Do Better Committee Assignments Meaningfully Benefit Legislators? Evidence from a Randomized Experiment in the Arkansas State Legislature

A large literature argues that the committee assignment process plays an important role in shaping legislative politics because some committees provide legislators with substantial benefits. However, evaluating the degree to which legislators benefit from winning their preferred assignments has been challenging with existing data. This paper sheds light on the benefits legislators accrue from winning their preferred committee assignments by exploiting rules in Arkansas' state legislature, where legislators select their own committee assignments in a randomized order. The natural experiment indicates that legislators reap at most limited rewards from winning their preferred assignments. These results potentially raise questions about the robustness of widely held assumptions in literatures on party discipline and legislative organization

Queering lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender identities in human resource development and management education contexts

Taking human resource development as its primary context, this article asks, ‘How can scholars mobilise queer theory concepts to move beyond treating lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender identities as binaried, bounded and stable categories?’ While human resource development scholarship has made important, albeit limited, progress here, this article provides a review of queer theory to help scholars engage more deeply with some of its key concepts and theoretical resources to that end. In particular, one of this article’s main contributions is advancing the nascent in-roads Judith Butler’s writing has made into human resource development, management education and learning by linking her theory of gender performativity with the notion of cultural intelligibility. The aim of the article is to show how lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender identity categories can be destabilised so that they can be examined queerly: performatively constituted and permanently open to contestation and resignification. Crucially, the wider applications and implications of queer theory are drawn out, such as how queer pedagogy can inform management education. This article also highlights possibilities for management learning scholars to queer other identities (e.g. heterosexual), organisations and modes of organising

A new small-bodied azhdarchoid pterosaur from the Lower Cretaceous of England and its implications for pterosaur anatomy, diversity and phylogeny

BACKGROUND: Pterosaurs have been known from the Cretaceous sediments of the Isle of Wight (southern England, United Kingdom) since 1870. We describe the three-dimensional pelvic girdle and associated vertebrae of a small near-adult pterodactyloid from the Atherfield Clay Formation (lower Aptian, Lower Cretaceous). Despite acknowledged variation in the pterosaur pelvis, previous studies have not adequately sampled or incorporated pelvic characters into phylogenetic analyses. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: The new specimen represents the new taxon Vectidraco daisymorrisae gen. et sp. nov., diagnosed by the presence of a concavity posterodorsal to the acetabulum and the form of its postacetabular process on the ilium. Several characters suggest that Vectidraco belongs to Azhdarchoidea. We constructed a pelvis-only phylogenetic analysis to test whether the pterosaur pelvis carries a useful phylogenetic signal. Resolution in recovered trees was poor, but they approximately matched trees recovered from analyses of total evidence. We also added Vectidraco and our pelvic characters to an existing total-evidence matrix for pterosaurs. Both analyses recovered Vectidraco within Azhdarchoidea. CONCLUSIONS/ SIGNIFICANCE: The Lower Cretaceous strata of western Europe have yielded members of several pterosaur lineages, but Aptian pterosaurs from western Europe are rare. With a pelvis length of 40 mm, the new animal would have had a total length of c. 350 mm, and a wingspan of c. 750 mm. Barremian and Aptian pterodactyloids from western Europe show that small-bodied azhdarchoids lived alongside ornithocheirids and istiodactylids. This assemblage is similar in terms of which lineages are represented to the coeval beds of Liaoning, China; however, the number of species and specimens present at Liaoning is much higher. While the general phylogenetic composition of western European and Chinese communities appear to have been approximately similar, the differences may be due to different palaeoenvironmental and depositional settings. The western Europe pterodactyloid record may therefore be artificially low in diversity due to preservational factors

Health Impacts Model

This report presents the draft outline of the CORFU Health Impacts Model. The model consists of assessing the risk to human health in four steps: Hazard identification Hazard characterisation (or dose-response assessment) Exposure assessment Risk characterisation The health impacts model has four components. The first of these is the risk to human life component, and adapts a model developed in the FLOODsite project to estimate the number of deaths and injuries that could be caused by flooding. The next component relates to waterborne diseases and illnesses that can be assessed by means of a Quantitative Microbial Risk Assessment. Thirdly, the model takes account of other diseases (such as those transmitted by vectors) and suggests the use of relative risk information to estimate the impact of this disease. A similar approach is suggested to consider the mental health impacts of flooding. Finally, the report describes how the health risks could be characterised using the Disability Adjusted Life Year (DALY).The work described in this publication was supported by the European Community’s Seventh Framework Programme through the grant to the budget of CORFU Collaborative Research on Flood Resilience in Urban Areas, Contract 244047

