The potential of trading activity income to fund third sector organisations operating in deprived areas

In the United Kingdom, as in other countries, Third Sector Organisations (TSOs) have been drawn towards income sources associated with trading activities (Teasdale, 2010), but many remain reliant on grant funding to support such activities (Chell, 2007). Using a multivariate analysis approach and data from the National Survey of Charities and Social Enterprises (NSCSE), it is found that trading activities are used relatively commonly in deprived areas. These organisations are also more likely to attempt to access public sector funds. This suggests policy-makers need to consider the impact of funding cuts on TSOs in the most deprived areas as TSOs are unlikely achieve their objectives without continuing support

Insights into the regulation of DMSP synthesis in the diatom Thalassiosira pseudonana through APR activity, proteomics and gene expression analyses on cells acclimating to changes in salinity, light and nitrogen

Despite the importance of dimethylsulphoniopropionate (DMSP) in the global sulphur cycle and climate regulation, the biological pathways underpinning its synthesis in marine phytoplankton remain poorly understood. The intracellular concentration of DMSP increases with increased salinity, increased light intensity and nitrogen starvation in the diatom Thalassiosira pseudonana. We used these conditions to investigate DMSP synthesis at the cellular level via analysis of enzyme activity, gene expression and proteome comparison. The activity of the key sulphur assimilatory enzyme, adenosine 5′- phosphosulphate reductase was not coordinated with increasing intracellular DMSP concentration. Under all three treatments coordination in the expression of sulphur assimilation genes was limited to increases in sulphite reductase transcripts. Similarly, proteomic 2D gel analysis only revealed an increase in phosphoenolpyruvate carboxylase following increases in DMSP concentration. Our findings suggest that increased sulphur assimilation might not be required for increased DMSP synthesis, instead the availability of carbon and nitrogen substrates may be important in the regulation of this pathway. This contrasts with the regulation of sulphur metabolism in higher plants, which generally involves upregulation of several sulphur assimilatory enzymes. In T. pseudonana changes relating to sulphur metabolism were specific to the individual treatments and, given that little coordination was seen in transcript and protein responses across the three growth conditions, different patterns of regulation might be responsible for the increase in DMSP concentration seen under each treatment

Braving difficult choices alone: children's and adolescents' medical decision making.

OBJECTIVE: What role should minors play in making medical decisions? The authors examined children's and adolescents' desire to be involved in serious medical decisions and the emotional consequences associated with them. METHODS: Sixty-three children and 76 adolescents were presented with a cover story about a difficult medical choice. Participants were tested in one of four conditions: (1) own informed choice; (2) informed parents' choice to amputate; (3) informed parents' choice to continue a treatment; and (4) uninformed parents' choice to amputate. In a questionnaire, participants were asked about their choices, preference for autonomy, confidence, and emotional reactions when faced with a difficult hypothetical medical choice. RESULTS: Children and adolescents made different choices and participants, especially adolescents, preferred to make the difficult choice themselves, rather than having a parent make it. Children expressed fewer negative emotions than adolescents. Providing information about the alternatives did not affect participants' responses. CONCLUSIONS: Minors, especially adolescents, want to be responsible for their own medical decisions, even when the choice is a difficult one. For the adolescents, results suggest that the decision to be made, instead of the agent making the decision, is the main element influencing their emotional responses and decision confidence. For children, results suggest that they might be less able than adolescents to project how they would feel. The results, overall, draw attention to the need to further investigate how we can better involve minors in the medical decision-making process

Going it alone won’t work! The relational imperative for social innovation in social enterprises

Shifts in the philosophy of the “state” and a growing emphasis on the “Big Society” have placed an increasing onus on a newly emerging organizational form, social enterprises, to deliver innovative solutions to ease societal issues. However, the question of how social enterprises manage the process of social innovation remains largely unexplored. Based on insights from both in-depth interviews and a quantitative empirical study of social enterprises, this research examines the role of stakeholder relationships in supporting the process of social innovation within social enterprises. We find that social enterprises are adept at working with their stakeholders in the ideation stage of social innovation. In contrast, they often fail to harness knowledge and expertise from their partners during the social innovation implementation phase. Consequently, we propose a social innovation–stakeholder relationship matrix that provides social enterprises in particular with insight for developing stakeholder relationships to achieve their social innovation missions

Measurement of the Relative Branching Fraction of Υ(4S)\Upsilon(4S) to Charged and Neutral B-Meson Pairs

We analyze 9.7 x 10^6 B\bar{B}$ pairs recorded with the CLEO detector to determine the production ratio of charged to neutral B-meson pairs produced at the Y(4S) resonance. We measure the rates for B^0 -> J/psi K^{(*)0} and B^+ -> J/psi K^{(*)+} decays and use the world-average B-meson lifetime ratio to extract the relative widths f+-/f00 = Gamma(Y(4S) -> B+B-)/Gamma(Y(4S) -> B0\bar{B0}) = = 1.04 +/- 0.07(stat) +/- 0.04(syst). With the assumption that f+- + f00 = 1, we obtain f00 = 0.49 +/- 0.02(stat) +/- 0.01(syst) and f+- = 0.51 +/- 0.02(stat) +/- 0.01(syst). This production ratio and its uncertainty apply to all exclusive B-meson branching fractions measured at the Y(4S) resonance.Comment: 11 pages postscript, also available through http://w4.lns.cornell.edu/public/CLN

