The Acquired Rights Directive and Compulsory Competitive Tendering in the UK: An Economic Perspective

This paper considers neglected economic aspects of the conflict between the desire of EU Member States to extend competitive tendering in their public sectors and EC law which guarantees terms and conditions of employment for workers who are transferred to a new employer. Whilst the Acquired Rights Directive explicitly contains reference to economic considerations, the debate concerning its revision has largely neglected economic analysis. Concentrating upon UK experience, we show how differences in the interpretation of the term economic in the Directive can give rise to a clash between principles of economic and legal decision-making.     

Modeling Risk for Intimate Partner Violence among Recent-Era Veteran-Partner Dyads

Using an actor-partner interdependence model, we examined whether veterans’ posttraumatic stress symptoms (PTSS) contributed to partners’ drug abuse symptoms, whether partners’ drug abuse symptoms contributed to intimate partner violence (IPV) perpetration, and whether drug abuse symptoms mediated PTSS-IPV perpetration associations. Participants were recent-era veterans who participated in the Mid-Atlantic Mental Illness Research, Education and Clinical Center Post-Deployment Mental Health study. Veterans who took part at one site and their partners (N = 49 couples) completed a follow-up study in which drug abuse symptoms and IPV perpetration were assessed. Veterans’ PTSS contributed to veterans’ drug abuse symptoms. Veterans’ drug abuse symptoms were associated with their IPV perpetration (i.e., an actor effect) and their partners’ IPV perpetration (i.e., a crossover effect). Drug abuse symptoms mediated the association between veterans’ PTSS and partners’ reports of IPV perpetration. Findings suggest complex relationships between PTSS, drug abuse problems and IPV perpetration among these dyads.     

Asia-Pacific regionalism and preferential trade agreements: the Australian case

Since the late 1990s, many developed states and customs territorieshave been seeking out preferential trade deals. This articleexamines this trend, which has been especially evident in theAsia-Pacific, and focuses specifically on Australia as a leadingexponent of preferentialism in the region. The article has twodistinct aims. First, to shed light on the thinking behind Australia'sforeign economic policy and, specifically, to examine the motivationsfor moving away from multilateral and non-discriminatory meansof advancing its free trade agenda in the region. Second, itaims to examine the developing dynamics of regional economicco-operation in the Asia-Pacific given the stasis of existinginstitutional efforts. This paper begins with a brief examinationof the regional context and Australia's approach to trade policy.It then considers the nature of Australia's preferential bilateralismand its aims and motivations. The article shows that Australianpolicy-makers believe that preferential agreements can providetrade creation through market access, as well as broader benefitswhich derive from market expansion. Australia is motivated topursue preferentialism by concern about existing institutions,by the technical appeal of bilateral agreements, and by thebroader trend toward preferentialism in the international system,as well as shifts in its own domestic politics. The paper concludeswith a short examination of the character of regionalism inthe Asia-Pacific in the light of burgeoning regional bilateralism.     

Optimization of DNA extraction from low-yield and degraded samples using the BioRobot EZ1 and BioRobot M48

Robotic extraction of DNA from dilutions of blood and semen using either the BioRobots EZ1 or BioRobots M48 consistently produced lower recoveries than standard organic extractions of the same samples. In an effort to increase the efficiency of robotically extracted DNA, glycogen and carrier RNA were added following cell lysis. The addition of glycogen, postlysis, resulted in no improvement in DNA recovery with the BioRobot EZ1. However, when carrier RNA was added to the cell lysate of limited and degraded samples extracted on the EZ1 or the M48, DNA recoveries dramatically increased four- to 20-fold. DNA yields obtained by robotic extraction in the presence of carrier RNA were as high, or higher, as those obtained by organic extraction lacking carrier RNA, while experiments that utilized carrier RNA in both types of extractions showed increased sensitivity for both methods. Furthermore, carrier RNA substantially increased the recovery of fragmented DNA with the EZ1.     

Disparate Measures: Public Managers and Performance-Measurement Strategies

Over the past two decades, many studies have investigated the scope and significance of performance measurement in public organizations. Nonetheless, there is more to learn about the challenges facing public managers who want to measure organizational outputs and use the feedback to improve performance. Specifically, managers are often faced with redundant measures of the same output, each of which may be preferred by a different political principal or stakeholder. Furthermore, a manager's choice of measures can have serious consequences for both the estimation of agency problems and the success of programmatic solutions. We test these assertions in an analysis of educational organizations in Texas. We find that managers' assessments of organizational performance and decisions regarding solutions depend on the choice of performance measures.     

Framing Andijon,narrating the nation: Islam Karimov's account of the events of 13 May 2005

Tashkent's handling of anti-government protests and violence in the city of Andijon on 13 May 2005 has generated enormous controversy and had significant political repercussions. However, there has been no detailed analysis of rival interpretations of what happened. This paper begins to redress this lacuna by analysing a book on the subject authored by the President of Uzbekistan, Islam Karimov. Using framing theory, it identifies four key themes deployed in the narrative to delegitimize the government's opponents: terrorism and criminality; inauthentic Uzbekness and deviant masculinity/religiosity; constitutional illegitimacy; and the subversion of the scientific laws of states. Significantly for an understanding of regime legitimization and nationalism in Uzbekistan, no recourse is made to the government's intellectual framework known as the ‘ideology of national independence’. The paper points to the need for further research to enable scholars to develop a deeper and more nuanced understanding of the contemporary politicization of national belonging in independent Uzbekistan.