bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Differential expression of the auxin primary response gene MASSUGU2/IAA19during tropic responses of Arabidopsis hypocotyls
Authors: Saito Kyoko , Watahiki Masaaki K. , Yamamoto Kotaro T.
Published: April 2007

We have examined the expression pattern of an auxin primary response gene, MSG2/IAA19, during photo‐ and gravitropic responses of hypocotyls using a transgenic Arabidopsis harboring MSG2/IAA19 promoter::GUS. The upper portion of most etiolated hypocotyls showed uniform β‐glucuronidase (GUS) staining with the strongest activity in the pericycle. When hypocotyls were irradiated with unilateral blue light, GUS activity on the concave side of hypocotyls was decreased, resulting in differential GUS staining with a stronger signal on the convex side. The number of differentially stained hypocotyls peaked at 24 h after the onset of the phototropic stimuli, while hypocotyl curvature continued to increase for the entire 36‐h experimental period. This result suggests that the MSG2/IAA19expression precedes the phototropic responses. When seedlings were grown under dim white light, their hypocotyls displayed almost no GUS activity. The light‐grown hypocotyls also showed differential GUS staining after phototropic stimuli as result of the increase in GUS activity on the convex side of hypocotyls, especially in the epidermis, the outer cortex and pericycle, although GUS activity was much weaker than that observed in etiolated hypocotyls. Similar but less obvious differential staining was obtained for gravitropic response of hypocotyls. Considering the recent finding that Aux/IAA proteins are immediate targets of the auxin F box receptors, MSG2/IAA19is likely to act as one of master genes for tropic responses.
Splanchnic blood flow and oxygen consumption: effects of enteral nutrition and dopexamine in the elderly cardiac surgery patient
Authors: Rapp‐Kesek D. , Joachimsson P.‐O. , Karlsson T.
Published: April 2007

Background:  After cardiac surgery, patients are at risk of organ dysfunction because of decreased perfusion. Different measures have been used to increase the splanchnic blood flow. We compared the effects of enteral nutrition and dopexamine on the cardiac output, splanchnic blood flow and oxygen consumption.

Methods:  Sixteen patients undergoing cardiac surgery were included. Indocyanine green extraction and thermodilution were used for repeated measurements of the splanchnic blood flow and cardiac output. On the first post‐operative day, indocyanine green infusion was started. Patients were randomized to start with dopexamine (Dpx group) or enteral nutrition (EN group). After 180 min, both groups received a combination of dopexamine and enteral nutrition. Blood gases from the hepatic vein and pulmonary and radial arteries were analysed repeatedly.

Results:  In the Dpx group, the cardiac index increased with dopexamine infusion, but not when enteral nutrition was added. In the EN group, enteral nutrition alone did not increase the cardiac index, but dopexamine addition increased the cardiac index in this group. The splanchnic blood flow increased initially in the Dpx group, but then returned to baseline and remained constant on addition of enteral nutrition. In the EN group, the splanchnic blood flow initially remained at baseline, but increased after dopexamine addition. There was no difference between the groups with regard to systemic or splanchnic oxygen consumption or the oxygen extraction ratio. In the Dpx group, lactate increased from baseline with no further increase on addition of enteral nutrition. Lactate was unchanged in the EN group.

Conclusions:  Dopexamine and enteral nutrition caused no adverse effects on oxygen consumption or the oxygen extraction ratio. Enteral nutrition did not increase the splanchnic blood flow or cardiac index. Dopexamine increased the systemic blood flow with only a transient effect on the splanchnic blood flow. Dopexamine increased the lactate concentration, possibly indicating a more ischaemic condition.
Superior anti‐emetic efficacy of granisetron–dexamethasone combination in children undergoing middle ear surgery
Authors: Gombar S. , Kaur J. , Kumar Gombar K. , Dass A. , Singh A.
Published: April 2007

Aim:  To compare the effectiveness of granisetron and a granisetron–dexamethasone combination for the prevention of post‐operative vomiting in children undergoing middle ear surgery.

Methods:  Ninety ASA physical status I or II children, aged 3–12 years, were randomly assigned to three groups of 30 each to receive a single dose of placebo (normal saline), granisetron 40 μg/kg or a combination of granisetron 40 μg/kg and dexamethasone 150 μg/kg intravenously after the induction of anaesthesia. Peri‐operative anaesthetic care was standardized in all children. Post‐operatively, during the first 24 h after anaesthesia, the frequencies of retching and vomiting and the incidence of adverse events were recorded. Rescue anti‐emetic was administered if two or more episodes of emesis occurred. Post‐operative pain was treated with morphine intravenously, followed by acetaminophen orally.

Results:  There were no differences between the treatment groups with regard to demographic data. A complete response (no retching/vomiting and no need for rescue anti‐emetic) was achieved in 50%, 80% and 96.67% of children who received saline, granisetron and granisetron–dexamethasone, respectively (P < 0.05). Six children who received placebo and one who received granisetron alone required another rescue anti‐emetic. The incidence of adverse events was comparable in the three groups.

