ALBERT

Notes: Increasingly, commentators have argued that provision of welfare services is better left to the private sector, In the UK, the ‘Thatcher years’ were associated with a philosophy that greater decision making should be left to individuals and that, if state provision of welfare were ‘rolled back’, the voluntary charitable sector would become more active in meeting the needs of the disadvantaged. While ‘standard’ economic theory suggests that cutting public expenditure ‘crowds in’ private giving and that tax inducements to donate to charities can prove effective, there are reasons to dispute the proposition that such a mix of fiscal policy will cause individuals to behave more altruistically. An appraisal of public policy changes, which includes the impact of policy changes on individuals' preferences, calls in question the assertion that private charitable giving will provide an adequate substitute for public expenditure. The same analytical framework proves effective in predicting a range of policy outcomes.〈section xml:id="abs1-2"〉〈title type="main"〉ZUSAMMENFASSUNGIn zunehmendem Masse wird von Experten behauptet, die Bereitstellung von Wohlfdhrtseinrichtungen sei besser dem privaten Sektor zu überlassen. Die Thatcher-Jahre in Grossbritannien waren mit der Philosophie verhunden, die Verantwortung vom Staat auf den Einzelnen zu verlagern. Zöge sich der Staat aus der Bereitstellung von Wohlfahrtseinrichtungen zurück, würde sich der karitative Sektor aktiver in die Versorgung Bedürftiger einschalten. Laut der ökonomischen Standardtheorie führen Kürzungen öffentlicher Ausgaben zu einem Anstieg privater Spenden und macht sich die steuerliche Absetzbarkeit von Spenden bezahlt. Die Annahme, dass dieser fiskalpolitische Mix zu einem altruistischeren Verhalten der Individuen führt, lässt sich allerdings aus mehreren Gründen hinterfragen. Eine Beurteilung eines Kurswechsels des öffentlichen Sektors, die die Auswirkungen auf die individuellen Präferenzen beinhaltet, stellt die Behauptung in Frage, dass private Spendengelder öffentliche Ausgaben in ausreichendem Masse ersetzen könnten. Der gleiche analytische Rahmen ist ein wirksames Instrument, um weitere politische Ergebnisse vorherzusagen.〈section xml:id="abs1-3"〉〈title type="main"〉RÉSUMÉDe plus en plus souvent, les experts ont soutenu que les services sociaux devaient plutǒt ětre fournis par le secteur privé. Au Royaume Uni, les ‘années Thatcher’étaient associées avec une philosophie prévoyant une plus grand liberté de détcision laissée a l'individu et que, au cas où l'état reduisait la provision des services sociaux, les institutions charitables volontaires deviendraient plus actives pour satisfaire les besoins des ‘marginaux’. Tandis que la théorie economique normale suggère que les réductions des dépenses publiques font augmenter les contributions privées et que les encouragements fiscaux è contribuer è des institutions charitables peuvent se montrer efficaces, des raisons existent pourtant qui contestent le constat qu'une telle combinaison de politiques fiscales ménerait è un comportement individuel pluis altruiste. Une évaluation des changements dans la politique sociale, comprenant l'impacte de ces changements sur les pétférences des individus, met en question le constat que les contributions charitables privées remplacent convenablement les dépenses publiques. Le méme cadre analytique se montre efficace é la prévision d'une gamme d'issus de politique.

