giving for the provision of four areas along the continuum of maternal and newborn care: antenatal care, childbirth care, postnatal care and newborn care. Additional information captured regarded professional advice exchange beyond the roster of health care workers in the PHCU. Network metrics were qualitatively compared to continuum of care coverage data as a secondary analysis. Twenty semi-structured qualitative interviews of purposively selected subjects followed the collection of quantitative network data to interpret and explain network roles and patterns observed

Delivering the English immunisation programme – survey response dataset

An anonymised dataset containing results of an online survey completed by 278 health practitioners in 2016. The online survey sought to assess how the national immunisation programme (specifically Section 7a immunisation programmes) was being delivered across different regions of England. The dataset contains variables on the respondent’s professional background, individual and organisational responsibility for immunisation, levels of co-operation between partner organisations to manage and deliver the immunisation programme, and what is being done to monitor and improve the performance of immunisation services (e.g. quality and uptake).The survey forms part of a long-term analysis of how the national immunisation programme is managed and delivered in the post-April 2013 health system. It is was conducted by the ‘Health Protection Research Unit (HPRU) in Immunisation’, which includes researchers from the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine (LSHTM) and Public Health England. The unit is funded by the National Institute of Health Research

Effectiveness of Seasonal Malaria Chemoprevention in children under 10 years of age in Senegal: a stepped-wedge cluster-randomized trial

This study was done to determine the effectiveness of Seasonal Malaria Chemoprevention in Senegalese children up to 10 years of age using a stepped-wedge design. Outcomes included mortality, malaria cases treated as outpatients, severe malaria, and the prevalence of parasitaemia and anaemia, and adverse drug reactions. 54 health posts were randomized. 9 started implementation of SMC in 2008, 18 in 2009, and a further 18 in 2010, with 9 remaining as controls. In the first year of implementation SMC was delivered to children aged 3-59 months, the age range was then extended for the latter two years of the study to include children up to 10 years of age

Mortality predictor score in hospitalised patients HIV-associated TB in Africa dataset

This dataset contains details of hospital patients with HIV-associated tuberculosis in sub-Saharan Africa from the STAMP clinical trial. It was generated to derive predictor score for mortality including urine lipoarabinomannan detection. Variables include: age, sex, weight, living status, number of day in follow-up, ART treatment, WHO danger sign, Haemoglobin level, ability to walk, and urine LAM positivity

inSCALE Baseline Cross-Sectional Survey Uganda

A data collection containing information on 6,501 children under 5 years of age in West Uganda. Data was collected during May - August 2011 as part of a baseline survey prior to implementation of the inSCALE c-RCT in the site. Dataset variables cover socioeconomic and demographic characteristics of households, symptoms of the most recent illness episode for the children during the two weeks preceding the survey, care seeking behaviour, treatments received and details of all self-reported out-of-pocket costs associated with care seeking for the episode of illness. Three datasets are made available: [1] The ‘inSCALE_baseline’ master table covers 1 child per row, and [2] a ‘inSCALE_long_baseline’ table with 1 illness condition per row (if child had more than one illness defined, one row is created for each illness) (5057 - only sick children included hence lower total), and [3] 'inSCALE_baseline_extra_cost' table containing additional data on household direct and indirect costs of care seeking collected in the baseline survey

The Plasmodium falciparum artemisinin susceptibility-associated AP-2 adaptin mu subunit is clathrin-independent and essential for schizont-maturation v2.0

Proteomics datasets, presented as a set of tables, produced as part of Dr Ryan Henrici's PhD project (completed 2018). Version 2.0 represents an updated version as accepted for publication by mBio in January 2020

Retention of adults from fishing communities in an HIV vaccine preparedness study in Masaka, Uganda

Data set containing details of 654 fisherfolk living on the shores of Lake Victoria who were enrolled in an open cohort vaccine preparedness study in Masaka Uganda. They visited the study clinic quarterly to have HIV counselling and testing for a period of two years. At baseline, socio-demographic and HIV risk behaviour data was collected. During follow-up data HIV risk behaviour data was collected every 6 months. Volunteers who did not return for two consecutive visits and those who seroconverted were discontinued from the study