Conclusion:  The prophylactic granisetron–dexamethasone combination was more effective than granisetron alone in the prevention of post‐operative emesis during the first 24 h after anaesthesia in children undergoing middle ear surgery.
The Effect of Progesterone and Oestradiol Benzoate on Fertility of Artificially Inseminated Repeat‐breeder Dairy Cows during Summer
Authors: Alnimer MA , Husein MQ
Published: April 2007

Contents

An experiment was conducted to examine the effect of progesterone (P4) and oestradiol benzoate (ODB) on fertility of repeat‐breeder lactating dairy cows during summer. One hundred repeat‐breeder lactating dairy cows were randomly allocated to four groups (Tr1, Tr2, Tr3 and C) in a study conducted at a private dairy farm. All cows were injected with 2 mg ODB (day 0), which were at random stages of their oestrous cycles. Cows in Tr1, Tr2 and Tr3 were administered with intravaginal progesterone‐releasing devices (controlled internal drug‐releasing, CIDR) at the time of ODB injection for 7 days and those in group C were untreated and served as controls. Following CIDR removal, all cows were given an intramuscular injection of 25 mg Prostaglandin (PGF2α). Twenty‐four hours after the PGF2α injection, cows in Tr1, Tr2 and C groups were injected with 1 mg ODB. Cows in Tr3 group were injected with 10 μg gonadotropin‐releasing hormone (GnRH) agonist 48 h after CIDR removal. Artificial insemination was performed between 24 and 30 h following the second ODB injection for cows in Tr1 group and at the time of GnRH injection for cows in Tr3 group. Cows in Tr2 and C groups were inseminated at detected oestrus. Plasma P4 and oestradiol 17β (E2) concentrations were determined for all cows daily from day 0 to day 9. Plasma concentrations of P4 and E2 among cows of groups Tr1, Tr2 and Tr3 were increased and reached maximum values within 48 h following administration and were greater (p < 0.001) than those of group C cows. The proportion of cows detected in oestrus based on P4 concentration on day 9 was 88%, 72%, 88% and 60% in groups Tr1, Tr2, Tr3 and C, respectively. Oestrous detection rate differed (p < 0.01) significantly between time‐inseminated groups (Tr1 and Tr3) and those inseminated at observed oestrous (Tr2 and C) groups. Pregnancy rates based on ultrasonography performed on day 28 were 52%, 56%, 60% and 40%, and those based on rectal palpation on day 45 were 32%, 44%, 36% and 28% for Tr1, Tr2, Tr3 and C cows (p > 0.1), respectively. Whereas pregnancy rates for cows with four or more previous services in all groups (54.55%) were higher (p < 0.03) than those for cows with three previous services (29.49%). In pregnant cows, mean days from calving to the day of insemination were higher (p < 0.01) among cows with four or more previous services (204 ± 8.0 days) than those with three previous services (157 ± 6.0 days). Results indicate that treatment with a combination of ODB and CIDR in repeat‐breeder dairy cows causes elevation in plasma concentrations of E2 and P4. Oestrous detection rate was better in cows that were primed with P4 than those without P4 priming. Cows with four or more previous services had significantly higher pregnancy rates than those with three previous services.
Acquired spontaneous intercostal abdominal hernia: Case report and a comprehensive review of the world literature
Authors: Unlu E , Temizoz O , Cagli B
Published: April 2007

Intercostal hernias develop most often as a result of a blunt or penetrating thoracoabdominal trauma. We know of no prior report of a spontaneously occuring intercostal hernia. This study presents a review of the published literature that deals with this uncommon phenomenon, along with a discussion of our patient’s clinical presentation and imaging findings.
Determining the proportion of coronary segments assessable on 16‐slice CT coronary angiography: A brief report
Authors: Soon KH , Cox N , Chaitowitz I , Bell KW , Eccleston D , Kelly A‐M , Lim Y
Published: April 2007

Computed tomography coronary angiography (CT‐CA) is becoming a popular non‐invasive coronary imaging method. We aimed to determine the proportion of coronary segments assessable on a 16‐slice CT in comparison with conventional selective coronary angiography (SCA). We identified all patients who had both 16‐slice CT‐CA and recent SCA (less than 12 months) from March 2004 to July 2005. Two CT reporters blinded to SCA independently classified coronary segment assessability on CT‐CA. A cardiologist blinded to CT findings classified assessability of coronary segments on SCA. Data were analysed using descriptive statistics and proportion of agreement. Ninety‐five study pairs were included in the analysis. Of those, 1161 coronary segments were deemed assessable on SCA and 1103 segments (95%) were also assessable on CT‐CA. Nonassessable segments on CT‐CA were predominantly in the distal segments and branches of coronary arteries. Reasons for nonassessability were small calibre (48.3%), motion artefacts (20.7%) and poorly reconstructed segments (22.4%). The 16‐slice CT was able to assess a high proportion of but not all coronary segments. Nonassessable segments were predominantly distal segments or branches of coronary arteries. Motion artefacts due to heart‐rate changes, small calibre and poorly reconstructed images were main causes of nonassessability on 16‐slice CT‐CA.
Acute plain anterioposterior radiograph of the pelvis is not useful in detecting fractures of iliac wing and os sacrum: A prospective study of 73 patients using CT as gold standard
Authors: Lunsjo K , Tadros AMA , Hauggaard A , Blomgren R , Kopke J , Abu‐Zidan FM
Published: April 2007

