Why the system of rail privatisation in the UK has been a disaster

Michael Moran, one of the authors of a report on the system of rail privatisation in the UK, discusses its findings. Some important issues he raises are the manipulation of the licensing system so that public subsidies are essentially paid out to shareholders as dividends and Network Rail’s large and unsustainable debt, which has negative consequences for physical infrastructure and likely means that rail will one day have to be bailed out by the public. The core issue is the longstanding problem that rail cannot operate without some £10 billion of (direct and indirect) public subsidy because passenger income is insufficient to cover costs. Capturing the externalities of public transport lines on land and property values via taxation is a potential policy solution to the broken business model but is politically difficult and actively opposed by well organised lobbying efforts

The banking crisis as an elite debacle – again

The troubles of the Co-op Bank remind us that crisis and fragility are still engrained in the banking system. Evidently setting things right is about more than finding a technocratic fix. Michael Moran and fellow Researchers at the Centre for Research on Socio-Cultural Change at the University of Manchester have been exploring the more fundamental causes

Exploring the meaning of disproportionate costs for the practical implementation of the Water Framework Directive

The Water Framework Directive (WFD) is perhaps the most ambitious piece of environmental legislation in the history of the European Union. The Directive consolidates existing water-related legislation and has the stated objective of delivering good status (GS) for Europe’s surface waters and groundwaters. But meeting GS is cost dependent, and in some water bodies pollution abatements costs may be high or judged as disproportionate. The exact definition and assessment of disproportionate costs is central for the justification of time-frame derogations and/or lowering the environmental objectives (standards) for compliance at a water body. Official guidance is somewhat discretionary about the interpretation of disproportionate costs. Building on basic cost-benefit theory, this paper attempts to clarify the meaning of disproportionate cost to non-economists, and to convey a consistent interpretation that should underlie the development of a practical derogation decision making across all member statesDerogations, Cost-Effectiveness Analysis (CEA), Cost Benefit Analysis (CBA), Marginal Abatement Costs (MAC), Marginal Social Costs (MSC), Resource /Energy Economics and Policy,

Experiences from semantic web service tutorials

We have given around 20 tutorials on Semantic Web Services in international events during the last two years. This position paper presents our experiences and depicts central aspects relevant for education, dissemination and exploitation of Semantic Web and Semantic Web service technologies in academia and industry

The Effects Of Static Stretching Warm-Up Versus Dynamic Warm-Up On Sprint Swim Performance

Recent research has revealed that static stretching (SS) warm-ups may attenuate power performance compared to other warm-up protocols, but most studies have focused on dry land modalities. PURPOSE: To examine the effects of an SS warm-up versus a dynamic warm-up (DW) on sprint performance in competitive swimmers. Specifically, it was hypothesized that SS prior to a 50-meter sprint would attenuate results compared to DW. METHOD: Sixteen NCAA Division 1 swimmers (5 female, 11 male) participated. These swimmers had recently completed their collegiate season. In a randomized order crossover design, the participants swam a 50-meter freestyle sprint after two different warm-up protocols that were designed to mirror typical practice among competitive swimmers, while allowing any practically significant experimental effects from the SS versus DW contrasts to occur: Specifically, the warm-ups were Static Stretch + Swim (SS/S), and Dynamic Warm-up + Swim (DW/S). In each case the contrasting experimental warm-up exercises (nine static stretches versus nine dynamic movements) were immediately followed by a typical swimming warm-up (about 20-minutes). The two timed 50-meter sprints took place 5-minutes after the SS/S and DW/S warm-ups were completed, and they were conducted three days apart under simulated competitive conditions using standard starting commands, and electronic timing equipment. RESULTS: Separate analyses (paired t-tests) were conducted to test for treatment effects over the first 25 meters, the second 25 meters, and the overall 50-meter sprint time. There were no significant differences between mean times in any of those comparisons. Examination of individual data revealed that the number of swimmers who were slower after SS/S was approximately equal to the number slower after DW/S. CONCLUSION: Unlike the detrimental effects shown in other performance modalities, SS in warm-up did not attenuate sprint swimming performance in this study. It is possible that the swimming warm-up done subsequently to the SS or DW component may have blunted any effects of the SS. Thus, future research might minimize the swimming component of warm-up to allow any effects of SS versus DW to emerge, and it might be preferable to conduct the study during the swimmers\u27 competitive season

Experimental Methods in Cryogenic Spectroscopy: Stark Effect Measurements in Substituted Myoglobin

