Public administration in an age of austerity:the future of the discipline

Reflecting changes in the nature of governance, some have questioned whether Public Administration is now an historical anachronism. While a legitimate debate exists between sceptics and optimists, this special issue demonstrates grounds for optimism by indicating the continuing diversity and adaptability of the field of Public Administration. In this introduction, we first sketch the variety of intellectual traditions which comprise the field of modern Public Administration. We then consider institutional challenges facing the subject given considerable pressures towards disciplinary fragmentation, and ideological challenges arising from a new distrust of public provision in the UK. Despite these challenges, Public Administration continues to provide a framework to analyse the practice of government and governance, governing institutions and traditions, and their wider sociological context. It can also directly inform policy reform - even if this endeavour can have its own pitfalls and pratfalls for the 'engaged' academic. We further suggest that, rather than lacking theoretical rigour, new approaches are developing that recognise the structural and political nature of the determinants of public administration. Finally, we highlight the richness of modern comparative work in Public Administration. Researchers can usefully look beyond the Atlantic relationship for theoretical enhancement and also consider more seriously the recursive and complex nature of international pressures on public administration

New localism, old retrenchment: the Big Society, housing policy and the politics of housing reform

This article considers the ideology underpinning the 2010 UK Government’s welfare reform agenda in order to foreground what we see as the contradictions of new localism and the ‘Big Society’ programme as it relates to housing policy. The article has three sections. It begins by discussing some of the methodological challenges that arise in interpreting contemporary policy and the value of an historically informed approach to understand the wider ‘politics’ underpinning the ‘Big Society’ programme. To support our argument, the second part of the article traces the ‘localist’ agenda (mainly focused on England and Wales) back from the 1960s to the defeat of Labour in the 2010 general election to show how both Conservative and Labour administrations deployed localism as a justification for welfare reform and in the process created opportunities to extend the marketisation of social policy. The third section of the article considers the contemporary period, in particular reforms presented to parliament in 2011 that, if enacted, will provide new avenues for powerful interest groups to influence decisions that hitherto have been mainly the preserve of local government. The conclusion provides a summary of the key policy implications and theoretical issues that arise from the analysis

"Liberalizing" the English National Health Service: background and risks to healthcare entitlement

Resumo: A recente reforma do Serviço Nacional de Saúde (NHS) inglês por meio do Health and Social Care Act de 2012 introduziu mudanças importantes na organização, gestão e prestação de serviços públicos de saúde na Inglaterra. O objetivo deste estudo é analisar as reformas do NHS no contexto histórico de predomínio de teorias neoliberais desde 1980 e discutir o processo de "liberalização" do NHS. São identificados e analisados três momentos: (i) gradativa substituição ideológica e teórica (1979-1990) - transição da lógica profissional e sanitária para uma lógica gerencial/comercial; (ii) burocracia e mercado incipiente (1991-2004) - estruturação de burocracia voltada à administração do mercado interno e expansão de medidas pró-mercado; e (iii) abertura ao mercado, fragmentação e descontinuidade de serviços (2005-2012) - fragilização do modelo de saúde territorial e consolidação da saúde como um mercado aberto a prestadores públicos e privados. Esse processo gradual e constante de liberalização vem levando ao fechamento de serviços e à restrição do acesso, comprometendo a integralidade, a equidade e o direito universal à saúde no NHS

Muscular dystrophy in the mdx mouse is a severe myopathy compounded by hypotrophy, hypertrophy and hyperplasia

Background Preclinical testing of potential therapies for Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD) is conducted predominantly of the mdx mouse. But lack of a detailed quantitative description of the pathology of this animal limits our ability to evaluate the effectiveness of putative therapies or their relevance to DMD. Methods Accordingly, we have measured the main cellular components of muscle growth and regeneration over the period of postnatal growth and early pathology in mdx and wild-type (WT) mice; phalloidin binding is used as a measure of fibre size, myonuclear counts and BrdU labelling as records of myogenic activity. Results We confirm a two-phase postnatal growth pattern in WT muscle: first, increase in myonuclear number over weeks 1 to 3, then expansion of myonuclear domain. Mdx muscle growth lags behind that of WT prior to overt signs of pathology. Fibres are smaller, with fewer myonuclei and smaller myonuclear domains. Moreover, satellite cells are more readily detached from mdx than WT muscle fibres. At 3 weeks, mdx muscles enter a phase of florid myonecrosis, accompanied by concurrent regeneration of an intensity that results in complete replacement of pre-existing muscle over the succeeding 3 to 4 weeks. Both WT and mdx muscles attain maximum size by 12 to 14 weeks, mdx muscle fibres being up to 50% larger than those of WT as they become increasingly branched. Mdx muscle fibres also become hypernucleated, containing twice as many myonuclei per sarcoplasmic volume, as those of WT, the excess corresponding to the number of centrally placed myonuclei. Conclusions The best-known consequence of lack of dystrophin that is common to DMD and the mdx mouse is the conspicuous necrosis and regeneration of muscle fibres. We present protocols for measuring this in terms both of loss of muscle nuclei previously labelled with BrdU and of the intensity of myonuclear labelling with BrdU administered during the regeneration period. Both measurements can be used to assess the efficacy of putative antinecrotic agents. We also show that lack of dystrophin is associated with a number of previously unsuspected abnormalities of muscle fibre structure and function that do not appear to be directly associated with myonecrosis