Conflicting opinions exist to what extent interpreters of an acute anterioposterior (AP) radiograph of the pelvis underdiagnose pelvic injury. We have prospectively evaluated the usefulness of a plain AP radiograph of the pelvis in detecting injuries, using CT as the gold standard. Seventy‐three haemodynamically stable blunt trauma patients, who had an AP radiograph of the pelvis and an abdominopelvic CT as part of their initial imaging evaluation, were included. There were 14 women and 59 men, with a mean age of 30 (3–61) years. Two senior radiologists, with special interest in CT examinations evaluating trauma, reviewed the radiographs and a month later the CT scans, blinded and independently. Usefulness index of the plain AP radiograph of the pelvis in detecting specific injuries was calculated using CT as the gold standard. A radiograph is regarded as useful if the usefulness index is 0.35 or more. The usefulness index for a plain AP radiograph of the pelvis for detecting a fracture of iliac wing and os sacrum was 0.25 and 0.01, respectively. An acute AP radiograph of the pelvis is not useful in detecting a fracture of iliac wing or os sacrum.
Bilateral spontaneous adrenal haemorrhage complicating acute pancreatitis
Authors: Pianta M , Varma DK
Published: April 2007

Bilateral adrenal haemorrhage is an event that mandates prompt diagnosis and treatment to prevent primary adrenocortical insufficiency and potential death. Presentation can be non‐specific and incidentally diagnosed with imaging alone, primarily CT. We present a case of acute pancreatitis with spontaneous bilateral adrenal haemorrhage and briefly discuss imaging and treatment implications.
Percutaneous fluoroscopic removal of a knotted Swan–Ganz catheter in a patient with a persistent left‐sided superior vena cava
Authors: Ranatunga DG , Richardson MG , Brooks DM
Published: April 2007

Knotting of intravascular catheters is an uncommon but a well‐recognized occurrence. The Swan–Ganz catheter (SGC) is the one that knots most commonly. A case of a knotted SGC is described in a patient with a persistent left‐sided superior vena cava, and we propose that the presence of a left‐sided superior vena cava is a risk factor for knot formation not previously reported. We review the published work on the risk factors for knot formation and on the techniques used to remove knotted SGC. We describe a technique using a gooseneck snare and Omni Flush catheter (Angiodynamics, Queensbury, NY, USA) to loosen and untie a knotted SGC.
Direct injections of calcitriol into enlarged parathyroid glands in chronic dialysis patients with severe parathyroid hyperfunction
Authors: KITAOKA Masafumi , FUKAGAWA Masafumi , FUKUDA Naoko , YI Hung , OGATA Etsuro , KUROKAWA Kiyoshi
Published: April 2007

Summary: Severe secondary hyperparathyroidism in chronic dialysis patients has been recently treated by supraphysiological concentration of calcitriol achieved through pulse therapy. However, there are many patients resistant to this therapy, who usually have larger parathyroid gland(s). to overcome this resistance, calcitriol was injected directly into the enlarged glands under ultrasonographic guidance. We injected 70–90% of the calculated gland volume of calcitriol solution (1 μg/mL) into the glands of 7 patients three times per week for 2 weeks. the parathyroid hormone (PTH) levels decreased significantly after 2 weeks of direct injections of calcitriol. Following a further 4 weeks of calcitriol pulse therapy, PTH levels remained suppressed and serum alkaline phosphatase activity and the volume of parathyroid glands also decreased. During the long‐term follow up, five patients remained well controlled with calcitriol pulse therapy, while two patients needed ethanol injections to control hyperparathyroidism. Although we could not completely rule out a toxic effect of the vehicle, direct injection of calcitriol into parathyroid glands may be another treatment option for chronic dialysis patients. Our data further support the important role of resistance of parathyroid cells to calcitriol in the pathogenesis of parathyroid hyper function in uraemic patients.
A role for G protein‐coupled receptor kinase 2 in mechanical allodynia
Authors: Kleibeuker Wendy , Ledeboer Annemarie , Eijkelkamp Niels , Watkins Linda R. , Maier Steven F. , Zijlstra Jitske , Heijnen Cobi J. , Kavelaars Annemieke
Published: April 2007

Inflammation and nerve injury can both induce mechanical allodynia via mechanisms involving the production of pro‐inflammatory cytokines and increased neuronal activity. Many neurotransmitters involved in pain signal via G protein‐coupled receptors (GPCRs). GPCR kinase (GRK)2 is a member of the GRK family that regulates agonist‐induced desensitization and signalling of GPCRs. Low intracellular GRK2 levels are associated with increased receptor signalling. The aim of this study was to investigate whether mechanical allodynia is associated with decreased spinal cord GRK2 expression and whether reduced GRK2 increases inflammation‐induced mechanical allodynia. Mechanical allodynia was induced in rats by chronic constriction injury of the sciatic nerve. After 2 weeks, neuronal GRK2 expression was decreased bilaterally in the superficial layers of the lumbar spinal cord dorsal horn. Moreover, interleukin‐1β significantly reduced GRK2 expression ex vivo in spinal cord slices. To investigate whether reduced GRK2 potentiates inflammation‐induced mechanical allodynia, we used GRK2+/– animals expressing decreased GRK2. At baseline, the threshold for mechanical stimulation did not differ between GRK2+/– and wild‐type mice. However, GRK2+/– animals were more sensitive to mechanical stimulation than wild‐type animals after intraplantar λ‐carrageenan injection. We propose cytokine‐induced down‐regulation of spinal cord neuronal GRK2 expression as a novel mechanism that contributes to increased neuronal signalling in mechanical allodynia.
Dissociated theta phase synchronization in amygdalo‐ hippocampal circuits during various stages of fear memory
Authors: Narayanan Rajeevan T. , Seidenbecher Thomas , Kluge Christian , Bergado Jorge , Stork Oliver , Pape Hans‐Christian
Published: April 2007