The use of adipose stem cells in cranial facial surgery

Craniofacial malformations, have devastating psychosocial implications for many adults and children and causes huge socioeconomic burden. Currently craniofacial defects require soft tissue transfer, bone grafting techniques or difficult procedures such as microvascular free flaps. Such tissues are often limited in quantity, their harvest causes secondary large donor site defects and they lack the capability to fully restore previous form and function. Stem cell technology is being utilised for various tissue and organs of the body and consequently surgeons are eager to transfer these principles for craniofacial surgery. Adipose derived stem cells (ADSCs) are an exciting stem cell source for craniofacial surgeons due to their easy and painless isolation, relatively large abundance and familiarity with the harvesting procedure. ADSCs also have multiple desirable properties including adipogenic, osteogenic and chondrogenic potential, enhancement of angiogenesis and immunodulatory function. Due to these advantageous characteristics, ASDCs have been explored to repair craniofacial bone, soft tissue and cartilage. The desirable characteristics of ADSCs for craniofacial surgical applications will be explained. We report the experimental and clinical studies that have explored the use of ADSCs for bone, cartilage and soft tissue craniofacial defects. We conclude by establishing the key questions that are preventing the clinical application of ADSCs for craniofacial surgery

Adherence to Post-polypectomy Surveillance Guidelines at a Large District General Hospital

This is the final version. Available on open access from Springer Nature via the DOI in this recordIntroduction In 2020, the British Society of Gastroenterologists (BSG), the Association of Coloproctology of Great Britain and Ireland (ACPGBI), and Public Health England (PHE) published joint guidelines regarding post-polypectomy surveillance. This study aimed to establish clinician adherence at the Royal Devon University Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust to the 2020 guidelines compared to the now-retired 2010 guidelines. Materials and Methods Data on 152 patients treated under the 2010 guidelines and 133 patients treated under the 2020 guidelines were collected retrospectively from the hospital’s colonoscopy database. Data were analysed to determine whether patients who had a colonoscopy fulfilled BSG/ACPGBI/PHE guidelines for follow-up. Costs were estimated using the price of colonoscopy in the NHS National Schedule. Results Approximately 41.4% (63/152) of patients were adherent to the 2010 guidelines while 66.2% (88/133) of patients were adherent to the 2020 guidelines. The difference in adherence rate was 24.7% (95% confidence interval 13.5% - 35.9%, p<0.0001). Nearly 37% (35/95) of patients who would have been followed up under the 2010 guidelines did not receive any follow-up as a result of the 2020 guidelines. This represents a cost saving of £36,892.28 per year in our hospital. Approximately 47% (28/60) of patients treated under the 2020 guidelines had surveillance colonoscopy planned when the guidelines recommended no follow-up. If every clinician were fully adherent to the 2020 guidelines, then a further £29,513.82 per year would have been saved. Discussion and Conclusion Following the introduction of the 2020 guidelines, adherence to polyp surveillance guidelines increased in our hospital. However, nearly half of the colonoscopies were performed unnecessarily due to non-adherence. Furthermore, our results demonstrate that the 2020 guidelines have decreased the need for follow-up.National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR

Further evidence for the involvement of EFL1 in a Shwachman-Diamond-like syndrome and expansion of the phenotypic features.

Recent evidence has implicated EFL1 in a phenotype overlapping Shwachman-Diamond syndrome (SDS), with the functional interplay between EFL1 and the previously known causative gene SBDS accounting for the similarity in clinical features. Relatively little is known about the phenotypes associated with pathogenic variants in the EFL1 gene, but the initial indication was that phenotypes may be more severe, when compared with SDS. We report a pediatric patient who presented with a metaphyseal dysplasia and was found to have biallelic variants in EFL1 on reanalysis of trio whole-exome sequencing data. The variant had not been initially reported because of the research laboratory's focus on de novo variants. Subsequent phenotyping revealed variability in her manifestations. Although her metaphyseal abnormalities were more severe than in the original reported cohort with EFL1 variants, the bone marrow abnormalities were generally mild, and there was equivocal evidence for pancreatic insufficiency. Despite the limited number of reported patients, variants in EFL1 appear to cause a broader spectrum of symptoms that overlap with those seen in SDS. Our report adds to the evidence of EFL1 being associated with an SDS-like phenotype and provides information adding to our understanding of the phenotypic variability of this disorder. Our report also highlights the value of exome data reanalysis when a diagnosis is not initially apparent

