Modelling the Effects of Public Support to Small Firms in the UK - Paradise Gained?

The evaluation of the impact of public policies to improve the performance of the small business sector has provoked a great deal of debate and research activity in recent years. The debate can be categorised in two broad ways. First, it can be seen in terms of the actual impact measures and schemes of small business support may have in terms of enhanced growth performance of SMEs. Second, the search for appropriate evaluation methodologies which reflect the range of problems associated with the accurate identification of the true effects of policy support. The much publicised "Six Steps to Heaven" paper by Storey (1998) provided a comprehensive overview of the problems associated with evaluation studies in the realm of the small business sector. Storey argued that the vast majority of assessments of the impact of policy support fall within the category of monitoring rather than true evaluation. The intention in this paper is to undertake an evaluation of Business Links in England adopting a methodology which seeks to avoid the methodological pitfalls articulated by Storey and in so doing achieve the approach. This paper describes the methodology employed in a tracker study of businesses that received advice and consultancy from the Business Link network in 1996. The purpose of the study was to assess the impact of Business Link support on productivity compared to a matched comparison group. Using data from the specially constructed Business Link Impact Indicators Database for the period 1994-2000 together with a survey of assisted firms and non-assisted firms, and adopting an econometric approach designed to make allowance for both 'assistance' and 'selection' effects, this study concludes that: · First, we find no evidence that in 1996 BL assistance was being targeted effectively at faster growing firms. · Second, we find some, albeit tentative evidence, that BL assistance in 1996 was having a positive effect on productivity growth. · Third, we identify a positive but statistically insignificant effect of BL assistance on turnover and employment growth. · Fourth, our analysis has highlighted a number of other factors which contribute to productivity, turnover and employment growth. The range of these factors - embracing market conditions, business strategy, the characteristics of the owner-manager and the firm itself - emphasise the complexity of the process of business growth and the consequent difficulties in both modelling and assisting the process.

Short-Term Belowground Responses to Thinning and Burning Treatments in Southwestern Ponderosa Pine Forests of the USA

Microbial-mediated decomposition and nutrient mineralization are major drivers of forest productivity. As landscape-scale fuel reduction treatments are being implemented throughout the fire-prone western United States of America, it is important to evaluate operationally how these wildfire mitigation treatments alter belowground processes. We quantified these important belowground components before and after management-applied fuel treatments of thinning alone, thinning combined with prescribed fire, and prescribed fire in ponderosa pine (Pinus ponderosa) stands at the Southwest Plateau, Fire and Fire Surrogate site, Arizona. Fuel treatments did not alter pH, total carbon and nitrogen (N) concentrations, or base cations of the forest floor (O horizon) or mineral soil (0–5 cm) during this 2-year study. In situ rates of net N mineralization and nitrification in the surface mineral soil (0–15 cm) increased 6 months after thinning with prescribed fire treatments; thinning only resulted in net N immobilization. The rates returned to pre-treatment levels after one year. Based on phospholipid fatty acid composition, microbial communities in treated areas were similar to untreated areas (control) in the surface organic horizon and mineral soil (0–5 cm) after treatments. Soil potential enzyme activities were not significantly altered by any of the three fuel treatments. Our results suggest that a variety of one-time alternative fuel treatments can reduce fire hazard without degrading soil fertility

"Developing an Evaluative Framework for Industrial Policy in Ireland: Fulfilling the Audit Trail or an Aid to Policy Development?"

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Evaluating the Net Additionality of Industrial Development Assistance in Ireland