The amygdala and the hippocampus are critically involved in the formation and retention of fear memories. However, their precise contribution to, and their interplay during, fear memory formation are not fully understood. In the present study we investigated network activities in the amygdalo‐hippocampal system of freely behaving mice at different stages of fear memory consolidation and retention. Our data show enhanced theta phase synchronization in this pathway during the retrieval of fear memory at long‐term (24 h post‐training), but not short‐term (2 min, 30 min and 2 h post‐training) stages, following both contextual and auditory cued conditioning. However, retrieval of remotely conditioned fear (30 days post‐training) failed to induce an increase in synchronization despite there still being memory retention. Thus, our data indicate that the amygdalo‐hippocampal interaction reflects a dynamic interaction of ensemble activities related to various stages of fear memory consolidation and/or retention, and support the notion that recent and remote memories are organized through different network principles.
Proteolytic cleavage of the voltage‐gated Ca2+ channel α2δ subunit: structural and functional features
Authors: Andrade Arturo , Sandoval Alejandro , Oviedo Norma , Waard Michel De , Elias David , Felix Ricardo
Published: April 2007

By mediating depolarization‐induced Ca2+ influx, high‐voltage‐activated Ca2+ channels control a variety of cellular events. These heteromultimeric proteins are composed of an ion‐conducting (α1) and three auxiliary (α2δ, β and γ) subunits. The α2δ subunit enhances the trafficking of the channel complex to the cell surface and increases channel open probability. To exert these effects, α2δ must undergo important post‐translational modifications, including a proteolytic cleavage that separates the extracellular α2 from its transmembrane δ domain. After this proteolysis both domains remain linked by disulfide bonds. In spite of its central role in determining the final conformation of the fully mature α2δ, almost nothing is known about the physiological implications of this structural modification. In the current report, by using site‐directed mutagenesis, the proteolytic site of α2δ was mapped to amino acid residues Arg‐941 and Val‐946. Substitution of these residues renders the protein insensitive to proteolytic cleavage as evidenced by the lack of molecular weight shift upon treatment with a disulfide‐reducing agent. Interestingly, these mutations significantly decreased whole‐cell patch‐clamp currents without affecting the voltage dependence or kinetics of the channels, suggesting a reduction in the number of channels targeted to the plasma membrane.
The EEG effects of THIP (Gaboxadol) on sleep and waking are mediated by the GABAAδ‐subunit‐containing receptors
Authors: Winsky‐Sommerer Raphaëlle , Vyazovskiy Vladyslav V. , Homanics Gregg E. , Tobler Irene
Published: April 2007

THIP (4,5,6,7‐tetrahydroisoxazolo‐[5,4‐c]pyridine‐3‐ol, Gaboxadol) is a selective γ‐aminobutyric acid (GABA)A agonist, acting in vitro with high potency and efficacy at the extrasynaptic GABAAδ‐containing receptors. THIP was suggested to be a potential hypnotic to treat insomnia, and it is currently in clinical trial. Here we assessed whether the GABAAδ‐containing receptors mediate in vivo the effect of THIP on sleep and the sleep electroencephalogram (EEG). We performed EEG recordings in a mouse model deficient in the GABAAδ‐subunit gene (δ–/– mice) and in wild‐type littermate controls. THIP (4 and 6 mg/kg intraperitoneally) induced an abnormal EEG pattern, resulting in dramatic changes in the waking and non‐rapid eye movement (NREM) sleep EEG spectra in wild‐type mice. Indeed, a massive increase in EEG power lasting 2–3 h occurred in both the frontal and parietal derivation, especially in frequencies below 6 Hz. All effects were more prominent in the frontal EEG. Furthermore, the highest dose of THIP lengthened REM sleep latency and suppressed REM sleep. In contrast, vigilance states and sleep latencies were not affected in δ–/– mice. Moreover, only minor changes were observed in the NREM sleep EEG spectrum after THIP injection in the δ‐subunit‐deficient mice. The present findings do not indicate a sleep‐promoting effect of THIP in mice, which is in accordance with a previous report in this species. Moreover, our results in vivo demonstrate that THIP acts preferentially at GABAA receptors containing the δ‐subunit.
The Vehicle and General Affair: Some Reflections for Public Administration in Britain
Authors: CHAPMAN RICHARD A.
Published: April 2007

This article is bared on a lecture given in December 1972 to the Northern Regional Group of the RIPA. Dr. Chapman is Reader in Politics, University of Durham.
Cost Benefit Study of the New Covent Garden Market
Authors: HEALD DAVID , KIRK J. H.
Published: April 2007

