Competition, quality and contract compliance: evidence from compulsory competitive tendering in local government in Great Britain, 1987-2000

The introduction of competition has frequently been found to cause costs to fall. There has, however, been a question as to whether this was partly achieved at the cost of quality. Auction theory predicts prices would fall more the greater the competition to provide the service. There has been some debate about whether the smaller budgets would make contract compliance more difficult. Evidence is found in support of this hypothesis. We also find some evidence that the better recorded performance of the in-house direct service organisations (DSOs) during this period was due to the information advantage they had from being incumbents

Stem cell factor (SCF) and c-kit in the ovine fetal testis in normal and nutrition perturbed pregnancies

Stem cell factor (SCF) and c-kit in the ovine fetal testis in normal and nutrition perturbed pregnancie

Einstein energy associated with the Friedmann -Robertson -Walker metric

Following Einstein's definition of Lagrangian density and gravitational field energy density (Einstein, A., Ann. Phys. Lpz., 49, 806 (1916); Einstein, A., Phys. Z., 19, 115 (1918); Pauli, W., {\it Theory of Relativity}, B.I. Publications, Mumbai, 1963, Trans. by G. Field), Tolman derived a general formula for the total matter plus gravitational field energy ($P_0$) of an arbitrary system (Tolman, R.C., Phys. Rev., 35(8), 875 (1930); Tolman, R.C., {\it Relativity, Thermodynamics & Cosmology}, Clarendon Press, Oxford, 1962)); Xulu, S.S., arXiv:hep-th/0308070 (2003)). For a static isolated system, in quasi-Cartesian coordinates, this formula leads to the well known result $P_0 = \int \sqrt{-g} (T_0^0 - T_1^1 -T_2^2 -T_3^3) ~d^3 x$, where $g$ is the determinant of the metric tensor and $T^a_b$ is the energy momentum tensor of the {\em matter}. Though in the literature, this is known as "Tolman Mass", it must be realized that this is essentially "Einstein Mass" because the underlying pseudo-tensor here is due to Einstein. In fact, Landau -Lifshitz obtained the same expression for the "inertial mass" of a static isolated system without using any pseudo-tensor at all and which points to physical significance and correctness of Einstein Mass (Landau, L.D., and Lifshitz, E.M., {\it The Classical Theory of Fields}, Pergamon Press, Oxford, 2th ed., 1962)! For the first time we apply this general formula to find an expression for $P_0$ for the Friedmann- Robertson -Walker (FRW) metric by using the same quasi-Cartesian basis. As we analyze this new result, physically, a spatially flat model having no cosmological constant is suggested. Eventually, it is seen that conservation of $P_0$ is honoured only in the a static limit.Comment: By mistake a marginally different earlier version was loaded, now the journal version is uploade

Virus diseases of vegetable crops in southern Bulgaria

Virus diseases of vegetable crops (mainly tomato, cucumber, pepper and phaseolus bean) were surveyed in 1999 in south-eastern Bulgaria. The most widespread viruses were Tomato mosaic virus (ToMV), Cucumber mosaic virus (CMV) and Pepper mild mottle virus 1.2 (PMMV 1.2) for pepper; ToMV, CMV and Tomato spotted wilt virus for tomato; CMV for cucumber; Bean common mosaic virus (BCMV) for bean. Using differential cultivars as well as ELISA and PCR, the viruses were classified into pathotypes, strains and subgroups. The CMV isolates were of subgroup I, Iγ and II. The BCMV isolates were identified as temperature-dependent necrotic strains. Bean common mosaic necrosis virus was found in only two samples. PMMV 1.2 was detected in pepper. Clover yellow vein virus in bean and Cucumber leaf spot virus in cucumber are here reported for the first time in Bulgaria. A cucumovirus, different from CMV, was detected in bean. Two unidentified viruses (one with capillovirus-like particles from pepper, and one with 30 nm spherical particles from cucumber) are currently under investigation

RAD6-Mediated Transcription-Coupled H2B Ubiquitylation Directly Stimulates H3K4 Methylation in Human Cells

H2B ubiquitylation has been implicated in active transcription but is not well understood in mammalian cells. Beyond earlier identification of hBRE1 as the E3 ligase for H2B ubiquitylation in human cells, we now show (1) that hRAD6 serves as the cognate E2-conjugating enzyme; (2) that hRAD6, through direct interaction with hPAF-bound hBRE1, is recruited to transcribed genes and ubiquitylates chromatinized H2B at lysine 120; (3) that hPAF-mediated transcription is required for efficient H2B ubiquitylation as a result of hPAF-dependent recruitment of hBRE1-hRAD6 to the Pol II transcription machinery; (4) that H2B ubiquitylation per se does not affect the level of hPAF-, SII-, and p300-dependent transcription and likely functions downstream; and (5) that H2B ubiquitylation directly stimulates hSET1-dependent H3K4 di- and trimethylation. These studies establish the natural H2B ubiquitylation factors in human cells and also detail the mechanistic basis for H2B ubiquitylation and function during transcription

