Determinants affecting privatisation of local government services in Britain

The aim of this paper is to analyse the determinants of CCC (Compulsory Competitive Tendering) policy outputs at the local government level in Britain and to examine how the outputs have been made, relating the CCT implementation process to the main factors affecting its outputs. Specifically, this study is based on the assumption that policy output as a general phenomenon can not be seperated from the process of formulating and implementing the policy. I shall argue that many of the major determinants underlying the CCT process remain unexplored and must be examined in order for us to understand more fully CCT policy as a service provision policy in local government. It is hoped that, in view of the characteristics and implications of the process of privatisation,this research will prove timely. Although the phenomenon of privatisation has spawned a huge literature in 1980s and 1990s, much of it has been guided by public choice theory, which argues the superior cost-efficiency of private over public service delivery. Although policy output studies have not been entirely neglected in these studies, they have generally been a secondary consideration to economic analysis. An examination of CCT policy output which associates the output with the dynamics of the policy implementation process is particularly important. It is no my intention to analyse whether CCT is a desirable policy or not. Rather, my more limited purpose is to identify the main factors which explain local variation in the output of CCT process, and to explain the way in which the contested privatisation process is related to the its output.

Determinants affecting privatisation of local government services in Britain

The aim of this paper is to analyse the determinants of CCC (Compulsory Competitive Tendering) policy outputs at the local government level in Britain and to examine how the outputs have been made, relating the CCT implementation process to the main factors affecting its outputs. Specifically, this study is based on the assumption that policy output as a general phenomenon can not be seperated from the process of formulating and implementing the policy. I shall argue that many of the major determinants underlying the CCT process remain unexplored and must be examined in order for us to understand more fully CCT policy as a service provision policy in local government. It is hoped that, in view of the characteristics and implications of the process of privatisation,this research will prove timely. Although the phenomenon of privatisation has spawned a huge literature in 1980s and 1990s, much of it has been guided by public choice theory, which argues the superior cost-efficiency of private over public service delivery. Although policy output studies have not been entirely neglected in these studies, they have generally been a secondary consideration to economic analysis. An examination of CCT policy output which associates the output with the dynamics of the policy implementation process is particularly important. It is no my intention to analyse whether CCT is a desirable policy or not. Rather, my more limited purpose is to identify the main factors which explain local variation in the output of CCT process, and to explain the way in which the contested privatisation process is related to the its output

Mind the Costs: Rescaling and Multi-Level Environmental Governance in Venice Lagoon

Competences over environmental matters are distributed across agencies at different scales on a national-to-local continuum. This article adopts a transaction costs economics perspective in order to explore the question whether, in the light of a particular problem, the scale at which a certain competence is attributed can be reconsidered. Specifically, it tests whether a presumption of least-cost operation concerning an agency at a given scale can hold. By doing so, it investigates whether the rescaling of certain tasks, aiming at solving a scale-related problem, is likely to produce an increase in costs for day-to-day agency operations as compared to the status quo. The article explores such a perspective for the case of Venice Lagoon. The negative aspects of the present arrangement concerning fishery management and morphological remediation are directly linked to the scale of the agencies involved. The analysis suggests that scales have been chosen correctly, at least from the point of view of the costs incurred to the agencies involved. Consequently, a rescaling of those agencies does not represent a viable option

Creutzfeldt-Jacob Disease: a case report

This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Licens

Antimicrobial Nodule-Specific Cysteine-Rich Peptides Induce Membrane Depolarization-Associated Changes in the Transcriptome of Sinorhizobium meliloti.

Leguminous plants establish symbiosis with nitrogen-fixing alpha- and betaproteobacteria, collectively called rhizobia, which provide combined nitrogen to support plant growth. Members of the inverted repeat-lacking clade of legumes impose terminal differentiation on their endosymbiotic bacterium partners with the help of the nodule-specific cysteine-rich (NCR) peptide family composed of close to 600 members. Among the few tested NCR peptides, cationic ones had antirhizobial activity measured by reduction or elimination of the CFU and uptake of the membrane-impermeable dye propidium iodide. Here, the antimicrobial spectrum of two of these peptides, NCR247 and NCR335, was investigated, and their effect on the transcriptome of the natural target Sinorhizobium meliloti was characterized. Both peptides were able to kill quickly a wide range of Gram-negative and Gram-positive bacteria; however, their spectra were only partially overlapping, and differences were found also in their efficacy on given strains, indicating that the actions of NCR247 and NCR335 might be similar though not identical. Treatment of S. meliloti cultures with either peptide resulted in a quick downregulation of genes involved in basic cellular functions, such as transcription-translation and energy production, as well as upregulation of genes involved in stress and oxidative stress responses and membrane transport. Similar changes provoked mainly in Gram-positive bacteria by antimicrobial agents were coupled with the destruction of membrane potential, indicating that it might also be a common step in the bactericidal actions of NCR247 and NCR335

Design of price incentives for adjunct policy goals in formula funding for hospitals and health services

