The Regulatory Gift: Politics, regulation and governance

Abstract: This article introduces the ‘regulatory gift’ as a conceptual framework for understanding a particular form of government-led deregulation that is presented as central to the public interest. Contra to theories of regulatory capture, government corruption, ‘insider’ personal interest or profit-seeking theories of regulation, the regulatory gift describes reform which is overtly designed by Government to reduce or reorient regulators’ functions to the advantage of the regulated and in line with market objectives on a potentially macro (rather than industry-specific) scale. As a conceptual framework, the regulatory gift is intended to be applicable across regulated sectors of democratic states and in this article the empirical sections evidence the practice of regulatory gifting in contemporary UK politics. Specifically, this article analyses the UK Public Bodies Act (2011), affecting some 900 regulatory public bodies and its correlative legislation, the Regulator’s Code (2014), the Deregulation Act (2015) and the Enterprise Bill (2016). The article concludes that whilst the regulatory gift may, in some cases, be aligned with the public interest - delivering on cost reduction, enhancing efficiency and stimulating innovation - this will not always be the case. As the case study of the regulatory body, the UK Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority (HFEA) demonstrates, despite the explicit claims made by legislators, the regulatory gift has the potential to significantly undermine the public interest

Transcranial Direct Current Stimulation Modulates Efficiency of Reading Processes

Transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) is a neuromodulatory technique that offers promise as an investigative method for understanding complex cognitive operations such as reading. This study explores the ability of a single session of tDCS to modulate reading efficiency and phonological processing performance within a group of healthy adults. Half the group received anodal or cathodal stimulation, on two separate days, of the left temporo-parietal junction while the other half received anodal or cathodal stimulation of the right homologue area. Pre- and post-stimulation assessment of reading efficiency and phonological processing was carried out. A larger pre-post difference in reading efficiency was found for participants who received right anodal stimulation compared to participants who received left anodal stimulation. Further, there was a significant post-stimulation increase in phonological processing speed following right hemisphere anodal stimulation. Implications for models of reading and reading impairment are discussed

Health-industry linkages for local health: reframing policies for African health system strengthening

The benefits of local production of pharmaceuticals in Africa for local access to medicines and to effective treatment remain contested. There is scepticism among health systems experts internationally that production of pharmaceuticals in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) can provide competitive prices, quality and reliability of supply. Meanwhile low-income African populations continue to suffer poor access to a broad range of medicines, despite major international funding efforts. A current wave of pharmaceutical industry investment in SSA is associated with active African government promotion of pharmaceuticals as a key sector in industrialization strategies. We present evidence from interviews in 2013–15 and 2017 in East Africa that health system actors perceive these investments in local production as an opportunity to improve access to medicines and supplies. We then identify key policies that can ensure that local health systems benefit from the investments. We argue for a ‘local health’ policy perspective, framed by concepts of proximity and positionality, which works with local priorities and distinct policy time scales and identifies scope for incentive alignment to generate mutually beneficial health–industry linkages and strengthening of both sectors. We argue that this local health perspective represents a distinctive shift in policy framing: it is not necessarily in conflict with ‘global health’ frameworks but poses a challenge to some of its underlying assumptions

Capital punishment and anatomy: History and ethics of an ongoing association

Anatomical science has used the bodies of the executed for dissection over many centuries. As anatomy has developed into a vehicle of not only scientific but also moral and ethical education, it is important to consider the source of human bodies for dissection and the manner of their acquisition. From the thirteenth to the early seventeenth century, the bodies of the executed were the only legal source of bodies for dissection. Starting in the late seventeenth century, the bodies of unclaimed persons were also made legally available. With the developing movement to abolish the death penalty in many countries around the world and with the renunciation of the use of the bodies of the executed by the British legal system in the nineteenth century, two different practices have developed in that there are Anatomy Departments who use the bodies of the executed for dissection or research and those who do not. The history of the use of bodies of the executed in German Anatomy Departments during the National Socialist regime is an example for the insidious slide from an ethical use of human bodies in dissection to an unethical one. There are cases of contemporary use of unclaimed or donated bodies of the executed, but they are rarely well documented. The intention of this review is to initiate an ethical discourse about the use of the bodies of the executed in contemporary anatomy. Clin. Anat. 21:5–14, 2008. © 2007 Wiley-Liss, Inc.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/57528/1/20571_ftp.pd