In recent years, industrial policy evaluation has been a theme under much debate internationally much of which has been spurred on through the significant EU structural fund transfers of the 1990s. Despite this, there are still few well-established methodologies to aid the evaluation process and this remains a serious issue with which researchers in this field continue to grapple. An important question in any evaluation is what would have happened in the absence of assistance. One of the key questions regarding the effectiveness of industrial policy is the extent to which growth in individual firms can be attributed to the financial assistance provided by the appropriate agency. In reality, all or part of the employment created for example might have come into existence anyway. This is referred to as deadweight. In this paper, two methodological approaches for measuring the impact of grant assistance are developed. The data employed in the evaluative frameworks were gathered during face-to-face interviews with the relevant personnel of 40 firms that received grants from Enterprise Ireland (EI) in the Republic of Ireland (ROI) in the years 2000 and 2001. An important dimension of the analysis will be to investigate whether there are regional deadweight effects in Ireland by structuring the analysis in terms of the Dublin Region, City Regions and Rural areas. Approach 1: The Case Study Approach This approach involved the use of a questionnaire during face-to-face interviews. The aim of this technique was to utilize the views of individuals (firms) directly affected by policy in an attempt to identify a 'counter-factual position'. To assess deadweight directly respondents were asked to answer the hypothetical question of what would most likely have happened if they had not received assistance from EI. This definition of deadweight accounts for the various degrees or levels of deadweight as measured by time location and scale. The paper thus distinguishes between the various degrees of deadweight ranging from 'pure' ('full') and 'partial' to 'zero' deadweight (a dimension which has been overlooked in similar research to date). Approach 2: The Control Group Approach A counter-factual position may be achieved with the use of control groups of non-assisted businesses in Ireland and elsewhere. This approach is based on the principle that any observed difference in the growth performance of assisted and non-assisted businesses can be used to construct estimates of the net additionality of public policy support to assisted businesses. The implication here is that the difference in growth rates, whether measured in terms of employment, turnover, productivity or profitability, can be interpreted as the scale of the impact of the policy intervention - in this case financial assistance by EI. The main problem, as articulated by Storey (2000) and Roper et al (2001) , is that to interpret the difference in the growth rates between assisted and a non-assisted control group as the scale of the impact of financial assistance is fraught with methodological difficulties. The solution is essentially the need to construct a methodology which seeks to explore whether any observed differences between assisted and non-assisted control groups of businesses are due to differences in the characteristics of these groups or can be directly attributed to the effects of assistance. Further, there is a need to accurately isolate the effects of 'selection' and 'assistance' on those assisted businesses that had grown faster than non-assisted businesses. For example, where it is found that assisted small businesses grew faster than non-assisted businesses it is not clear whether their faster growth reflects: · the benefits of assistance; · a tendency for faster growing firms to be keener to apply for assistance; · or, whether assistance was successfully targeted on faster growing firms Within the terms of reference for this study it was not possible to construct a suitable methodology to undertake the necessary econometric modelling to address the separation of 'selection' and 'assistance' effects. Nevertheless, whilst recognising the constraints of the approach we would, however, argue that the use of control groups in this case do provide an important element in the definition of the counter-factual policy position. Finally, a comparison of the results obtained using the two methodological approaches is provided. Of key concern here is to assess the value of proceeding with evaluations which rely solely on asking policy recipients what they would have done in the absence of assistance. Do the results of such studies provide similar or different results from approaches which rely on large-scale databases of assisted and non-assisted controls? Further, is there a need for more elaborate evaluation methodologies in order to guide the nature and scale of industrial policy as operated by development agencies such as EI? Although the evaluative frameworks developed in this paper have been 'tested' in an Irish context, the logic is clear and the evaluative frameworks have a much wider international applicability regarding the evaluation of industrial policy interventions. Industrial policy evaluation is very much in its infancy in Irish academic and policymaking circles. As the adoption of evaluative approaches in the Irish context is set to increase (largely EU driven), the findings of this paper should provide timely and valuable lessons to those charged with the task of carrying out such evaluations.

Silencing E3 Ubiqutin ligase ITCH as a potential therapy to enhance chemotherapy efficacy in p53 mutant neuroblastoma cells

P53 mutations are responsible for drug-resistance of tumour cells which impacts on the efficacy of treatment. Alternative tumour suppressor pathways need to be explored to treat p53- deficient tumours. The E3 ubiquitin ligase, ITCH, negatively regulates the tumour suppressor protein TP73, providing a therapeutic target to enhance the sensitivity of the tumour cells to the treatment. In the present study, two p53-mutant neuroblastoma cell lines were used as in vitro models. Using immunostaining, western blot and qPCR methods, we firstly identified that ITCH was expressed on p53-mutant neuroblastoma cell lines. Transfection of these cell lines with ITCH siRNA could effectively silence the ITCH expression, and result in the stabilization of TP73 protein, which mediated the apoptosis of the neuroblastoma cells upon irradiation treatment. Finally, in vivo delivery of the ITCH siRNA using nanoparticles to the neuroblastoma xenograft mouse model showed around 15–20% ITCH silencing 48 hours after transfection. Our data suggest that ITCH could be silenced both in vitro and in vivo using nanoparticles, and silencing of ITCH sensitizes the tumour cells to irradiation treatment. This strategy could be further explored to combine the chemotherapy/radiotherapy treatment to enhance the therapeutic effects on p53-deficient neuroblastoma