Background. Hospital policy involves multiple objectives: efficiency of service delivery, pursuit of high quality care, promoting access. Funding policy based on hospital casemix has traditionally been considered to be only about promoting efficiency. Discussion. Formula-based funding policy can be (and has been) used to pursue a range of policy objectives, not only efficiency. These are termed 'adjunct' goals. Strategies to incorporate adjunct goals into funding design must, implicitly or explicitly, address key decision choices outlined in this paper. Summary. Policy must be clear and explicit about the behaviour to be rewarded; incentives must be designed so that all facilities with an opportunity to improve have an opportunity to benefit; the reward structure is stable and meaningful; and the funder monitors performance and gaming

Defining the expression hierarchy of latent T-cell epitopes in Epstein-Barr virus infection with TCR-like antibodies

Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) is a gamma herpesvirus that causes a life-long latent infection in human hosts. The latent gene products LMP1, LMP2A and EBNA1 are expressed by EBV-associated tumors and peptide epitopes derived from these can be targeted by CD8 Cytotoxic T-Lymphocyte (CTL) lines. Whilst CTL-based methodologies can be utilized to infer the presence of specific latent epitopes, they do not allow a direct visualization or quantitation of these epitopes. Here, we describe the characterization of three TCR-like monoclonal antibodies (mAbs) targeting the latent epitopes LMP1[subscript 125–133], LMP2A[subscript 426–434] or EBNA1[subscript 562–570] in association with HLA-A0201. These are employed to map the expression hierarchy of endogenously generated EBV epitopes. The dominance of EBNA1[subscript 562–570] in association with HLA-A0201 was consistently observed in cell lines and EBV-associated tumor biopsies. These data highlight the discordance between MHC-epitope density and frequencies of associated CTL with implications for cell-based immunotherapies and/or vaccines for EBV-associated disease

A Novel Role for IκBζ in the Regulation of IFNγ Production

IκBζ is a novel member of the IκB family of NFκB regulators, which modulates NFκB activity in the nucleus, rather than controlling its nuclear translocation. IκBζ is specifically induced by IL-1β and several TLR ligands and positively regulates NFκB-mediated transcription of genes such as IL-6 and NGAL as an NFκB binding co-factor. We recently reported that the IL-1 family cytokines, IL-1β and IL-18, strongly synergize with TNFα for IFNγ production in KG-1 cells, whereas the same cytokines alone have minimal effects on IFNγ production. Given the striking similarities between the IL-1R and IL-18R signaling pathways we hypothesized that a common signaling event or gene product downstream of these receptors is responsible for the observed synergy. We investigated IκBζ protein expression in KG-1 cells upon stimulation with IL-1β, IL-18 and TNFα. Our results demonstrated that IL-18, as well as IL-1β, induced moderate IκBζ expression in KG-1 cells. However, TNFα synergized with IL-1β and IL-18, whereas by itself it had a minimal effect on IκBζ expression. NFκB inhibition resulted in decreased IL-1β/IL-18/TNFα-stimulated IFNγ release. Moreover, silencing of IκBζ expression led to a specific decrease in IFNγ production. Overall, our data suggests that IκBζ positively regulates NFκB-mediated IFNγ production in KG-1 cells

Conspiracy theory as spatial practice: the case of the Sivas arson attack, Turkey

This article discusses the relationship between conspiratorial thinking and physical space by focusing on the ways conspiracy theories regarding political violence shape and are shaped by the environments in which it is commemorated. Conspiratorial thinking features space as a significant element, but is taken to do so mainly figuratively. In blaming external powers and foreign actors for social ills, conspiracy theorists employ the spatial metaphor of inside versus outside. In perceiving discourses of transparency as the concealment rather than revelation of mechanisms of governance, conspiracy theorists engage the trope of a façade separating the space of power’s formulations from that of its operations. Studying the case of an arson attack dating from 1990s Turkey and its recent commemorations, this article argues that space mediates conspiracy theory not just figuratively but also physically and as such serves to catalyze two of its deadliest characteristics: anonymity and non-linear causality. Attending to this mediation requires a shift of focus from what conspiracy theory is to what it does as a spatial practice

Observation of associated near-side and away-side long-range correlations in √sNN=5.02 TeV proton-lead collisions with the ATLAS detector

Two-particle correlations in relative azimuthal angle (Δϕ) and pseudorapidity (Δη) are measured in √sNN=5.02  TeV p+Pb collisions using the ATLAS detector at the LHC. The measurements are performed using approximately 1  μb-1 of data as a function of transverse momentum (pT) and the transverse energy (ΣETPb) summed over 3.1<η<4.9 in the direction of the Pb beam. The correlation function, constructed from charged particles, exhibits a long-range (2<|Δη|<5) “near-side” (Δϕ∼0) correlation that grows rapidly with increasing ΣETPb. A long-range “away-side” (Δϕ∼π) correlation, obtained by subtracting the expected contributions from recoiling dijets and other sources estimated using events with small ΣETPb, is found to match the near-side correlation in magnitude, shape (in Δη and Δϕ) and ΣETPb dependence. The resultant Δϕ correlation is approximately symmetric about π/2, and is consistent with a dominant cos⁡2Δϕ modulation for all ΣETPb ranges and particle pT