Policy transfer and part 2 of the Housing Act (Wales) 2014

Part 2 of the Housing Act (Wales) 2014and its implementation has been keenly observed by governments outside of Wales, as they continue to search for policy solutions to help address the homelessness crisis.This paper examines the extent to whichthere has been policy transfer from Wales to other national contexts and thepotential for such transfer to occur in the future.It is identified that some transfer has already taken place within the UK and there is thepotentialforfuture policy transferboth within the UK and internationally. Adaptation to each of the new contexts is necessary to underpin successful transferof provisions of the Act, however, outside of the UK this will need to be more extensive and includethe introduction of a right tohousing

Investigating A Dose Response Relationship between High Fat Diet Consumption and the Contractile Performance of Isolated Mouse Soleus, EDL and Diaphragm Muscles

PurposeRecent evidence has demonstrated an obesity-induced, skeletal muscle-specific reduction in contractile performance. The extent and magnitude of these changes in relation to total dose of high-fat diet consumption remains unclear. This study aimed to examine the dose–response relationship between a high-fat diet and isolated skeletal muscle contractility.Methods120 female CD1 mice were randomly assigned to either control group or groups receiving 2, 4, 8 or 12 weeks of a high-calorie diet (N = 24). At 20 weeks, soleus, EDL or diaphragm muscle was isolated (n = 8 in each case) and isometric force, work loop power output and fatigue resistance were measured.ResultsWhen analysed with respect to feeding duration, there was no effect of diet on the measured parameters prior to 8 weeks of feeding. Compared to controls, 8-week feeding caused a reduction in normalised power of the soleus, and 8- and 12-week feeding caused reduced normalised isometric force, power and fatigue resistance of the EDL. Diaphragm from the 12-week group produced lower normalised power, whereas 8- and 12-week groups produced significantly lower normalised isometric force. Correlation statistics indicated that body fat accumulation and decline in contractility will be specific to the individual and independent of the feeding duration.ConclusionThe data indicate that a high-fat diet causes a decline in muscle quality with specific contractile parameters being affected in each muscle. We also uniquely demonstrate that the amount of fat gain, irrespective of feeding duration, may be the main factor in reducing contractile performance

Whole genome protein microarrays for serum profiling of immunodominant antigens of Bacillus anthracis

&lt;p&gt;A commercial Bacillus anthracis (Anthrax) whole genome protein microarray has been used to identify immunogenic Anthrax proteins (IAP) using sera from groups of donors with (a) confirmed B. anthracis naturally acquired cutaneous infection, (b) confirmed B. anthracis intravenous drug use-acquired infection, (c) occupational exposure in a wool-sorters factory, (d) humans and rabbits vaccinated with the UK Anthrax protein vaccine and compared to naïve unexposed controls. Anti-IAP responses were observed for both IgG and IgA in the challenged groups; however the anti-IAP IgG response was more evident in the vaccinated group and the anti-IAP IgA response more evident in the B. anthracis-infected groups. Infected individuals appeared somewhat suppressed for their general IgG response, compared with other challenged groups. Immunogenic protein antigens were identified in all groups, some of which were shared between groups whilst others were specific for individual groups. The toxin proteins were immunodominant in all vaccinated, infected or other challenged groups. However, a number of other chromosomally-located and plasmid encoded open reading frame proteins were also recognized by infected or exposed groups in comparison to controls. Some of these antigens e.g., BA4182 are not recognized by vaccinated individuals, suggesting that there are proteins more specifically expressed by live Anthrax spores in vivo that are not currently found in the UK licensed Anthrax Vaccine (AVP). These may perhaps be preferentially expressed during infection and represent expression of alternative pathways in the B. anthracis &quot;infectome.&quot; These may make highly attractive candidates for diagnostic and vaccine biomarker development as they may be more specifically associated with the infectious phase of the pathogen. A number of B. anthracis small hypothetical protein targets have been synthesized, tested in mouse immunogenicity studies and validated in parallel using human sera from the same study.&lt;/p&gt;</p

Modeling ϵ\epsilon Eridani and asteroseismic tests of element diffusion

Taking into account the helium and metal diffusion, we explore the possible evolutionary status and perform seismic analysis of MOST target: the star $\epsilon$ Eridani. We adopt the different input parameters to construct the models by fitting the available observational constraints: e.g., $T_{eff}$, $L$, $R$, $[Fe/H]$. From computation, we obtain the average large spacings of $\epsilon$ Eridani about $194\pm 1 \mu$Hz. The age of the diffused models has been found to be about 1 Gyr, which is younger than one determined previously by models without diffusion. We found that the effect of pure helium diffusion on the internal structure of the young low-mass star is slight, but the metal diffusion influence is obvious. The metal diffusion leads the models to have much higher temperature in the radiation interior, correspondingly the higher sound speed in the interior of the model, thereby the larger frequency and spacings.Comment: 16 pages, 4 figures, accepted for publication in ChjA

An analysis of the relevance of off-balance sheet items in explaining productivity change in European banking