Cyber threat intelligence sharing: Survey and research directions

Cyber Threat Intelligence (CTI) sharing has become a novel weapon in the arsenal of cyber defenders to proactively mitigate increasing cyber attacks. Automating the process of CTI sharing, and even the basic consumption, has raised new challenges for researchers and practitioners. This extensive literature survey explores the current state-of-the-art and approaches different problem areas of interest pertaining to the larger field of sharing cyber threat intelligence. The motivation for this research stems from the recent emergence of sharing cyber threat intelligence and the involved challenges of automating its processes. This work comprises a considerable amount of articles from academic and gray literature, and focuses on technical and non-technical challenges. Moreover, the findings reveal which topics were widely discussed, and hence considered relevant by the authors and cyber threat intelligence sharing communities

Crisis resolution teams for people experiencing mental health crises: the CORE mixed-methods research programme including two RCTs

Background Crisis resolution teams (CRTs) seek to avert hospital admissions by providing intensive home treatment for people experiencing a mental health crisis. The CRT model has not been highly specified. CRT care is often experienced as ending abruptly and relapse rates following CRT discharge are high. Aims The aims of CORE (Crisis resolution team Optimisation and RElapse prevention) workstream 1 were to specify a model of best practice for CRTs, develop a measure to assess adherence to this model and evaluate service improvement resources to help CRTs implement the model with high fidelity. The aim of CORE workstream 2 was to evaluate a peer-provided self-management programme aimed at reducing relapse following CRT support. Methods Workstream 1 was based on a systematic review, national CRT manager survey and stakeholder qualitative interviews to develop a CRT fidelity scale through a concept mapping process with stakeholders (n = 68). This was piloted in CRTs nationwide (n = 75). A CRT service improvement programme (SIP) was then developed and evaluated in a cluster randomised trial: 15 CRTs received the SIP over 1 year; 10 teams acted as controls. The primary outcome was service user satisfaction. Secondary outcomes included CRT model fidelity, catchment area inpatient admission rates and staff well-being. Workstream 2 was a peer-provided self-management programme that was developed through an iterative process of systematic literature reviewing, stakeholder consultation and preliminary testing. This intervention was evaluated in a randomised controlled trial: 221 participants recruited from CRTs received the intervention and 220 did not. The primary outcome was re-admission to acute care at 1 year of follow-up. Secondary outcomes included time to re-admission and number of days in acute care over 1 year of follow-up and symptoms and personal recovery measured at 4 and 18 months’ follow-up. Results Workstream 1 – a 39-item CRT fidelity scale demonstrated acceptability, face validity and promising inter-rater reliability. CRT implementation in England was highly variable. The SIP trial did not produce a positive result for patient satisfaction [median Client Satisfaction Questionnaire score of 28 in both groups at follow-up; coefficient 0.97, 95% confidence interval (CI) –1.02 to 2.97]. The programme achieved modest increases in model fidelity. Intervention teams achieved lower inpatient admission rates and less inpatient bed use. Qualitative evaluation suggested that the programme was generally well received. Workstream 2 – the trial yielded a statistically significant result for the primary outcome, in which rates of re-admission to acute care over 1 year of follow-up were lower in the intervention group than in the control group (odds ratio 0.66, 95% CI 0.43 to 0.99; p = 0.044). Time to re-admission was lower and satisfaction with care was greater in the intervention group at 4 months’ follow-up. There were no other significant differences between groups in the secondary outcomes. Limitations Limitations in workstream 1 included uncertainty regarding the representativeness of the sample for the primary outcome and lack of blinding for assessment. In workstream 2, the limitations included the complexity of the intervention, preventing clarity about which were effective elements. Conclusions The CRT SIP did not achieve all its aims but showed potential promise as a means to increase CRT model fidelity and reduce inpatient service use. The peer-provided self-management intervention is an effective means to reduce relapse rates for people leaving CRT care. Study registration The randomised controlled trials were registered as Current Controlled Trials ISRCTN47185233 and ISRCTN01027104. The systematic reviews were registered as PROSPERO CRD42013006415 and CRD42017043048. Funding The National Institute for Health Research Programme Grants for Applied Research programme

Robust image analysis with sparse representation on quantized visual features

10.1109/TIP.2012.2219543IEEE Transactions on Image Processing223860-871IIPR