An empirical investigation of price competition and industry specialisation in NHS audit services

The NHS audit market is regulated by the Audit Commission (AC) and has unique features. We develop a model for audit fees that includes rigorous analysis of the type of auditor. Poor financial standing does not give rise to higher audit fees. Despite regulation the study supports the existence of a Big Five price premium on the audit fee, but only one firm has a premium. We found no premium due to industry specialisation. The removal of performance audit from AC regulation will require improved audit fee reporting and control.

Aspects of specialisation in private architectural practice

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The Descent of Pluto: Interactive dynamics, specialisation and reciprocity of roles in a Wikipedia debate

International audience

Drivers and fitness consequences of individual and sexual foraging specialisation in fur seals

What did you eat today? Yesterday? Do you think the person on your right had similar meals? Probably not! Similar variability exists in wild animals. During my PhD, I studied variation in feeding strategies among individuals of a same population, focusing on the main drivers and consequences in fur seals.

Using data mining to improve building life cycle

The building life cycle process is complex and prone to fragmentation as it moves through its various stages. The number of participants, and the diversity, specialisation and isolation both in space and time of their activities, have dramatically increased over time. The data generated within the construction industry has become increasingly overwhelming. Most currently available computer tools for the building industry have offered productivity improvement in the transmission of graphical drawings and textual specifications, without addressing more fundamental changes in building life cycle management. Facility managers and building owners are primarily concerned with highlighting areas of existing or potential maintenance problems in order to be able to improve the building performance, satisfying occupants and minimising turnover especially the operational cost of maintenance. In doing so, they collect large amounts of data that is stored in the building’s maintenance database. The work described in this paper is targeted at adding value to the design and maintenance of buildings by turning maintenance data into information and knowledge. Data mining technology presents an opportunity to increase significantly the rate at which the volumes of data generated through the maintenance process can be turned into useful information. This can be done using classification algorithms to discover patterns and correlations within a large volume of data. This paper presents how and what data mining techniques can be applied on maintenance data of buildings to identify the impediments to better performance of building assets. It demonstrates what sorts of knowledge can be found in maintenance records. The benefits to the construction industry lie in turning passive data in databases into knowledge that can improve the efficiency of the maintenance process and of future designs that incorporate that maintenance knowledge.

TaNF-YB3 is involved in the regulation of photosynthesis genes in Triticum aestivum

Nuclear Factor Y (NF-Y) transcription factor is a heterotrimer comprised of three subunits: NF-YA, NF-YB and NF-YC. Each of the three subunits in plants is encoded by multiple genes with differential expression profiles, implying the functional specialisation of NF-Y subunit members in plants. In this study, we investigated the roles of NF-YB members in the light-mediated regulation of photosynthesis genes. We identified two NF-YB members from Triticum aestivum (TaNF-YB3 & 7) which were markedly upregulated by light in the leaves and seedling shoots using quantitative RT-PCR. A genome-wide coexpression analysis of multiple Affymetrix Wheat Genome Array datasets revealed that TaNF-YB3-coexpressed transcripts were highly enriched with the Gene Ontology term photosynthesis. Transgenic wheat lines constitutively overexpressing TaNF-YB3 had a significant increase in the leaf chlorophyll content, photosynthesis rate and early growth rate. Quantitative RT-PCR analysis showed that the expression levels of a number of TaNF-YB3-coexpressed transcripts were elevated in the transgenic wheat lines. The mRNA level of TaGluTR encoding glutamyl-tRNA reductase, which catalyses the rate limiting step of the chlorophyll biosynthesis pathway, was significantly increased in the leaves of the transgenic wheat. Significant increases in the expression level in the transgenic plant leaves were also observed for four photosynthetic apparatus genes encoding chlorophyll a/b-binding proteins (Lhca4 and Lhcb4) and photosystem I reaction center subunits (subunit K and subunit N), as well as for a gene coding for chloroplast ATP synthase  subunit. These results indicate that TaNF-YB3 is involved in the positive regulation of a number of photosynthesis genes in wheat.