Supply chain relationships in local government in the United Kingdom: An exploratory study

Local government in the United Kingdom is undergoing a period of transformational change. The Modernising Local Government white paper “In Touch with the People” (DETR 1998) has instructed local councils to obtain best value in the delivery of local services and this includes re-examining and challenging the use of in-house support services. This paper reports on an exploratory study examining the concept of relationship marketing focusing on the relationship that exists between Middlesborough Council’s laboratory service and its customers and to what extent government regulations have affected and changed attitudes and behaviours towards each other One of the key aims of the research is to challenge the linear nature of the way in which the stages of a relationship are considered in favour of a circular model of the development of relationships. This examination is set in the context of the “enforced” nature of local authority relationships. Research findings indicate that the nature of the relationship can been seen as cyclical rather than linear and the nature of the relationship in terms of social distance needs to be reevaluated in a context where social distance itself remains a significant factor for local government employees as a mean of avoiding the scrutiny of inter-personal relationships.Relationship Marketing, United Kingdom, Local Government, Stages in the Relationship

Terry E. Jackson in a Junior Organ Recital

This is the program of the junior organ recital of Terry E. Jackson. This recital took place on April 13, 1986, at the First Presbyterian Church Arkadelphia

Terry E. Jackson in a Sophomore Organ Recital

This is the program for the sophomore organ recital of Terry E. Jackson. The recital took place on October 27, 1985, at the First Presbyterian Church Arkadelphia

Astrometric Telescope Facility isolation and pointing study

The Astrometric Telescope Facility (ATF), an optical telescope designed to detect extrasolar planetary systems, is scheduled to be a major user of the Space Station's Payload Pointing System (PPS). However, because the ATF has such a stringent pointing stability specification and requires + or - 180 deg roll about its line of sight, mechanisms to enhance the basic PPS capability are required. The ATF pointing performance achievable by the addition of a magnetic isolation and pointing system (MIPS) between the PPS upper gimbal and the ATF, and separately, by the addition of a passive isolation system between the Space Station and the PPS base was investigated. The candidate MIPS can meet the ATF requirements in the presence of a 0.01 g disturbance. It fits within the available annular region between the PPS and the ATF while meeting power and weight limitations and providing the required roll motion, payload data and power services. By contrast, the passive base isolator system must have an unrealistically low isolation bandwidth on all axes to meet ATF pointing requirements and does not provide roll about the line of sight

Assessing the Needs of Sage-Grouse Local Working Groups Final Technical Report

Over the last several decades, biologists have grown increasingly concerned about declines in populations of two species of sage-grouse (Centrocercus spp.), a bird whose range covers a vast portion of eleven western U.S. states and two Canadian provinces (Stiver et al. 2006). This chicken-sized bird inhabits sagebrush (Artemisia spp.) habitats on public and private land across its range. Recent declines in population numbers of this bird across its range have generated concern among landowners and state wildlife officials that the bird may be listed under the Endangered Species Act (ESA). Sage-grouse local working groups (LWGs) have emerged as a centerpiece of a voluntary effort to address declines in sage-grouse populations in the Intermountain West. As of 2008, over 60 LWGs had been established across the western United States. The majority of these groups have written local sage-grouse management plans and many have begun to implement these plans by seeking funding, coordinating management actions, and designing research to address knowledge gaps

Capsid coding sequences of foot-and-mouth disease viruses are determinants of pathogenicity in pigs

The surface exposed capsid proteins, VP1, VP2 and VP3, of foot-and-mouth disease virus (FMDV) determine its antigenicity and the ability of the virus to interact with host-cell receptors. Hence, modification of these structural proteins may alter the properties of the virus. In the present study we compared the pathogenicity of different FMDVs in young pigs. In total 32 pigs, 7-weeks-old, were exposed to virus, either by direct inoculation or through contact with inoculated pigs, using cell culture adapted (O1K B64), chimeric (O1K/A-TUR and O1K/O-UKG) or field strain (O-UKG/34/2001) viruses. The O1K B64 virus and the two chimeric viruses are identical to each other except for the capsid coding region. Animals exposed to O1K B64 did not exhibit signs of disease, while pigs exposed to each of the other viruses showed typical clinical signs of foot-and-mouth disease (FMD). All pigs infected with the O1K/O-UKG chimera or the field strain (O-UKG/34/2001) developed fulminant disease. Furthermore, 3 of 4 in-contact pigs exposed to the O1K/O-UKG virus died in the acute phase of infection, likely from myocardial infection. However, in the group exposed to the O1K/A-TUR chimeric virus, only 1 pig showed symptoms of disease within the time frame of the experiment (10 days). All pigs that developed clinical disease showed a high level of viral RNA in serum and infected pigs that survived the acute phase of infection developed a serotype specific antibody response. It is concluded that the capsid coding sequences are determinants of FMDV pathogenicity in pigs

Working with Sage-Grouse Local Working Groups. A Practical Guide for NRCS Staff.

This publication serves as a guide for NRCS staff for working with local sage-grouse working groups

A Clathrin Independent Macropinocytosis-Like Entry Mechanism Used by Bluetongue Virus-1 during Infection of BHK Cells

Acid dependent infection of Hela and Vero cells by BTV-10 occurs from within early-endosomes following virus uptake by clathrin-mediated endocytosis (Forzan et al., 2007: J Virol 81: 4819–4827). Here we report that BTV-1 infection of BHK cells is also dependent on a low endosomal pH; however, virus entry and infection were not inhibited by dominant-negative mutants of Eps15, AP180 or the ‘aa’ splice variant of dynamin-2, which were shown to inhibit clathrin-mediated endocytosis. In addition, infection was not inhibited by depletion of cellular cholesterol, which suggests that virus entry is not mediated by a lipid-raft dependent process such as caveolae-mediated endocytosis. Although virus entry and infection were not inhibited by the dominant-negative dynamin-2 mutant, entry was inhibited by the general dynamin inhibitor, dynasore, indicating that virus entry is dynamin dependent. During entry, BTV-1 co-localised with LAMP-1 but not with transferrin, suggesting that virus is delivered to late-endosomal compartments without first passing through early-endosomes. BTV-1 entry and infection were inhibited by EIPA and cytochalasin-D, known macropinocytosis inhibitors, and during entry virus co-localised with dextran, a known marker for macropinocytosis/fluid-phase uptake. Our results extend earlier observations with BTV-10, and show that BTV-1 can infect BHK cells via an entry mechanism that is clathrin and cholesterol-independent, but requires dynamin, and shares certain characteristics in common with macropinocytosis