Dawning from well-defined tertiary structure, the active regions of enzymatic proteins exist as specifically tailored electrostatic microenvironments capable of facilitating chemical interaction. The specific influence these charge distributions have on ligand binding dynamics, and their impact on specificity, reactivity, and biological functionality, have yet to be fully understood. A quantitative determination of these intrinsic fields would offer insight towards the mechanistic aspects of protein functionality. This work seeks to investigate the internal molecular electric fields that are present at the oxygen binding site of myoglobin. Experiments are performed at 1 K on samples located within a glassy matrix, using the high-resolution technique spectral hole-burning. The internal electric field distributions can be explored by implementing a unique mathematical treatment for analyzing the effect that externally applied electric fields have on the spectral hole profiles. Precise control of the light field, the temperature, and the externally applied electric field at the site of the sample is crucial. Experimentally, the functionality of custom cryogenic temperature confocal scanning microscope was extended to allow for collection of imaging and spectral data with the ability to modulate the polarization of the light at the sample. Operation of the instrumentation was integrated into a platform allowing for seamless execution of input commands with high temporal inter-instrument resolution for collection of data streams. For the regulated control and cycling of the sample temperature. the thermal characteristics of the research Dewar were theoretically modeled to systematically predict heat flows throughout the system. A high voltage feedthrough for delivering voltages of up to 5000 V to the sample as positioned within the Dewar was developed. The burning of spectral holes with this particular experimental setup is highly repeatable. The quantum mechanical treatment that is employed during analysis of the experimental data requires the state energies and the transition dipole moments of the porphyrin probe. The configuration interaction, as well as the coupled-cluster approaches, have been investigated for their ability to produce realistic valuations for these calculated quantities as gauged by their ability to accurately reproduce valuations for spectroscopically observable transition energies. A capacitive cell, for the determination of a material’s dielectric permittivity, necessary for defining the magnitude of the externally applied electric field at the sample, was developed and shown to successfully yield permittivity valuations for various media in accordance with those reported the literature, while offering the ability to provide measures for permittivities over the temperature range of 1-300 K

Criminal Defamation and Public Insult Law in the Republic of Poland: The Curtailing of Freedom of Expression

Article published in the Michigan State International Law Review

Web Radio Blueprint

The Internet is one of the most significant technological developments in our lifetime, and its impact affects many established technologies and media. Radio is one of the established media revolutionized by the Internet because of the expanding multi-media capabilities, leading the way to a more focused medium when compared to traditional terrestrial radio broadcasting. Radio transmissions over the Internet (Web Radio) offers the opportunity to provide content focused to a “niche” audience, while providing an opportunity for broader operator participation than terrestrial radio. Web Radio is an Information Technology that offers a viable alternative to commercial radio, which has become increasingly consolidated since the Passage of the Telecommunications Act of 1996. Commercial radio consolidation into ten major owners has resulted in less localism, diversity, and competition in radio. Web Radio can restore these elements to the radio industry, assuming policies implemented support the goals of localism, diversity, competition, and interaction. Web Radio is at a critical stage in its development as an Internet supported information technology. Web Radio content providers are facing several significant issues in the economic and regulatory components of their businesses. Web Radio represents a unique opportunity for entrepreneurs and producers to establish viable conduits for the content that they are able to create. It is critical that policies concerning the technical, legal, and operational issues be determined in a way that does not cripple the development of the industry. This thesis provides a blueprint for individuals or organizations that are new to the technology of Web Radio, or would like to review the current state of affairs in the technical and legal components of webcasting. This “Web Radio Blueprint” will assist individuals or organizations with the implementation of webcasting as a way to communicate their music or message to an interested listener. It provides a blueprint for an organization attempting to become an Internet Broadcaster, or add an Internet Broadcasting function to an e-commerce site, by presenting three key areas that should be considered in the organization\u27s plan. These areas include infrastructure technologies used in webcasting, legal obstacles imposed by the 1998 “Digital Millennium Copyright Act” and other rulings, and operational concerns that an e-commerce organization should address

Base Excision Repair Of Dna In Human Cells: The Apurinic/apyrimidinic Intermediate

Base excision repair of DNA and factors that affect DNA incision in human cells were considered in this study.;Treatment of alkylated HeLa cells with 3-aminobenzamide, and inhibitor of poly(ADP-ribose) polymerase, increased the number of DNA strand breaks but did not slow down their rejoining by DNA repair. Therefore, an increase in DNA incision, not a decrease in ligation, results from the inhibition of poly(ADP-ribose) polymerase in alkylated cells. This is consistent with recent findings by others that suggest that repair-patch frequency is increased in alkylated cells when polyADP-ribosylation is inhibited.;Apurinic/apyrimidinic (AP) sites were measured in HeLa cells by digestion of cellular DNA with Escherichia coli endonuclease IV, an AP-specific endonuclease, prior to alkaline elution. The absence of non-specific endonuclease activity allowed endonuclease IV-sensitive AP sites to be detected with the sensitivity of conventional alkaline elution. Cells that were alkylated with dimethylsulfate, but not benzo(a)pyrene diol epoxide, contained AP sites that were repaired along with DNA single-strand breaks during a post-alkylation recovery period. In addition, alkali-labile sites (that become single-strand breaks in the presence of alkali) other than AP sites were resolved in dimethylsulfate-treated cells by comparing the rate of elution of endonuclease IV-digested DNA at pH 12.1 and pH 12.6. Alkali-labile sites were also observed in benzo(a)pyrene diol epoxide-treated cells. However, these alkali-labile sites were not sensitive to endonuclease IV, and hence are not AP sites.;According to the base excision repair model, the sequential action of DNA glycosylases and AP endonucleases is thought to initiate the repair of DNA base damage. This model was tested in {dollar}\gamma{dollar}-irradiated HeLa cells by endonuclease IV-coupled alkaline elution. AP sites were detected as a transient DNA repair intermediate in {dollar}\gamma{dollar}-irradiated cells. This approach illuminated the operation of base excision repair in human cells by demonstrating the transit of ionizing radiation-induced base lesions, most of which are unknown, through this pathway

Numerical modelling of mesoscale atmospheric dispersion

Fall 1992.Includes bibliographical references