The Hon. Editor has received the following letter commenting on Professor Kirk's and Mr. Sloyan's article on the New Covent Garden Market (Vol. 56 Spring 1978). The author is lecturer in applied economics in the Department of Social and Economic Research, University of Glasgow. Mr. Heald's letter is followed by a reply by Professor Kirk on behalf of Mr. Sloyan and himself.
RATIONAL POLITICIANS AND RATIONAL BUREAUCRATS IN WASHINGTON AND WHITEHALL
Authors: GOODIN ROBERT E.
Published: April 2007

William Niskanen's theory of Bureaucracy and Representative Government predicts that the interaction of rational vote‐maximizing politicians and rational budget‐maximizing bureaucrats will lead to an oversupply of bureaucratic goods and services. The demand, supply and motivational components of this model are all shown to be flawed; and the oversupply conclusion therefore fails to follow. A revised model constructed from the elements that can be salvaged from this critique suggests that rational mission‐committed politicians and bureaucrats join in a policy‐making oligopoly, run internally on the basis of trust and externally on the manipulation of information. This leads to a skewing (rather than a simple oversupply) of bureaucratic goods and services. Some evidence suggests that this model fits British as well as American policy‐making.
ORGANIZATIONAL REDUNDANCY? A CRITICAL APPRAISAL OF THE GEAR PROJECT
Authors: BOOTH S. A. S. , PITT D. C. , MONEY W. J.
Published: April 2007

‘Area approaches’ have become a new conventional wisdom for dealing with urban deprivation. Such thinking is evident in Michael Heseltine's Liverpool ‘initiative’. This article contributes to an emerging critique of such approaches, by highlighting some political and organizational problems rather than stressing their incipient economic difficulties. Arguably the biggest anti‐deprivation project in Western Europe, the Glasgow Eastern Area Renewal scheme (GEAR) is taken as a case study. Official claims of success are juxtaposed against an alternative perspective outlining possible weaknesses and dilemmas. Critical analysis leads to the conclusion that the GEAR constellation of organizations may be best regarded as a mutually non‐effective organizational set. The persistence of such an institution, while serving short‐term political and administrative needs, may unwittingly produce longer‐term negative political and social consequences. The authors argue that if such problems are to be avoided in the future, the political and organizational drawbacks of this type of initiative must be appreciated.
DENTISTRY AND MANAGEMENT OF THE NATIONAL HEALTH SERVICE: 1974–1982
Authors: GELBIER STANLEY
Published: April 2007

The paper examines some inter‐relationships between dentistry and the national health service, particularly the way in which it was slotted into the management arrangements in 1974. The aspirations of dentists during the pre‐1974 period are compared with government intent and the management structure achieved. Analysis of the managerial or officer structure at each level of the service highlights the ways in which the patterns laid down for dentistry varied from the norm. Dentists’ expectations and the officially declared intent were seldom synonymous; both were very different from the final system. In some ways dentists lost out in relation to the management arrangements. Their major organization was at area level rather than in the health districts. Whether or not this unusual structure was to the disadvantage of the profession and of dental care, time alone would have told. However, no such assessment is now possible. In April 1982 area health authorities disappeared: area dental officers have therefore been abolished.
BUREAUCRATIC MALAISE IN THE MODERN SPY NOVEL: DEIGHTON, GREENE, AND LECARRE
Authors: NEUSE STEVEN M.
Published: April 2007

Modern espionage novels and particularly those of Deighton, Greene, and LeCarre provide exceptional insights into bureaucratic politics. As well as offering a wealth of material about bureaucratic structure and behaviour, their works speak to the negative consequences and effects of bureaucratic pressures and ideologies on the human spirit. Specifically, these novelists posit that in a bureaucratic world heroism is flawed: that principles no longer flow from moral purpose, and that the evil which needs to be conquered can no longer be identified solely with an externalized enemy. The conclusion drawn is that the bureaucratic state, which substitutes technique for purpose and principle, and bureaucratic personality for individual initiative and motivation, is largely responsible for this malaise. The world which remains reflects, paradoxically, both order and disorder — the image is that of a universal clock winding its way down to an uncertain, yet organizationally dominated future.
PERFORMANCE, EVALUATION AND THE NHS: A CASE STUDY IN CONCEPTUAL PERPLEXITY AND ORGANIZATIONAL COMPLEXITY
Authors: KLEIN RUDOLF
Published: April 2007

This paper adopts a comparative perspective towards the analysis of performance evaluation in the National Health Service. The NHS, it is argued, is best seen as an organization which is not unique but which ranks high on a number of dimensions: uncertainty about the relationship between inputs and outputs; heterogeneity of activities and aims; the ambiguity of the available information. These factors help to explain why performance evaluation in the NHS is both conceptually and organizationally problematic, and fragmented and professionalized in practice. By looking at the same factors in other organizations, it may be possible to start constructing a framework for examining the problems of performance evaluation in different settings.
AUDITING THE EFFICIENCY OF NATIONALIZED INDUSTRIES: ENTER THE MONOPOLIES A MERGERS COMMISSION
Authors: GARNER MAURICE R.
Published: April 2007