The influence of formal education on the leadership development of healthcare executive leaders in Queensland health

The need to develop the leadership capabilities of clinicians to bring about necessary improvements in health systems is confronted by a number of challenges, including the adequacy of healthcare leadership frameworks and the quality of healthcare leadership development programs. This study focuses on the influence that formal education, as one strategy of leadership development, has had on the leadership development of healthcare executives in Queensland Health. A qualitative research methodology, positioned within an interpretivist paradigm and using an Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis approach, was used to construct a conceptual model that explains how healthcare executive leaders develop leadership capability through formal education. In the first instance, the nature of leadership was considered through a literature review before moving onto additional literature that explored existing leadership frameworks and leadership development. An interview survey was then used to discover healthcare executives within Queensland Health who could be identified as having specific leadership characteristics. These identified healthcare executive leaders became the participants for further enquiry. Through two semi-structured interviews with each of five identified healthcare executive leaders, it was confirmed that leadership capability can be developed from insights gained through formal education experiences. These identified healthcare executive leaders reported that formal education experiences had the effect of raising their awareness that there were alternative ways of leading and operating. The formal educational experiences provided them with models of effective leadership and encouraged them to reflect upon and to compare these models to their current practice, leading to new understandings about themselves and their approaches to leadership. This personal insight motivated them to change their behaviour towards new practice. Based on these findings, a conceptual model that describes this relationship among leadership knowledge, educational process and leadership insight has been developed. The significance of this study is that it provides evidence for the important role that formal education has as an effective strategy for the development of healthcare executives’ leadership capability. This study contributes to leadership theory through an extension of the understanding of pedagogy as it applies to leadership capability development. This study also contributes to leadership capability development practice by encouraging the designers of formal education approaches to consider how their instructional design elements interact to build a more systemic approach to leadership development

IMMUNITY IN THE ALIMENTARY TRACT AND OTHER MUCOSAE OF THE DOGFISH SCYLIORHINUS CANICULA L.

The gut of Scyliorhinus canicula was examined by light and electron microscopy and was found to harbour a large and heterogeneous leucocyte population which occupied three niches: the lamina propria (intralaminal leucocytes), the epithelium (intra-epithelial leucocytes) and as accumulations of leucocytes. The lamina propria had a mixed population of cells including three granulocyte types, lymphocytes, plasma cells and macrophages. The epithelium contained a similar spectrum of cells, with the exception of plasma cells, which were only detected in the lamina propria. The lamina propria and epithelium of the gall bladder and reproductive tract also contained leucocytes, although not in the same quantities. Accumulations of lymphocytes and macrophages were detected throughout the alimentary tract, but were largest and most predominant in the proximal spiral intestine. Leucocyte populations in all three niches were greatest in the proximal spiral valve and virtually absent from the cardiac stomach. The development of leucocyte population in the spiral intestine was examined. Intralaminal leucocytes were first observed in phase 2 of stage 2 and intra-epithelial leucocytes and lymphoid accumulations in stage 3. The development of the intestinal leucocyte populations occurred after the thymus and kidney and approximately at the same time as the Leydig organ and spleen. Leucocytes were present in all niches of the gut prior to the transition to an exogenous diet. The epithelium of the spiral intestine of the larval stages was shown to phagocytose particulate material (carbon), while the adult intestine demonstrated no such ability. The epithelium of the spiral intestine of both larval and adults was found to absorb soluble protein material (HGG and ferritin). Immunoglobulin was detected in the reproductive tract, spiral intestine, and at levels comparable to that of serum in the bile. Biliary immunoglobulin was compared, on the basis of several criteria, with serum immunoglobulin. Sepcific antibodies were detected in the bile after SRBC’S and Vibrio antigens were intubated into the gut by oral and anal routes and injected directly into the peritoneum. No systemic response, however, was elicited to antigens which had been intubated into the gut by either the oral or anal orifice.University of Salfor