Toward a public service management: past, present, and future directions

Purpose: In providing a fine-grained analysis of public service management, the purpose of this paper is to make an important contribution to furthering research in service management, a body of literature that has tended to regard public services as homogenous or to neglect the context altogether. Design/methodology/approach: Integrating public management and service management literatures, the past and present of public service management are discussed. Future directions for the field are outlined drawing on a service-dominant approach that has the potential to transform public services. Invited commentaries augment the review. Findings: The review presents the Public Service Network Framework to capture the public value network in its abstraction and conceptualizes how value is created in public services. The study identifies current shortcomings in the field and offers a series of directions for future research where service management theory can contribute greatly. Research limitations/implications: The review encourages service management research to examine the dynamic, diverse, and complex nature of public services and to recognize the importance of this context. The review calls for an interdisciplinary public service management community to develop, and to assist public managers in leveraging service logic. Originality/value: The review positions service research in the public sector, makes explicit the role of complex networks in value creation, argues for wider engagement with public service management, and offers future research directions to advance public service management research

Anomalous dimensions of scalar operators in QED3

The infrared dynamics of $2+1$ dimensional quantum electrodynamics (QED$_3$) with a large number $N$ of fermion flavors is governed by an interacting CFT that can be studied in the $1/N$ expansion. We use the $1/N$ expansion to calculate the scaling dimensions of all the lowest three scalar operators that transform under the $SU(N)$ flavor symmetry as a Young diagram with two columns of not necessarily equal heights and that have vanishing topological charge. In the case of $SU(N)$ singlets, we study the mixing of $(\bar \psi_i \psi^i)(\bar \psi_j \psi^j)$ and $F_{\mu\nu} F^{\mu\nu}$, which are the lowest dimension parity-even singlets. Our results suggest that these operators are irrelevant for all $N>1$.Comment: 33 pages, 13 figures, v2 minor improvements, refs adde

Hand Osteoarthritis: investigating Pain Effects of estrogen-containing therapy (HOPE-e): a protocol for a feasibility randomised placebo-controlled trial

Background Hand osteoarthritis (OA) is a common condition, causing pain, stiffness and reduced quality of life. Incidence is higher amongst women, particularly around the age of the menopause. Whilst the relationship between sex hormones and OA has been studied in vitro, in epidemiological studies and in clinical trials of hormone replacement therapy (HRT), this study is the first to investigate the effect of estrogen-containing therapy on hand pain in post-menopausal women with symptomatic hand OA in a randomised study design. Methods This is a feasibility study of a double-blinded placebo-controlled intervention with 1:1 randomisation to either a combination of conjugated estrogens 0.45 mg and bazedoxifene acetate 20 mg (Duavive) or placebo. The target population is post-menopausal women with symptomatic hand OA, aiming to recruit 60–90 study participants. The primary objective is to assess the feasibility of a future fully powered randomised controlled trial (RCT). Participants will take the study medication for 24 weeks and be followed up for 28 weeks after randomisation. The primary outcomes used to determine feasibility are eligible participant identification rates and routes; recruitment, randomisation and retention rates of eligible participants; study medication compliance; and the likelihood of unintentional unblinding. Secondary outcomes include measures of hand pain, function, appearance and menopausal symptoms. An end of study questionnaire and focus groups will help to refine the final protocol for a full study. Discussion Identifying new treatments for symptomatic hand OA is a recognised research priority. The study will help us to understand whether there are sufficient interested and eligible individuals in this target population who would consider HRT for their hand symptoms. It will provide proof-of-concept RCT data on the effects of HRT on hand pain and other clinically relevant outcomes in this population. The study will gain valuable information on the feasibility of a full RCT and how best to run this. The findings will be published in a peer-reviewed journal and presented at a relevant conference. Trial registration ISRCTN12196200 registered on 15 January 2019