First Observation of the Decays B0→D∗−ppˉπ+B^{0}\to D^{*-}p\bar{p}\pi^{+} and B^{0}\to D^{*-}p\bar{n}$

We report the first observation of exclusive decays of the type B to D^* N anti-N X, where N is a nucleon. Using a sample of 9.7 times 10^{6} B-Bbar pairs collected with the CLEO detector operating at the Cornell Electron Storage Ring, we measure the branching fractions B(B^0 \to D^{*-} proton antiproton \pi^+) = ({6.5}^{+1.3}_{-1.2} +- 1.0) \times 10^{-4} and B(B^0 \to D^{*-} proton antineutron) = ({14.5}^{+3.4}_{-3.0} +- 2.7) times 10^{-4}. Antineutrons are identified by their annihilation in the CsI electromagnetic calorimeter.Comment: 9 pages postscript, also available through http://w4.lns.cornell.edu/public/CLN

Study of the Decays B0 --> D(*)+D(*)-

The decays B0 --> D*+D*-, B0 --> D*+D- and B0 --> D+D- are studied in 9.7 million Y(4S) --> BBbar decays accumulated with the CLEO detector. We determine Br(B0 --> D*+D*-) = (9.9+4.2-3.3+-1.2)e-4 and limit Br(B0 --> D*+D-) < 6.3e-4 and Br(B0 --> D+D-) < 9.4e-4 at 90% confidence level (CL). We also perform the first angular analysis of the B0 --> D*+D*- decay and determine that the CP-even fraction of the final state is greater than 0.11 at 90% CL. Future measurements of the time dependence of these decays may be useful for the investigation of CP violation in neutral B meson decays.Comment: 21 pages, 5 figures, submitted to Phys. Rev.

A Search for B→τνB\to \tau\nu

We report results of a search for $B\to\tau\nu$ in a sample of 9.7 million charged $B$ meson decays. The search uses both $\pi\nu$ and $\ell\nu\bar\nu$ decay modes of the $\tau$, and demands exclusive reconstruction of the companion $\bar B$ decay to suppress background. We set an upper limit on the branching fraction ${\cal B}(B\to \tau\nu) < 8.4\times 10^{-4}$ at 90% confidence level. With slight modification to the analysis we also establish ${\cal B}(B^\pm\to K^\pm\nu\bar\nu) < 2.4\times 10^{-4}$ at 90% confidence level.Comment: 10 ages postscript, also available through http://w4.lns.cornell.edu/public/CLN

Measurements of B --> D_s^{(*)+} D^{*(*)} Branching Fractions

This article describes improved measurements by CLEO of the $B^0 \to D_s^+ D^{*-}$ and $B^0 \to D_s^{*+} D^{*-}$ branching fractions, and first evidence for the decay $B^+ \to D_s^{(*)+} \bar{D}^{**0}$, where $\bar{D}^{**0}$ represents the sum of the $\bar{D}_1(2420)^0$, $\bar{D}_2^*(2460)^0$, and $\bar{D}_1(j=1/2)^0$ L=1 charm meson states. Also reported is the first measurement of the $D_s^{*+}$ polarization in the decay $B^0 \to D_s^{*+} D^{*-}$. A partial reconstruction technique, employing only the fully reconstructed $D_s^+$ and slow pion $\pi_s^-$ from the $D^{*-} \to \bar{D}^0 \pi^-_s$ decay, enhances sensitivity. The observed branching fractions are ${\mathcal B} (B^0 \to D_s^+ D^{*-}) = (1.10 \pm 0.18 \pm 0.10 \pm 0.28)$, ${\mathcal B} (B^0 \to D_s^{*+} D^{*-}) = (1.82 \pm 0.37 \pm 0.24 \pm 0.46)$, and ${\mathcal B} (B^+ \to D_s^{(*)+} \bar{D}^{**0}) = (2.73 \pm 0.78 \pm 0.48 \pm 0.68)$, where the first error is statistical, the second systematic, and the third is due to the uncertainty in the $D_s^+ \to \phi \pi^+$ branching fraction. The measured $D_s^{*+}$ longitudinal polarization, $\Gamma_L/\Gamma = (50.6 \pm 13.9 \pm 3.6)$, is consistent with the factorization prediction of 54%.Comment: 26 pages (LaTeX), 15 figures. To be submitted to PR

Competition and quality indicators in the health care sector: empirical evidence from the Dutch hospital sector

textabstractThere is much debate about the effect of competition in healthcare and especially the effect of competition on the quality of healthcare, although empirical evidence on this subject is mixed. The Netherlands provides an interesting case in this debate. The Dutch system could be characterized as a system involving managed competition and mandatory healthcare insurance. Information about the quality of care provided by hospitals has been publicly available since 2008. In this paper, we evaluate the relationship between quality scores for three diagnosis groups and the market power indicators of hospitals. We estimate the impact of competition on quality in an environment of liberalized pricing. For this research, we used unique price and production data relating to three diagnosis groups (cataract, adenoid and tonsils, bladder tumor) produced by Dutch hospitals in the period 2008–2011. We also used the quality indicators relating to these diagnosis groups. We reveal a negative relationship between market share and quality score for two of the three diagnosis groups studied, meaning that hospitals in competitive markets have better quality scores than those in concentrated markets. We therefore conclude that more competition is associated with higher quality scores