Women’s Representation in State Politics: Linking Descriptive and Substantive Representation to Health and Economic Policy Outcomes

This paper tests whether women’s descriptive representation in American state legislatures explains variance in policies relevant to women. The relationship between women’s representation and policy is estimated, controlling for alternative explanations of policy adoption including learning from neighboring and politically-similar states, internal economic and political conditions, and state demographics. Following prior research, a single equation instrumental variables model is used to link descriptive and substantive representation, but results do not support the use of a model with endogenous covariates. A simpler model specification demonstrates that women’s descriptive representation in state legislatures improves economic policy but not health policy outcomes. Political party confounds the relationship between gender and health policy outcomes. This paper contributes to the literature by: Using a broader measure of policy outcomes rather than dichotomous measures, examining women’s representation in both executive and legislative branches, demonstrating the role of political party, and linking women’s descriptive and substantive representation

Evaluation of bone excision on occipital area of simulated human skull

Surgical effects of bone and soft tissue tumours, whether for biopsy or full excision have been researched from as early as the 1970’s [1]. These researches though have as main focus the biological (histological) rather the mechanical aspects of the effects [2]. With technological advances in biomedical and biomechanical modelling, a plethora of researchers have been exploring the possibilities of understanding [3] or even predicting musculoskeletal behaviour under different loading conditions [4]. This research is seeking to bridge these two different facets by looking into the mechanical effects bone tumour surgery might have to the structural rigidity of a simulated human skull

Police use-of-force policies should be replaced by those based more closely on legal principles

In the United States, many police forces determine how much force to use when dealing with suspects through a continuum which ranks different levels of force based on resistance. In new research which examines more than 700 use of force incidents in one city, Scott M. Mourtgos, Ian T. Adams and Samuel R. Baty find that there is very little difference in how police use less-lethal force, despite this apparent ranking. They argue that rather than using continuums to determine the level of force to use, US police forces should base their use of force on legal principles

An experimental look at reasonable suspicion and police discretion

Purpose This study aims to demonstrate the need for further examination of legal judgments and the exercise of discretion in policing. Design/methodology/approach A factorial vignette survey with traffic stop scenarios based on US Court of Appeals decisions was administered to 396 police officers across six states. Officers were asked to indicate their assessment of the presence of reasonable suspicion and the likelihood that they would extend the stop for investigatory purposes. Findings Officers\u27 reasonable suspicion judgments are significantly influenced by the vignette facts and align with court ruling expectations. However, even in the presence of reasonable suspicion, responses indicate a limited use of officer discretion to extend the stop. Originality/value Analyses of officer decision-making often rely on large datasets with easy indicators of location, officer demographics and citizen demographics, but rarely consider the facts of individual cases. This study suggests more experimental research is needed to consider the impact of case facts on officer judgments and discretionary activity

Masters Athletes: No Evidence of Increased Incidence of Injury in Football Code Athletes

The World Masters Games, held quadrennially, is the largest international sporting competition in terms of participant numbers. Yet this cohort remains proportionately under investigated. An online survey using an open-source specialized survey application software program was utilized to investigate the 2009 Sydney World Masters Games (SWMG) football code athletes (association football, touch football, rugby union). A total of 931 masters athletes (28.2% response rate, aged 29 - 72 yrs, mean = 47.6, SD ± 7.1, 52.5% male) completed the survey, with touch football reporting the highest incidence of injury (29.2%) followed by rugby (27.0%) and soccer (21.2%). Analyzing injury data (t-tests, chi square) identified patterns in injury location (legs (11.2%, p \u3c 0.01) followed by knees, feet and ankles) and significant (p \u3c 0.01) classification patterns (muscle/tendon strain/tear (13.0%, p \u3c 0.05), inflammation (6.1%), joint pain (6.0%) and ligament sprain/tear (5.8%)). There were also significant differences (p \u3c 0.01) compared to general and elite sporting population data. For masters football athletes at the SWMG, the injury incidence during preparation for the tournament has similarities to, but is in fact significantly less than for these other sporting populations. Some gender and sport based differences in injury location and classification type were identified. There were also no significant age related changes in injury nature (classification type, location, incidence, time off work or training). Therefore these findings do not support the premise of masters football code athletes having a higher incidence of injury as compared to younger athletes

Masters Athletes: No Evidence of Increased Incidence of Injury in Football Code Athletes

The World Masters Games, held quadrennially, is the largest international sporting competition in terms of participant numbers. Yet this cohort remains proportionately under investigated. An online survey using an open-source specialized survey application software program was utilized to investigate the 2009 Sydney World Masters Games (SWMG) football code athletes (association football, touch football, rugby union). A total of 931 masters athletes (28.2% response rate, aged 29 - 72 yrs, mean = 47.6, SD ± 7.1, 52.5% male) completed the survey, with touch football reporting the highest incidence of injury (29.2%) followed by rugby (27.0%) and soccer (21.2%). Analyzing injury data (t-tests, chi square) identified patterns in injury location (legs (11.2%, p \u3c 0.01) followed by knees, feet and ankles) and significant (p \u3c 0.01) classification patterns (muscle/tendon strain/tear (13.0%, p \u3c 0.05), inflammation (6.1%), joint pain (6.0%) and ligament sprain/tear (5.8%)). There were also significant differences (p \u3c 0.01) compared to general and elite sporting population data. For masters football athletes at the SWMG, the injury incidence during preparation for the tournament has similarities to, but is in fact significantly less than for these other sporting populations. Some gender and sport based differences in injury location and classification type were identified. There were also no significant age related changes in injury nature (classification type, location, incidence, time off work or training). Therefore these findings do not support the premise of masters football code athletes having a higher incidence of injury as compared to younger athletes