For over thirty years, there have been no arrangements for the systematic audit of the efficiency and effectiveness of British nationalized industries. In November 1981, the Government announced their intention to introduce such audits on a regular, programmed basis and assigned the responsibility to the Monopolies and Mergers Commission. Using two of the Commission's reports, this essay contests the opinion that efficiency audits, as distinct from effectiveness audits, require pre‐determined performance criteria. But whilst recognizing both the advance in Whitehall thinking represented by the new arrangements and the quality of the audits so far completed by the Commission, the essay questions the decision to assign this function to the Commission, rather than the Comptroller and Auditor General, and expresses doubts about the extent to which the new arrangements will contribute to proper parliamentary control and accountability in the case of public enterprises.
THE STATE AND LOCAL GOVERNMENT FINANCE
Authors: MARTLEW CLIVE
Published: April 2007

The ‘dual state’ thesis provides a useful starting point in analysing the relationship between the central and local state. However the history of reform in local government finance suggests that the dual state approach underemphasizes a number of important features of the relationship. Notably the degree of diversity which exists between the interests displayed by different sectors of the central state, the vertical linkages which exist between national and local levels and the difficulty of pursuing coherent long term strategies in local finance.
CHANGES IN EDUCATION OUTPUTS IN ENGLISH LOCAL AUTHORITIES, 1949–1974
Authors: HOGGART KEITH
Published: April 2007

The literature on local outputs is dominated by cross‐sectional investigations which suggest that the local socio‐economic environment is a critical determinant of local policy. This paper argues that there is insufficient theoretical justification for adopting a cross‐sectional methodology. It examines changes in education outputs in 57 English county borough s and 28 English county councils over the period 1949–74 and concludes that long‐term trends in output change were little affected by local socio‐economic conditions, changes in party control or changes in senior administrative personnel. The results suggest that case study analyses of internal policy‐making processes are likely to give more insight into policy determination than current local output analyses.
PLANS AND PRACTICE: THE PARTICIPANTS' VIEWS
Authors: GLENNERSTER H. , KORMAN N. , MARSLEN‐WILSON F.
Published: April 2007

This article is the result of some extensive and lengthy interviews with officers in local and health authorities in two London boroughs. It focuses on their attitudes to resource planning and inter‐authority collaboration in the provision of services for two priority groups — the elderly and the mentally handicapped. The interviews were undertaken in 1980, in the aftermath of the tighter financial climate that followed the 1979 election, and fieldwork continued until 1981. Officers’ views were tested against models of inter‐authority activity drawn from varied literatures. Most officers turned out to have drawn extremely pessimistic conclusions from their experiences. The bureaucratic politics paradigm predominated. Very few participants had come to terms with what planning could mean in a period of declining resources. Most still thought of planning as what to do with the increment and saw little point in planning if there were no increments. However, there were interesting differences between the perceptions of NHS staff and local authority officers, and between those in different kinds of post.
THE TREASURY AND PUBLIC INVESTMENT: A PERSPECTIVE ON INTER‐WAR ECONOMIC MANAGEMENT
Authors: MIDDLETON ROGER
Published: April 2007

This paper examines certain administrative constraints which hampered inter‐war governments in their operation of public works policies and reinforced their opposition to even more ambitious Keynesian employment programmes. The stabilizing effectiveness of public investment is assessed, as is central government's ability to promote greater capital expenditure by the local authorities, the principal agencies for public investment. To this end, a special study is made of the large‐scale public works programmes proposed by Mosley in 1930 and Lloyd George in 1935. It is concluded that there were cogent administrative and political reasons why such programmes were viewed as inappropriate solutions to unemployment between the wars, apart from the more nominally cited economic‐theoretic foundations of orthodox opposition to Keynesian policies.
PLANNING, WATER SUPPLIES AND MINISTERIAL POWER IN INTER‐WAR BRITAIN
Authors: SHEAIL JOHN
Published: April 2007

Despite several attempts to reform the structure of the water industry, little was achieved in the inter‐war period. Three phases in the perception of water‐use planning can be discerned, namely the period of post‐First World War reconstruction, the years 1929–34, and those of 1935–39. The allocation of water resources affected property rights so closely that Parliament was particularly reluctant to delegate its regulatory powers over the industry to ministers and their officials.
LORD HALDANE'S MINISTRY OF JUSTICE — STILLBORN OR STRANGLED AT BIRTH?
Authors: DREWRY GAVIN
Published: April 2007

Echoes of the Haldane Committee's proposal in 1918 for the establishment of a Ministry of Justice can still be heard in current debate about the machinery of justice. Yet the Haldane proposal itself vanished almost without trace in the inter‐war years. This article examines the content and the context of the sporadic debate and concludes that the non‐implementation of the proposal is attributable to the innate conservatism of the legal profession and, more particularly, to the influence of the Lord Chancellor's Permanent Secretary, Sir Claud Schuster.
NATIONAL HEALTH INSURANCE: A CASE STUDY IN THE USE OF PRIVATE NON‐PROFIT MAKING ORGANIZATIONS IN THE PROVISION OF WELFARE BENEFITS
Authors: CARPENTER GLYN
Published: April 2007

Some of the key features of co‐operation between the State and other sectors (private, voluntary and informal) in providing welfare benefits are illustrated in the experience of the National Health Insurance scheme which operated in this country between 1911 and 1948. This is the only example in the UK of a major welfare scheme operating over a considerable period which utilized private, if non‐profit making, organizations as responsible agents for administration. Under the scheme certain categories of working people were compelled to insure themselves against sickness. The scheme was administered and benefits paid through a multiplicity of independent ‘approved societies’, with insured people free to choose which society they belonged to. Contributions were paid by employers as well as employees, with a state subsidy on top. This study indicates that any future development of joint welfare provision with the private sector must overcome certain inherent divergencies in values between the public and private sectors.
THE DHSS SOCIAL SECURITY REGIONAL ORGANIZATION — AN EXERCISE IN MANAGERIAL CHANGE
Authors: WARNER NORMAN
Published: April 2007