Notes: Burkholderia pseudomallei is the causative agent of melioidosis, a serious infectious disease of humans and animals that is endemic in subtropical areas. B. pseudomallei is a facultative intracellular pathogen that may invade and survive within eukaryotic cells for prolonged periods. After internalization, the bacteria escape from endocytic vacuoles into the cytoplasm of infected cells and form membrane protrusions by inducing actin polymerization at one pole. It is believed that survival within phagocytic cells and cell-to-cell spread via actin protrusions is required for full virulence. We have studied the role of a putative type III protein secretion apparatus (Bsa) in the interaction between B. pseudomallei and host cells. The Bsa system is very similar to the Inv/Mxi-Spa type III secretion systems of Salmonella and Shigella. Moreover, B. pseudomallei encodes proteins that are very similar to Salmonella and Shigella Inv/Mxi-Spa secreted proteins required for invasion, escape from endocytic vacuoles, intercellular spread and pathogenesis. Antibodies to putative Bsa-secreted proteins were detected in convalescent serum from a melioidosis patient, suggesting that the system is functionally expressed in vivo. B. pseudomallei mutant strains lacking components of the Bsa secretion and translocation apparatus were constructed. The mutant strains exhibited reduced replication in J774.2 murine macrophage-like cells, an inability to escape from endocytic vacuoles and a complete absence of formation of membrane protrusions and actin tails. These findings indicate that the Bsa type III secretion system plays an essential role in modulating the intracellular behaviour of B. pseudomallei.

Notes: [Auszug] Water vapour is the most important contributor to the natural greenhouse effect, and the amount of water vapour in the atmosphere is expected to increase under conditions of greenhouse-gas-induced warming, leading to a significant feedback on anthropogenic climate change. Theoretical and ...

Notes: [Auszug] According to the current model of adult epidermal homeostasis, skin tissue is maintained by two discrete populations of progenitor cells: self-renewing stem cells; and their progeny, known as transit amplifying cells, which differentiate after several rounds of cell division. By making use of ...

Notes: [Auszug] High-resolution proxies of past climate are essential for a better understanding of the climate system. Tree rings are routinely used to reconstruct Holocene climate variations at high temporal resolution, but only rarely have they offered insight into climate variability during earlier ...

Notes: [Auszug] SIR - Gordon et al' comment, somewhat misleadingly, on the press release issued by the Met Office (jointly for the University of East Anglia) on 1995 global temperatures. We should like to make the following comments. The December 1995 global surface temperature anomaly was a combination of ...

Notes: A xylem-limited bacterium (XLB) previously shown to be associated with Sumatra disease of clove trees was consistently isolated from diseased but not from healthy trees. Isolation of the XLB was most successful using freshly expressed bacterial ooze obtained from root and branch tissues with low to moderate levels of xylem vessel invasion in trees at early stages of disease. XLB were commonly isolated from trees with the rapid form of disease but infrequently from those with slow decline. Bacterial colonies grew slowly on nutrient agar, reaching a maximum diameter of 1 mm in 5-7 days at 28oC. Cells of the bacterium were 0.5-0.6 μm in width and 1.0-1.5 μm in length and did not possess flagella. The bacterial envelope was strongly rippled and Gram negative.

Notes: Progressive atrophic rhinitis is an upper respiratory tract disease of pigs caused by toxigenic strains of the bacterium Pasteurella multocida. In this study the effect of P. multocida on the humoral immune response of pigs and mice was investigated. Pigs were given live intranasal challenge with either a toxigenic strain or a non-toxigenic strain of P. multocida, or were given daily intranasal instillation of a cell-free lysate of the toxigenic strain. Mice were given a live intranasal challenge of either a toxigenic or a non-toxigenic strain of P. multocida. All of the animals were immunised with ovalbumin and serum concentrations of anti-ovalbumin antibodies were quantified and compared between different treatment groups and control animals. Intranasal challenge with toxigenic P. multocida caused a significant reduction in the levels of anti-ovalbumin IgG in both species. A similar effect was seen in pigs given a cell-free extract of toxigenic P. multocida. Whilst the mechanism of this suppression is unclear, we surmise that immunomodulation of the host is an important virulence factor for toxigenic P. multocida, and could be an important function of the toxin. This immunomodulatory effect may enhance colonisation of P. multocida aiding horizontal transmission and may predispose to concurrent infection with other potential pathogens.

Notes: Concluding comments It has been shown that the positive correlation between income and electoral turnout is consistent with an opportunity cost argument. The argument highlights the impact of uncertainty costs generated by a broadening of the powers of government. It has implications for equity inasmuch as such costs are borne differentially. It thereby calls into question public policy with respect to the tax treatment of political participation expenditures.