Argon plasma improves the tissue integration and angiogenesis of subcutaneous implants by modifying surface chemistry and topography

Background: Tissue integration and vessel formation are important criteria for the successful implantation of synthetic biomaterials for subcutaneous implantation. Objective: We report the optimization of plasma surface modification (PSM) using argon (Ar), oxygen (O2 ) and nitrogen (N2 ) gases of a polyurethane polymer to enhance tissue integration and angiogenesis. Methods: The scaffold’s bulk and surface characteristics were compared before and after PSM with either Ar, O2 and N2 . The viability and adhesion of human dermal fibroblasts (HDFs) on the modified scaffolds were compared. The formation of extracellular matrix by the HDFs on the modified scaffolds was evaluated. Scaffolds were subcutaneously implanted in a mouse model for 3 months to analyze tissue integration, angiogenesis and capsule formation. Results: Surface analysis demonstrated that interfacial modification (chemistry, topography and wettability) achieved by PSM is unique and varies according to the gas used. O2 plasma led to extensive changes in interfacial properties, whereas Ar treatment caused moderate changes. N2 plasma caused the least effect on surface chemistry of the polymer. PSM-treated scaffolds significantly (P,0.05) enhanced HDF activity and growth over 21 days. Among all three gases, Ar modification showed the highest protein adsorption. Ar-modified scaffolds also showed a significant upregulation of adhesion-related proteins (vinculin, focal adhesion kinase, talin and paxillin; P,0.05) and extracellular matrix marker genes (collagen type I, fibronectin, laminin and elastin) and deposition of associated proteins by the HDFs. Subcutaneous implantation after 3 months demonstrated the highest tissue integration and angiogenesis and the lowest capsule formation on Ar-modified scaffolds compared with O2 - and N2 -modified scaffolds. Conclusion: PSM using Ar is a cost-effective and efficient method to improve the tissue integration and angiogenesis of subcutaneous implant

Multicenter data acquisition made easy

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>The process for data collection in multicenter trials may be troublesome and expensive. We report our experience with the spreadsheet function in Googledocs for this purpose.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>In Googledocs the data manager creates a form similar to the paper case record form, which will function as a decentral data entry module. When the forms are submitted, they are presented in a spreadsheet in Googledocs, which can be exported to different standard spreadsheet formats.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>For a multicenter randomized clinical trial with five different participating hospitals we created a decentral data entry module using the spreadsheet function in Googledocs. The study comprised 332 patients (clinicaltrials.gov identifier: NCT00815698) with five visits per patient. One person at each study site entered data from the original paper based case report forms which were kept at the study sites as originals. We did not experience any technical problems using the system.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>The system allowed for decentral data entry, and it was easy to use, safe, and free of charge. The spreadsheet function in Googledocs may potentially replace current expensive solutions for data acquisition in multicenter trials.</p> <p>Trial registration</p> <p>clinicaltrials.gov NCT00815698</p

EpiCollect: Linking Smartphones to Web Applications for Epidemiology, Ecology and Community Data Collection

Epidemiologists and ecologists often collect data in the field and, on returning to their laboratory, enter their data into a database for further analysis. The recent introduction of mobile phones that utilise the open source Android operating system, and which include (among other features) both GPS and Google Maps, provide new opportunities for developing mobile phone applications, which in conjunction with web applications, allow two-way communication between field workers and their project databases.Here we describe a generic framework, consisting of mobile phone software, EpiCollect, and a web application located within www.spatialepidemiology.net. Data collected by multiple field workers can be submitted by phone, together with GPS data, to a common web database and can be displayed and analysed, along with previously collected data, using Google Maps (or Google Earth). Similarly, data from the web database can be requested and displayed on the mobile phone, again using Google Maps. Data filtering options allow the display of data submitted by the individual field workers or, for example, those data within certain values of a measured variable or a time period.Data collection frameworks utilising mobile phones with data submission to and from central databases are widely applicable and can give a field worker similar display and analysis tools on their mobile phone that they would have if viewing the data in their laboratory via the web. We demonstrate their utility for epidemiological data collection and display, and briefly discuss their application in ecological and community data collection. Furthermore, such frameworks offer great potential for recruiting 'citizen scientists' to contribute data easily to central databases through their mobile phone