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Eleven - Policy analysis at universities and research centres
- Edited by Laura Chaqués-Bonafont, Universitat de Barcelona, Jacint Jordana, Institut Barcelona d'Estudis Internacionals, Spain
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- Book:
- Policy Analysis in Spain
- Published by:
- Bristol University Press
- Published online:
- 13 October 2022
- Print publication:
- 29 April 2022, pp 203-222
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- Chapter
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Summary
Introduction
This chapter discusses the extent to which universities and research centresare providers of policy analysis to the public sector in Spain andidentifies their activities in this domain. To obtain a detailed perspectiveof how they serve as a source of capacity for public policy analysis acrossthe country – advising and supporting the public sector and thepoliticians who lead them – we examine their activities towards thisend from different perspectives. First, we examine the extent to whichpolicy analysis and policy advice are components of knowledge transfer bySpanish universities which support the public sector in a similar way as thetransfer of knowledge to industry and entrepreneurship (Berbegal-Mirabent etal, 2013). Second, we identify which type of research activities andacademic structures are more common in the different academic fields relatedto policy analysis, and which policy areas are more frequently scrutinised.We also identify the growing specialisation among policy analysts andexperts in academia and the different roles of university personal in policyanalysis. Finally, this chapter considers the nature of university–public-sector interactions in Spain and more specifically the collaborationbetween policy-makers and the academics who act as policy analysts.
Among the models that characterise the relation between applied research andpolicy analysis identified by Trow (1984), three models can be highlighted:the percolation model, which considers that researchinspires policy indirectly because outputs contribute to enlightening thepolicy understanding of actors who are involved in policy-making and shapetheir views regarding different alternatives. The second model, called thepolitical demand model, expects the direct or indirectcommissioning of research by policy-makers to eventually justify theirdecisions or just to reinforce some arguments in a particular policy area. Athird one, the collaborative model, can also be definedbased on a different logic of collaboration between academics andpolicy-makers. This model describes the collaboration between scientists andthe administrative structures in the public sector, and how scientists actas network brokers continuously connecting academics and bureaucrats insearch of policy evidence and policy analysis (for example, Doubleday andWilsdon, 2013, or Lambright and Zinke, 1989).
Characterization of the Neospora caninum NcROP40 and NcROP2Fam-1 rhoptry proteins during the tachyzoite lytic cycle
- IVÁN PASTOR-FERNÁNDEZ, JAVIER REGIDOR-CERRILLO, ELENA JIMÉNEZ-RUIZ, GEMA ÁLVAREZ-GARCÍA, VIRGINIA MARUGÁN-HERNÁNDEZ, ANDREW HEMPHILL, LUIS M. ORTEGA-MORA
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- Journal:
- Parasitology / Volume 143 / Issue 1 / January 2016
- Published online by Cambridge University Press:
- 02 November 2015, pp. 97-113
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- Article
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Virulence factors from the ROP2-family have been extensively studied in Toxoplasma gondii, but in the closely related Neospora caninum only NcROP2Fam-1 has been partially characterized to date. NcROP40 is a member of this family and was found to be more abundantly expressed in virulent isolates. Both NcROP2Fam-1 and NcROP40 were evaluated as vaccine candidates and exerted a synergistic effect in terms of protection against vertical transmission in mouse models, which suggests that they may be relevant for parasite pathogenicity. NcROP40 is localized in the rhoptry bulbs of tachyzoites and bradyzoites, but in contrast to NcROP2Fam-1, the protein does not associate with the parasitophorous vacuole membrane due to the lack of arginine-rich amphipathic helix in its sequence. Similarly to NcROP2Fam-1, NcROP40 mRNA levels are highly increased during tachyzoite egress and invasion. However, NcROP40 up-regulation does not appear to be linked to the mechanisms triggering egress. In contrast to NcROP2Fam-1, phosphorylation of NcROP40 was not observed during egress. Besides, NcROP40 secretion into the host cell was not successfully detected by immunofluorescence techniques. These findings indicate that NcROP40 and NcROP2Fam-1 carry out different functions, and highlight the need to elucidate the role of NcROP40 within the lytic cycle and to explain its relative abundance in tachyzoites.