Government departments are under pressure to increase efficiency and effectiveness and to reduce staff numbers. The Rayner scrutiny programme is part of this pressure; and it has encouraged greater use of independent investigators and change catalysts within departments. This breed of internal critics often operate within, but at the limits of, official tolerance, like bureaucratic Philip Marlowes whose solutions may be accepted, but rarely with gratitude. Despite these developments external critics have continued to doubt the capacity for self‐criticism and innovation within government. The popular television programme‘Yes Minister’ has encouraged such a view. This article describes one department's attempt at using internal change agents to review the handling of business and to implement major changes in an organization employing over 60,000 people. The exercise suggests that bureaucratic inertia can be overcome internally, although the change process is difficult and sometimes painful for those involved.
THE CARTE SCOLAIRE IN FRENCH EDUCATION: A STUDY OF DECISION‐ MAKING IN A CENTRALIZED SYSTEM
Authors: HOWELL D. A.
Published: April 2007

The carte scolaire (school map) has been developed since 1963 as a device for planning long term development of educational provision at the secondary school level, down to prescribing what specialist provision should be made in individual establishments. The carte scolaire is approved by the Ministry of Education on the proposition of the Rector of the Académie (the regional authority for secondary education) and after consultation with representatives of local communities and specialist interests.

Information gained from official documents and interviews with practitioners is used to develop a detailed picture of this neglected area, and to assess the criticisms made by administrators and commentators. Particular stress is placed on examining the dominance of the technocrats, the boundaries within which the devisers of the carte scolaire operate, and the effectiveness (or otherwise) of long‐term educational planning.
MANAGEMENT AUDIT IN THE MINISTRY OF DEFENCE
Authors: BELL M. J. V.
Published: April 2007

In 1981 the Ministry of Defence brought together the capabilities of staff inspection, internal audit and central management services under a Director General of Management Audit (DGMA) with the objectives of achieving greater co‐ordination of these functions and of developing the concept of management audit, i.e. the bringing to bear of a‘total audit’ approach on selected departmental organizations or activities. This article comments on the progress made so far in developing this concept and describes changes which have taken place in the conduct of the individual disciplines which have had the effect of concentrating their attention on wider questions of efficiency, economy and effectiveness. The article goes on to describe the parallel development in the Ministry of Defence of new resource management machinery — responsibility budgets, a new management information system for ministers and top management (MINIS), management principles and, most recently, a re‐organization of the Ministry itself — and the place which the management audit capability occupies within this.
A MAYOR FOR PARIS – AN EARLY EXAMPLE OF DECENTRALIZATION
Authors: TOWNSHEND J. V.
Published: April 2007

This paper analyses the 1975 municipal reform which gave Paris its first elected Mayor since the days of the revolutionary Commune. Local government reform has proved notoriously difficult in France and the policy‐making process in this case was complicated by the political situation, following the death of President Pompidou, in April 1974. His successor, Giscard d'Estaing, attempted to marginalize the Gaullist Party and to govern from the centre. Paris was the testing ground for this political strategy. The capture of the mayorship by the Gaullist Jacques Chirac was a personal humiliation for the President.

The reform demonstrates the reluctance of French governments, compared with their British counterparts, to radically mould their local government institutions. In particular, the constant reference during the debate to the words ‘Mayor’ and ‘Commune’, which have great symbolic power in France, arguably prevented the elaboration of an institutional structure adapted to the peculiar needs of the Paris urban area.
WILL THE PRIVATIZATION OF PUBLIC ENTERPRISES SOLVE THE PROBLEM OF CONTROL?
Authors: HEALD DAVID
Published: April 2007

The Government's privatization programme has acquired such momentum that hardly any public enterprise is exempt from action or proposals. Evaluation of the programme must recognize the diversity of privatization policies, and the tensions inherent within their objectives. Ideological motivation has been supported by the inability of policymakers to design a viable framework of economic and financial control over public enterprises. This has led to a view that it is impossible to manage business efficiently within the public sector, the constraints of which can only be escaped by ‘setting the enterprise free’. However, decisions now will close future options, only be escaped and may be prohibitive to reverse. A list of unanswered questions remain about future relationships between hybrids and governments, the costs and benefits of the regulatory systems which will replace public ownership, and the balance between public policy and private interests. Can the market succeed where the state has been judged to have failed?
PUBLIC PURCHASING: AN ADMINISTRATIVE CINDERELLA
Authors: WILLIAMS ROGER , SMELLIE REBECCA
Published: April 2007

The potential value of enlightened public sector purchasing policies (as distinct from crude‘Buy‐British policies) to stimulate industrial efficiency and technological innovation, although long recognized as of fundamental importance to the British economy, has been largely disregarded by those seeking policies for industrial revitalization. This article reviews the present government's renewed commitment to enlightened public purchasing, outlining exactly what such policies demand of and offer to buyers and suppliers; assessing the progress made to date; and suggesting a number of ways in which the impact of the current initiative might be improved.
NIGEL BALCHIN AND THE POLITICS OF SOUNDNESS
Authors: POWER JOHN
Published: April 2007