H3K36 Methylation Regulates Nutrient Stress Response in Saccharomyces cerevisiae by Enforcing Transcriptional Fidelity

Set2-mediated histone methylation at H3K36 regulates diverse activities, including DNA repair, mRNA splicing, and suppression of inappropriate (cryptic) transcription. Although failure of Set2 to suppress cryptic transcription has been linked to decreased lifespan, the extent to which cryptic transcription influences other cellular functions is poorly understood. Here, we uncover a role for H3K36 methylation in the regulation of the nutrient stress response pathway. We found that the transcriptional response to nutrient stress was dysregulated in SET2-deleted (set2Δ) cells and was correlated with genome-wide bi-directional cryptic transcription that originated from within gene bodies. Antisense transcripts arising from these cryptic events extended into the promoters of the genes from which they arose and were associated with decreased sense transcription under nutrient stress conditions. These results suggest that Set2-enforced transcriptional fidelity is critical to the proper regulation of inducible and highly regulated transcription programs

Trends in beverage prices following the introduction of a tax on sugar-sweetened beverages in Barbados.

A 10% excise tax on sugar sweetened beverages (SSBs) was implemented in Barbados in September 2015. A national evaluation has been established to assess the impact of the tax. We present a descriptive analysis of initial price changes following implementation of the SSB tax using price data provided by a major supermarket chain in Barbados over the period 2014-2016. We summarize trends in price changes for SSBs and non-SSBs before and after the tax using year-on-year mean price per liter. We find that prior to the tax, the year-on-year growth of SSB and non-SSB prices was very similar (approximately 1%). During the quarter in which the tax was implemented, the trends diverged, with SSB price growth increasing to 3% and that of non-SSBs decreasing slightly. The growth of SSB prices outpaced non-SSBs prices in each quarter thereafter, reaching 5.9% compared to <1% for non-SSBs. Future analyses will assess the trends in prices of SSBs and non-SSBs over a longer period and will integrate price data from additional sources to assess heterogeneity of post-tax price changes. A continued examination of the impact of the SSB tax in Barbados will expand the evidence base available to policymakers worldwide in considering SSB taxes as a lever for reducing the consumption of added sugar at the population level.Financial support for the analyses presented in this paper was from the US Center for Disease Control and Prevention (TEPHINET). The full evaluation is receiving support from the Canadian International Development Research Centre (grant no. 107604-001), the Pan American Health Organization. MA is funded through a Gates Cambridge PhD Scholarship. JA is funded by the Centre for Diet and Activity Research (CEDAR), a UKCRC Public Health Research Centre of Excellence. Funding from the British Heart Foundation, Cancer Research UK, Economic and Social Research Council, Medical Research Council, the National Institute for Health Research, and the Wellcome Trust, under the auspices of the UK Clinical Research Collaboration, is gratefully acknowledged

Exploring listening-related fatigue in children with and without hearing loss using self-report and parent-proxy measures

Children with hearing loss appear to experience greater fatigue than children with normal hearing (CNH). Listening-related fatigue is often associated with an increase in effortful listening or difficulty in listening situations. This has been observed in children with bilateral hearing loss (CBHL) and, more recently, in children with unilateral hearing loss (CUHL). Available tools for measuring fatigue in children include general fatigue questionnaires such as the child self-report and parent-proxy versions of the PedsQLTM-Multidimensional Fatigue Scale (MFS) and the PROMIS Fatigue Scale. Recently, the Vanderbilt Fatigue Scale (VFS-C: child self-report; VFS-P: parent-proxy report) was introduced with a specific focus on listening-related fatigue. The aims of this study were to compare fatigue levels experienced by CNH, CUHL and CBHL using both generic and listening-specific fatigue measures and compare outcomes from the child self-report and parent-proxy reports. Eighty children aged 6–16 years (32 CNH, 19 CUHL, 29 CBHL), and ninety-nine parents/guardians (39 parents to CNH, 23 parents to CUHL, 37 parents to CBHL), completed the above fatigue questionnaires online. Kruskal-Wallis H tests were performed to compare fatigue levels between the CNH, CUHL and CBHL. To determine the agreement between parent-proxy and child self-report measures, Bland-Altman 95% limits of agreement were performed. All child self-report fatigue measures indicated that CBHL experience greater fatigue than CNH. Only the listening-specific tool (VFS-C) was sufficiently able to show greater fatigue in CUHL than in CNH. Similarly, all parent-proxy measures of fatigue indicated that CBHL experience significantly greater fatigue than CNH. The VFS-P and the PROMIS Fatigue Parent-Proxy also showed greater fatigue in CUHL than in CNH. Agreement between the parent-proxy and child self-report measures were found within the PedsQL-MFS and the PROMIS Fatigue Scale. Our results suggest that CBHL experience greater levels of daily-life fatigue compared to CNH. CUHL also appear to experience more fatigue than CNH, and listening-specific measures of fatigue may be better able to detect this effect. Further research is needed to understand the bases of fatigue in these populations and to clarify whether fatigue experienced by CBHL and CUHL is comparable in nature and degree