Trials and tribulations : the 'use' (and 'misuse') of evidence in public policy

Randomized controlled trials (RCTs) are increasingly playing a central role in shaping policy for development. By comparison, social experimentation has not driven the great transformation of welfare within the developed world. This introduces a range of issues for those interested in the nature of research evidence for making policy. In this article we will seek a greater understanding of why the RCT is increasingly seen as the ‘gold standard’ for policy experiments in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs), but not in the more advanced liberal democracies, and we will explore the implications of this. One objection to the use of RCTs, however can be cost, but implementing policies and programmes without good evidence or a good understanding of their effectiveness is unlikely to be a good use of resources either. Other issues arise. Trials are often complex to run and ethical concerns often arise in social ‘experiments’ with human subjects. However, rolling out untested policies may also be morally objectionable. This article sheds new light on the relationship between evidence and evaluation in public policy in both the global north and developing south. It also tackles emerging issues concerning the ‘use’ and ‘misuse’ of evidence and evaluation within public policy

A novel μCT analysis reveals different responses of bioerosion and secondary accretion to environmental variability

Corals build reefs through accretion of calcium carbonate (CaCO3) skeletons, but net reef growth also depends on bioerosion by grazers and borers and on secondary calcification by crustose coralline algae and other calcifying invertebrates. However, traditional field methods for quantifying secondary accretion and bioerosion confound both processes, do not measure them on the same time-scale, or are restricted to 2D methods. In a prior study, we compared multiple environmental drivers of net erosion using pre- and post-deployment micro-computed tomography scans (μCT; calculated as the % change in volume of experimental CaCO3 blocks) and found a shift from net accretion to net erosion with increasing ocean acidity. Here, we present a novel μCT method and detail a procedure that aligns and digitally subtracts pre- and post-deployment μCT scans and measures the simultaneous response of secondary accretion and bioerosion on blocks exposed to the same environmental variation over the same time-scale. We tested our method on a dataset from a prior study and show that it can be used to uncover information previously unattainable using traditional methods. We demonstrated that secondary accretion and bioerosion are driven by different environmental parameters, bioerosion is more sensitive to ocean acidity than secondary accretion, and net erosion is driven more by changes in bioerosion than secondary accretion

Infection of Semen-Producing Organs by SIV during the Acute and Chronic Stages of the Disease

International audienceBACKGROUND: Although indirect evidence suggests the male genital tract as a possible source of persistent HIV shedding in semen during antiretroviral therapy, this phenomenon is poorly understood due to the difficulty of sampling semen-producing organs in HIV+ asymptomatic individuals. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: Using a range of molecular and cell biological techniques, this study investigates SIV infection within reproductive organs of macaques during the acute and chronic stages of the disease. We demonstrate for the first time the presence of SIV in the testes, epididymides, prostate and seminal vesicles as early as 14 days post-inoculation. This infection persists throughout the chronic stage and positively correlates with blood viremia. The prostate and seminal vesicles appear to be the most efficiently infected reproductive organs, followed by the epididymides and testes. Within the male genital tract, mostly T lymphocytes and a small number of germ cells harbour SIV antigens and RNA. In contrast to the other organs studied, the testis does not display an immune response to the infection. Testosteronemia is transiently increased during the early phase of the infection but spermatogenesis remains unaffected. CONCLUSIONS/SIGNIFICANCE: The present study reveals that SIV infection of the macaque male genital tract is an early event and that semen-producing organs display differential infection levels and immune responses. These results help elucidate the origin of HIV in semen and constitute an essential base to improving the design of antiretroviral therapies to eradicate virus from semen

Rapid Dissemination of SIV Follows Multisite Entry after Rectal Inoculation

Receptive ano-rectal intercourse is a major cause of HIV infection in men having sex with men and in heterosexuals. Current knowledge of the mechanisms of entry and dissemination during HIV rectal transmission is scarce and does not allow the development of preventive strategies. We investigated the early steps of rectal infection in rhesus macaques inoculated with the pathogenic isolate SIVmac251 and necropsied four hours to nine days later. All macaques were positive for SIV. Control macaques inoculated with heat-inactivated virus were consistently negative for SIV. SIV DNA was detected in the rectum as early as four hours post infection by nested PCR for gag in many laser-microdissected samples of lymphoid aggregates and lamina propria but never in follicle-associated epithelium. Scarce SIV antigen positive cells were observed by immunohistofluorescence in the rectum, among intraepithelial and lamina propria cells as well as in clusters in lymphoid aggregates, four hours post infection and onwards. These cells were T cells and non-T cells that were not epithelial cells, CD68+ macrophages, DC-SIGN+ cells or fascin+ dendritic cells. DC-SIGN+ cells carried infectious virus. Detection of Env singly spliced mRNA in the mucosa by nested RT-PCR indicated ongoing viral replication. Strikingly, four hours post infection colic lymph nodes were also infected in all macaques as either SIV DNA or infectious virus was recovered. Rapid SIV entry and dissemination is consistent with trans-epithelial transport. Virions appear to cross the follicle-associated epithelium, and also the digestive epithelium. Viral replication could however be more efficient in lymphoid aggregates. The initial sequence of events differs from both vaginal and oral infections, which implies that prevention strategies for rectal transmission will have to be specific. Microbicides will need to protect both digestive and follicle-associated epithelia. Vaccines will need to induce immunity in lymph nodes as well as in the rectum