The bulk of Nigel Balchin's fiction follows the same pattern – a sound male character observing an unsound one; his plots are occasionally more complicated, as when a character examines critically his own soundness or when scientific soundness is transformed into political unacceptability. The novels are therefore a good guide to soundness as a golden mean. But rulers need to balance sense and vision. Balchin questions the value of bureaucratic games in modern organizations which harm a balanced resolution. It is surprising that as a psychologist who understands the pragmatic of interpersonal politics in organizations he failed himself to acquire the depth of vision of a great political novelist.
WHAT PROSPECTS FOR THE CIVIL SERVICE?
Authors: PLOWDEN WILLIAM
Published: April 2007

The British civil service, a highly conservative institution, is at present subject both to spontaneous pressures for change and to pressures from the Conservative government. Change is necessary, including relatively radical developments, such as increased political influence over senior appointments. Current attempts to improve financial management in Whitehall are, as far as they go, on the right lines (though their longer‐tern implications need more thought). But the government's approach to change is based on a limited understanding of what‘management’ really means; it ignores the difficulties of reforming established organizations without undesirably damaging them. Those who want to reform the civil service must develop a strategy as far as possible comprehensive and consensual.
POLICE AND PUBLIC ORDER
Authors: ALDERSON JOHN C.
Published: April 2007

Does economic deterioration in a developed country such as Great Britain inevitably mean increasing disorder and lawlessness? How would the forces of law and order react to authoritarian governments of the political left and right? These two questions and the likely answers form the first part of this essay.

The Royal Commission on the Police (1962) faced the question of either retaining a police system based on local government or recommending its replacement by a national police force under the Home Secretary. With one powerful dissension they chose the former. They claimed to have solved the problem of democratic accountability of the police, but in recent years cracks have begun to appear in the system. The vexed question of the prospects of schism between a chief constable and his police authority committee is examined.

Finally, it is suggested the British governmental institutions, including Parliament itself, are insufficiently democratic, and that a Bill of Rights protecting civil liberties is long overdue.
TEN YEARS AFTER: THE US CONGRESSIONAL BUDGET AND IMPOUNDMENT CONTROL ACT OF 1974
Authors: HOGAN JOSEPH J.
Published: April 2007

The reformed congressional budget process is no longer new. This fact alone invites an assessment of the experience of budgeting under the procedures enacted in 1974. But there is a more pressing reason for undertaking such an assessment. Today, there is widespread unhappiness with the congressional budget process. In recent years the deadlines of the budget process have repeatedly not been met, resulting in incomplete budgeting and the proliferation of proposals to abolish or reform the budget procedures enacted in 1974.

Consequently, this paper will first outline the reformed budget procedures and establish the goals of the 1974 Budget Act. The second section assesses whether the goals of budget reform have been achieved. In short, the answer is a negative one. The third section explains why the goals of budget reform have not been met, and the final section evaluates the main proposals advanced for changing the budget process.
THE SCUNTHORPE ENTERPRIZE ZONE: AN EXAMPLE OF MUDDLED INTERVENTIONISM
Authors: BARNES IAN , PRESTON JILL
Published: April 2007

The article examines the case of the Scunthorpe Enterprize Zone (EZ) and the extent to which it is consistent with the Conservative Government's emphasis on the market mechanism. It also looks at the likely impact of this EZ on the local and sub‐regional economy. The article concludes by observing that Scunthorpe District Council was quick to take advantage of its EZ status, which has already generated a significant number of jobs for the town, but at the possible cost of jobs in other parts of the sub region. Finally the Scunthorpe case would appear to support the view that the implementation of the policy has been in contradiction to the original objectives of central Government.
MOTIVES AND BEHAVIOUR IN DISTRICT HEALTH AUTHORITIES
Authors: RANADÉ WENDY
Published: April 2007

With the advent of general managers in District Health Authorities, many members fear they will become the dignified element of the health service constitution, if this has not happened already. If the influence of members is to be retained (or regained) a better understanding of the causes of variations in the influence and effectiveness of members is important. These issues are examined from the perspective of the motives and behaviour of members themselves. Based on research carried out in six health authorities in 1984, a typology is developed which is shown to be useful in predicting the kind of members most likely to achieve individual influence within a DHA, and in diagnosing some of the reasons for differences in corporate influence between DHAs.
PUBLIC SECTOR PAY: JUSTICE WITHOUT INFLATION
Authors: OWEN DAVID
Published: April 2007

This is the text of the second annual Redcliffe‐Maud Memorial Lecture, organized by the RIPA and sponsored by PA Consulting Group, given in June 1985.
THE INSTITUTIONAL AND ORGANIZATIONAL CAPABILITIES OF LOCAL GOVERNMENT
Authors: GREENWOOD ROYSTON , STEWART J. D.
Published: April 2007

Local government is the subject of official review. This paper suggests that any review of the system of local government should consider at the outset the purposes or values which provide the rationale for local government, and should examine how the institutional framework and prevailing organizational practices promote or hinder achievement of those values. The values of local government as traditionally understood are summarized and aspects of the institutional framework and organizational practices are explored.