Hollowing out national agreements in the NHS? The case of "Improving Working Lives" under a "Turnaround" plan

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to consider the resilience of a national-level initiative (Improving Working Lives (IWL)) in the face of local-level initiative (Turnaround) in an NHS hospital and compare to Bach and Kessler’s (2012) model of public service employment relations. Design/methodology/approach: Case study research consisting of 23 in-depth semi-structured interviews from a range of participants. Findings: The principles behind IWL were almost entirely sacrificed in order to meet the financial objectives of Turnaround. This indicates the primacy of localised upstream performance management initiatives over the national-level downstream employee relations initiatives that form the basis of the NHS’ claim to model employer aspiration. Research limitations/implications: The case study was conducted between 2007 and 2009. While the case study falls under previous government regime, the dualised system of national-level agreements combined with localised performance management – and the continued existence of both Turnaround and IWL – makes the results relevant at the time of writing. Originality/value: Some studies (e.g. Skinner et al., 2004) indicated a perception that IWL was not trusted by NHS staff. The present study offers reasons as to why this may be the case

Researches in non-associative algebra

I have frequently been asked by biologists for mathematical help in connection with their problems. I was working on one such problem when an algebraist, observing my work without knowing what it was about, remarked that I was apparently using hypercomplex numbers. I was considering a certain type of inheritance specified by formulae which could be regarded as forming the multiplication table of a non -associative linear algebra; and my calculations could be regarded as manipulations of hypercomplex numbers in this algebra, or in another algebra derived from it by a process which I later called "duplication;I then realised that there are many such "genetic algebras ", representing different types of inheritance. They are in all cases non-associative as regards multiplication, though they can always be taken to be commutative. I found that a large class of genetic algebras (viz. those for "symmetrical inheritance" as defined in Paper VI, p. 2) possessed certain distinctive properties which seemed worthy of investigation for their own sake, and also for the sake of possible exploitation in genetics.Part Three, the main part of this thesis, consists of four papers in which this investigation is given - or rather is begun, for there are a good many problems left untackled.Part One consists of four papers (one written in collaboration with Dr A. Erdélyi) on some purely combinatory problems of non - associative algebra, suggested by the notations which I employed for products and powers in the genetic algebras. The combinatory per t 0.4-01.5 rt. theory is continued in theAconcluding postscipt which follows Paper X.Part Two shows how genetic algebras arise and are manipulate The multiplication table of a genetic algebra, the multiplication of hypercomplex numbers, and the above mentioned process of duplication, are simply a translation into symbols of the relevant essentials in the processes; of inheritance; and the symbolism as a whole is a convenient shorthand for reckoning with combinations and statistical distributions of genetic types, enabling one to dispense with some of the verbal arguments and the chessboard diagrams commonly used for the same purpose. In paper VI the treatment is made as general as possible with the object of showirg the relationship between different genetic algebras and something of their structure; and the concepts to be discussed in Part Three are here defined. In Paper V, which was published later but mostly written earlier than VI, the explanation is given in very much simpler mathematical language (for it was intended to be read by geneticists), and with more attention to practical applications. It can be explained very simply why multiplication in the genetic algebras is non- associative, that is to say(AB) C ≠ A (BC)This statement is interpreted:- "If the offspring of A and B mates with C, the probability distribution of genetic types in the progeny will not be the same as if A mates with the offspring of B and C."My symbolism was not essentially new: the novelty lay in is interpretationlin terms of hypercomplex numbers. In fact it could be said that genetic algebras had been used by geneticists in a primitive way for quite a long time without having been recognised. explicitly. Their explicit recognition is I believe more than a mere change of notation. Apart from greater brevity achieved in some applications, general theorems on linear algebras can be applied; transformations can be used which are quite meaningless genetically but which lead to genetically significant conclusions; and the use of an index notation and summation convention reduces the symbolism to manageable proportions when, with inheritance involving many genes, it threatens to become too heavy to handle.Biological considerations were thus the root of these researches, and I intend to return to the genetical applications later; for I believe that genetic algebras may throw light on some deeper problems of genetics. I cannot at present give solid justification for this belief in the sense of having successfully tackled problems otherwise unsolved, and I therefore wish that this thesis may not be judged as a finished achievement in biological investigation; but may be judged primarily as a contribution to algebra, suggested by biological problems, and perhaps having possibilities of application beyond the simple ones so far demonstrated

A new Tolman test of a cosmic distance duality relation at 21 cm

Under certain general conditions in an expanding universe, the luminosity distance (d_L) and angular diameter distance (d_A) are connected by the Etherington relation as d_L = d_A (1 + z)^2. The Tolman test suggests the use of objects of known surface brightness, to test this relation. In this letter, we propose the use of redshifted 21 cm signal from disk galaxies, where neutral hydrogen (HI) masses are seen to be almost linearly correlated with surface area, to conduct a new Tolman test. We construct simulated catalogs of galaxies, with the observed size-luminosity relation and realistic redshift evolution of HI mass functions, likely to be detected with the planned Square Kilometer Array (SKA). We demonstrate that these observations may soon provide the best implementation of the Tolman test to detect any violation of the Etherington relation.Comment: 4 pages, 2 figures, 1 table, v2: published versio