The 1990s have witnessed a significant growth in bank income generated through non-traditional activities, especially for large EU universal banking institutions. Using the non-parametric Malmquist methodology this study analyses the impact of the inclusion of off-balance sheet (OBS) business in the definition of banks' output when estimating total factor productivity change indexes. Whereas the results reinforce the prevalent view in the recent literature, indicating that the exclusion of non-traditional activities leads to a misspecification of banks' output, the impact of the inclusion of these activities varies. Overall, the inclusion of OBS items results in an increase in estimated productivity levels for all countries under study. However, the impact seems to be the biggest on technological change rather than efficiency change. © 2005 Taylor & Francis

Rethinking the patient: using Burden of Treatment Theory to understand the changing dynamics of illness

&lt;b&gt;Background&lt;/b&gt; In this article we outline Burden of Treatment Theory, a new model of the relationship between sick people, their social networks, and healthcare services. Health services face the challenge of growing populations with long-term and life-limiting conditions, they have responded to this by delegating to sick people and their networks routine work aimed at managing symptoms, and at retarding - and sometimes preventing - disease progression. This is the new proactive work of patient-hood for which patients are increasingly accountable: founded on ideas about self-care, self-empowerment, and self-actualization, and on new technologies and treatment modalities which can be shifted from the clinic into the community. These place new demands on sick people, which they may experience as burdens of treatment.&lt;p&gt;&lt;/p&gt; &lt;b&gt;Discussion&lt;/b&gt; As the burdens accumulate some patients are overwhelmed, and the consequences are likely to be poor healthcare outcomes for individual patients, increasing strain on caregivers, and rising demand and costs of healthcare services. In the face of these challenges we need to better understand the resources that patients draw upon as they respond to the demands of both burdens of illness and burdens of treatment, and the ways that resources interact with healthcare utilization.&lt;p&gt;&lt;/p&gt; &lt;b&gt;Summary&lt;/b&gt; Burden of Treatment Theory is oriented to understanding how capacity for action interacts with the work that stems from healthcare. Burden of Treatment Theory is a structural model that focuses on the work that patients and their networks do. It thus helps us understand variations in healthcare utilization and adherence in different healthcare settings and clinical contexts

The politicisation of evaluation: constructing and contesting EU policy performance

Although systematic policy evaluation has been conducted for decades and has been growing strongly within the European Union (EU) institutions and in the member states, it remains largely underexplored in political science literatures. Extant work in political science and public policy typically focuses on elements such as agenda setting, policy shaping, decision making, or implementation rather than evaluation. Although individual pieces of research on evaluation in the EU have started to emerge, most often regarding policy “effectiveness” (one criterion among many in evaluation), a more structured approach is currently missing. This special issue aims to address this gap in political science by focusing on four key focal points: evaluation institutions (including rules and cultures), evaluation actors and interests (including competencies, power, roles and tasks), evaluation design (including research methods and theories, and their impact on policy design and legislation), and finally, evaluation purpose and use (including the relationships between discourse and scientific evidence, political attitudes and strategic use). The special issue considers how each of these elements contributes to an evolving governance system in the EU, where evaluation is playing an increasingly important role in decision making

Growth and Bone Development in the Horse: When Is a Horse Skeletally Mature?

Within the lay literature, and social media in particular, there is often debate about the age at which a horse should be started and introduced to racing or sport. To optimize the welfare and longevity of horses in racing and sport, it is important to match exercise with musculoskeletal development and the ability of the musculoskeletal system to respond to loading. The justification for not exercising horses at a certain age is often in contrast to the scientific literature and framed, with incorrect generalizations, with human growth. This review provides a relative comparison of the growth and development of the horse to the descriptors used to define growth and development in humans. Measures of physeal closure and somatic growth demonstrate that the horse completes the equivalent of rapid infant growth by weaning (4-6 months old). At approximately 11 months old, the horse completes the equivalent of the childhood phase of growth and enters puberty. At 2 years old, the horse has achieved most measures of maturity used within the human literature, including the plateauing of vertical height, closure of growth plates, and adult ratios of back length:wither height and limb length:wither height. These data support the hypothesis that the horse evolved to be a precocious cursorial grazer and is capable of athletic activity, and use in sport, relatively early in life.fals

The logic-bias effect: The role of effortful processing in the resolution of belief-logic conflict.

According to the default interventionist dual-process account of reasoning, belief-based responses to reasoning tasks are based on Type 1 processes generated by default, which must be inhibited in order to produce an effortful, Type 2 output based on the validity of an argument. However, recent research has indicated that reasoning on the basis of beliefs may not be as fast and automatic as this account claims. In three experiments, we presented participants with a reasoning task that was to be completed while they were generating random numbers (RNG). We used the novel methodology introduced by Handley, Newstead & Trippas (Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory, and Cognition, 37, 28-43, 2011), which required participants to make judgments based upon either the validity of a conditional argument or the believability of its conclusion. The results showed that belief-based judgments produced lower rates of accuracy overall and were influenced to a greater extent than validity judgments by the presence of a conflict between belief and logic for both simple and complex arguments. These findings were replicated in Experiment 3, in which we controlled for switching demands in a blocked design. Across all three experiments, we found a main effect of RNG, implying that both instructional sets require some effortful processing. However, in the blocked design RNG had its greatest impact on logic judgments, suggesting that distinct executive resources may be required for each type of judgment. We discuss the implications of our findings for the default interventionist account and offer a parallel competitive model as an alternative interpretation for our findings