Loyalism, Women and Standpoint Theory

Most recent studies of Loyalism in Northern Ireland have focused on the nature and development of Loyalist paramilitaries and their methods, ideology and attitudes to the peace process. This article argues that the nature of Loyalist paramilitarism is primarily masculinist and that there is a perspective that has gone generally unheard from women in Loyalist communities. Using standpoint theory, evidence from interviews with women in Loyalist communities associated with Belfast is analysed and a picture is formed that suggests that there are gendered attitudes towards women who become involved in the conflict through paramilitary organisations and that paramilitaries are not representative of their communities. It is concluded that researchers need to bear in mind the gender dimensions of their work and be aware of who is present and who is absent when research is being carried out.

Policy Transfer and the Sustainability of Public Private Partnership in Ireland::A conceptual analysis

There has been private sector involvement in the delivery of public services in the Irish State since its foundation. This involvement was formalised in 1998 when Public Private Partnership (PPP) was officially introduced. Ireland is a latecomer to PPP and, prior to the credit crisis, was seen as a ‘rapid follower’ relying primarily on the UK PPP model in the procurement of infrastructure in transport, education, housing/urban regeneration and water/wastewater.  PPP activity in Ireland stalled during the credit crisis, and some projects were cancelled, but it has taken off again recently with part of the Infrastructure and Capital Investment Plan 2016 – 2021 to be delivered through PPP showing continuing political commitment to PPP.  Ireland’s interest in PPP cannot be explained by economic rationale alone, as PPP was initiated during a period of prosperity. We consider three alternative explanations: voluntary adoption – where the UK model was closely followed; coercive adoption – where PPP policy was forced upon Ireland; and institutional isomorphism – where institutional creation and change was promoted to aid public sector organisations in gaining institutional legitimacy. We find evidence of all three patterns, with coercive adoption becoming more relevant in recent years. Ireland’s rapid uptake of PPP differs from other European countries, mostly because when PPP was introduced in 1998, the Irish State was in an economic position where it could have directly procured necessary infrastructure. This paper therefore asks why PPP was adopted and how this adoption pattern has affected the sustainability of PPP in Ireland.  This paper defines PPP; examines the background to the PPP approach adopted in Ireland; outlines the theoretical framework of the paper: transfer theory and institutional theory; discusses the methodology; reports on findings and gives conclusions.   

Vasodilator-Stimulated Phosphoprotein (VASP)-dependent and -independent pathways regulate thrombin-induced activation of Rap1b in platelets

Background: Vasodilator-Stimulated Phosphoprotein (VASP) is involved in the inhibition of agonist-induced platelet aggregation by cyclic nucleotides and the adhesion of platelets to the vascular wall. αIIbβ3 is the main integrin responsible for platelet activation and Rap1b plays a key role in integrin signalling. We investigated whether VASP is involved in the regulation of Rap1b in platelets since VASP-null platelets exhibit augmented adhesion to endothelial cells in vivo.

Methods: Washed platelets from wild type and VASP-deficient mice were stimulated with thrombin, the purinergic receptors agonist ADP, or the thromboxane A2 receptor agonist U46619 and Rap1b activation was measured using the GST-RalGDS-RBD binding assay. Interaction of VASP and Crkl was investigated by co-immunoprecipitation, confocal microscopy, and pull-down assays using Crkl domains expressed as GST-fusion proteins.

Results: Surprisingly, we found that activation of Rap1b in response to thrombin, ADP, or U46619 was significantly reduced in platelets from VASP-null mice compared to platelets from wild type mice. However, inhibition of thrombin-induced activation of Rap1b by nitric oxide was similar in platelets from wild type and VASP-null mice indicating that the NO/cGMP/PKG pathway controls inhibition of Rap1b independently from VASP. To understand how VASP regulated Rap1b, we investigated association between VASP and the Crk-like protein (Crkl), an adapter protein which activates the Rap1b guanine nucleotide exchange factor C3G. We demonstrated the formation of a Crkl/VASP complex by showing that: 1) Crkl co-immunoprecipitated VASP from platelet lysates; 2) Crkl and VASP dynamically co-localized at actin-rich protrusions reminiscent of focal adhesions, filopodia, and lamellipodia upon platelet spreading on fibronectin; 3) recombinant VASP bound directly to the N-terminal SH3 domain of Crkl; 4) PKA-mediated VASP phosphorylation on Ser157 abrogated the binding of Crkl.

Conclusions: We identified Crkl as a novel protein interacting with VASP in platelets. We propose that the C3G/Crkl/VASP complex plays a role in the regulation of Rap1b and this explains, at least in part, the reduced agonist-induced activation of Rap1b in VASP-null platelets. In addition, the fact that PKA-dependent VASP phosphorylation abrogated its interaction with Crkl may provide, at least in part, a rationale for the PKA-dependent inhibition of Rap1b and platelet aggregation.