Cosmology With A Dark Refraction Index

We review Gordon's optical metric and the transport equations for the amplitude and polarization of a geometrical optics wave traveling in a gravity field. We apply the theory to the FLRW cosmologies by associating a refraction index with the cosmic fluid. We then derive an expression for the accumulated effect of a refraction index on the distance redshift relations and fit the Hubble curve of current supernova observations with a non-accelerating cosmological model. We also show that some observational effects caused by inhomogeneities, e.g. the Sachs-Wolfe effect, can be interpreted as being caused by an effective index of refraction, and hence this theory could extend to other speed of light communications such as gravitational radiation and neutrino fluxes.Comment: 21 pages, 3 figure

Supernova Brightening from Chameleon-Photon Mixing

Measurements of standard candles and measurements of standard rulers give an inconsistent picture of the history of the universe. This discrepancy can be explained if photon number is not conserved as computations of the luminosity distance must be modified. I show that photon number is not conserved when photons mix with chameleons in the presence of a magnetic field. The strong magnetic fields in a supernova mean that the probability of a photon converting into a chameleon in the interior of the supernova is high, this results in a large flux of chameleons at the surface of the supernova. Chameleons and photons also mix as a result of the intergalactic magnetic field. These two effects combined cause the image of the supernova to be brightened resulting in a model which fits both observations of standard candles and observations of standard rulers.Comment: 17 pages, 3 figure

Repetitive low intensity magnetic field stimulation in a neuronal cell line: a metabolomics study

Low intensity repetitive magnetic stimulation of neural tissue modulates neuronal excitability and has promising therapeutic potential in the treatment of neurological disorders. However, the underpinning cellular and biochemical mechanisms remain poorly understood. This study investigates the behavioural effects of low intensity repetitive magnetic stimulation (LI-rMS) at a cellular and biochemical level. We delivered LI-rMS (10 mT) at 1 Hz and 10 Hz to B50 rat neuroblastoma cells in vitro for 10 minutes and measured levels of selected metabolites immediately after stimulation. LI-rMS at both frequencies depleted selected tricarboxylic acid (TCA) cycle metabolites without affecting the main energy supplies. Furthermore, LI-rMS effects were frequency-specific with 1 Hz stimulation having stronger effects than 10 Hz. The observed depletion of metabolites suggested that higher spontaneous activity may have led to an increase in GABA release. Although the absence of organised neural circuits and other cellular contributors (e.g., excitatory neurons and glia) in the B50 cell line limits the degree to which our results can be extrapolated to the human brain, the changes we describe provide novel insights into how LI-rMS modulates neural tissue

Cytomegalovirus-associated pulmonary exacerbation in patients with cystic fibrosis.

CMV is an unusual cause of pulmonary exacerbation in immunocompetent individuals with CF http://ow.ly/Rdds30hlnjV

An Improved Treatment of Optics in the Lindquist-Wheeler Models

We consider the optical properties of Lindquist-Wheeler (LW) models of the Universe. These models consist of lattices constructed from regularly arranged discrete masses. They are akin to the Wigner-Seitz construction of solid state physics, and result in a dynamical description of the large-scale Universe in which the global expansion is given by a Friedmann-like equation. We show that if these models are constructed in a particular way then the redshifts of distant objects, as well as the dynamics of the global space-time, can be made to be in good agreement with the homogeneous and isotropic Friedmann-Lemaitre-Robertson-Walker (FLRW) solutions of Einstein's equations, at the level of <3% out to z~2. Angular diameter and luminosity distances, on the other hand, differ from those found in the corresponding FLRW models, while being consistent with the 'empty beam' approximation, together with the shearing effects due to the nearest masses. This can be compared with the large deviations found from the corresponding FLRW values obtained in a previous study that considered LW models constructed in a different way. We therefore advocate the improved LW models we consider here as useful constructions that appear to faithfully reproduce both the dynamical and observational properties of space-times containing discrete masses.Comment: 7 pages, 5 figure

Local and non-local measures of acceleration in cosmology

Current cosmological observations, when interpreted within the framework of a homogeneous and isotropic Friedmann-Lemaitre-Robertson-Walker (FLRW) model, strongly suggest that the Universe is entering a period of accelerating expansion. This is often taken to mean that the expansion of space itself is accelerating. In a general spacetime, however, this is not necessarily true. We attempt to clarify this point by considering a handful of local and non-local measures of acceleration in a variety of inhomogeneous cosmological models. Each of the chosen measures corresponds to a theoretical or observational procedure that has previously been used to study acceleration in cosmology, and all measures reduce to the same quantity in the limit of exact spatial homogeneity and isotropy. In statistically homogeneous and isotropic spacetimes, we find that the acceleration inferred from observations of the distance-redshift relation is closely related to the acceleration of the spatially averaged universe, but does not necessarily bear any resemblance to the average of the local acceleration of spacetime itself. For inhomogeneous spacetimes that do not display statistical homogeneity and isotropy, however, we find little correlation between acceleration inferred from observations and the acceleration of the averaged spacetime. This shows that observations made in an inhomogeneous universe can imply acceleration without the existence of dark energy.Comment: 19 pages, 10 figures. Several references added or amended, some minor clarifications made in the tex