Dairy foods, calcium, and risk of breast cancer overall and for subtypes defined by estrogen receptor status: a pooled analysis of 21 cohort studies

Background: Epidemiologic studies examining the relations between dairy product and calcium intakes and breast cancer have been inconclusive, especially for tumor subtypes. Objective: To evaluate the associations between intakes of specific dairy products and calcium and risk of breast cancer overall and for subtypes defined by estrogen receptor (ER) status. Method: We pooled the individual-level data of over 1 million women who were followed for a maximum of 8-20 years across studies. Associations were evaluated for dairy product and calcium intakes and risk of incident invasive breast cancer overall (n = 37,861 cases) and by subtypes defined by ER status. Study-specific multivariable hazard ratios (HRs) were estimated and then combined using random-effects models. Results: Overall, no clear association was observed between the consumption of specific dairy foods, dietary (from foods only) calcium, and total (from foods and supplements) calcium, and risk of overall breast cancer. Although each dairy product showed a null or very weak inverse association with risk of overall breast cancer (P, test for trend >0.05 for all), differences by ER status were suggested for yogurt and cottage/ricotta cheese with associations observed for ER-negative tumors only (pooled HR = 0.90, 95% CI: 0.83, 0.98 comparing >= 60 g/d with = 25 g/d with Conclusion: Our study shows that adult dairy or calcium consumption is unlikely to associate with a higher risk of breast cancer and that higher yogurt and cottage/ricotta cheese intakes were inversely associated with the risk of ER-negative breast cancer, a less hormonally dependent subtype with poor prognosis. Future studies on fermented dairy products, earlier life exposures, ER-negative breast cancer, and different racial/ethnic populations may further elucidate the relation

Optical Light Curves of Supernovae

Photometry is the most easily acquired information about supernovae. The light curves constructed from regular imaging provide signatures not only for the energy input, the radiation escape, the local environment and the progenitor stars, but also for the intervening dust. They are the main tool for the use of supernovae as distance indicators through the determination of the luminosity. The light curve of SN 1987A still is the richest and longest observed example for a core-collapse supernova. Despite the peculiar nature of this object, as explosion of a blue supergiant, it displayed all the characteristics of Type II supernovae. The light curves of Type Ib/c supernovae are more homogeneous, but still display the signatures of explosions in massive stars, among them early interaction with their circumstellar material. Wrinkles in the near-uniform appearance of thermonuclear (Type Ia) supernovae have emerged during the past decade. Subtle differences have been observed especially at near-infrared wavelengths. Interestingly, the light curve shapes appear to correlate with a variety of other characteristics of these supernovae. The construction of bolometric light curves provides the most direct link to theoretical predictions and can yield sorely needed constraints for the models. First steps in this direction have been already made.Comment: To be published in:"Supernovae and Gamma Ray Bursters", Lecture Notes in Physics (http://link.springer.de/series/lnpp

Volume I. Introduction to DUNE

The preponderance of matter over antimatter in the early universe, the dynamics of the supernovae that produced the heavy elements necessary for life, and whether protons eventually decay—these mysteries at the forefront of particle physics and astrophysics are key to understanding the early evolution of our universe, its current state, and its eventual fate. The Deep Underground Neutrino Experiment (DUNE) is an international world-class experiment dedicated to addressing these questions as it searches for leptonic charge-parity symmetry violation, stands ready to capture supernova neutrino bursts, and seeks to observe nucleon decay as a signature of a grand unified theory underlying the standard model. The DUNE far detector technical design report (TDR) describes the DUNE physics program and the technical designs of the single- and dual-phase DUNE liquid argon TPC far detector modules. This TDR is intended to justify the technical choices for the far detector that flow down from the high-level physics goals through requirements at all levels of the Project. Volume I contains an executive summary that introduces the DUNE science program, the far detector and the strategy for its modular designs, and the organization and management of the Project. The remainder of Volume I provides more detail on the science program that drives the choice of detector technologies and on the technologies themselves. It also introduces the designs for the DUNE near detector and the DUNE computing model, for which DUNE is planning design reports. Volume II of this TDR describes DUNE\u27s physics program in detail. Volume III describes the technical coordination required for the far detector design, construction, installation, and integration, and its organizational structure. Volume IV describes the single-phase far detector technology. A planned Volume V will describe the dual-phase technology