Expertise utilization in project teams: a status-based account of process and performance

Why do some teams fail to use their members’ knowledge effectively, even after they have correctly identified each other’s expertise? Whereas the prevailing assumption in much of the micro-sociology and small groups literature suggests that teams will automatically defer to members who are believed to be experts, I argue that certain circumstances make team members unwilling or unable to use each other’s expertise – even after they have accurately determined who knows what. In particular, my dissertation integrates micro-sociology (status characteristics theory) and small groups research to develop theory about how status dynamics in teams affect team-level expertise recognition and utilization processes and the resulting performance implications. I propose both team factors (shared representations) and task factors (performance pressure) that moderate the relationship between expertise recognition and utilization, and I identify mechanisms through which these factors either hinder or facilitate the process. I refine and test my theory with a multi-method field study across two professional service firms, including six longitudinal case studies of project teams, multi-point surveys of 104 accounting and consulting teams (500+ team members), interviews and surveys with the teams’ managing partners and their actual clients, and archival data. My dissertation advances theory in two major ways. First, I demonstrate that teams do not automatically defer to their resident experts, and I identify conditions under which status dynamics will interfere with effective team-level expertise utilization. This finding has important theoretical implications for both status characteristics theory and for small groups research, and my dissertation develops and tests theory to begin explaining why this process breaks down. Second, by relating group expertise processes to client-rated performance, my research brings a novel perspective to the study of inter-firm relations. Whereas existing literature has shown that high levels of human capital help to maintain positive client relations, I show that the appropriate utilization of team members’ expertise contributes significantly to this outcome, over and above the mere presence of knowledge

An international core outcome set for evaluating interventions to improve informed consent to clinical trials : the ELICIT Study

Funding: KG was supported by an MRC Methodology Research Fellowship (MR/L01193X/1). The views and opinions expressed therein are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect those of the MRC. PRW was funded by the MRC North West Hub for Trials Methodology Research (MR/K025635/1) and the MRC/NIHR Trials Methodology Research Partnership (MR/S014357/1). The Health Services Research Unit is core-funded by the Chief Scientist Office of the Scottish Government Health and Social Care Directorates (CZU/3/3). Acknowledgements: The ELICIT Study team would like to thank Cynthia Fraser for help with developing and running the search strategies for the literature review, the DelphiManager team for all their support and guidance on the use of the Delphi platform, Health Services Research Unit Patient Involvement Group critical review of the Delphi questionnaire before dissemination, Heather Bagley for further comments on the Delphi questionnaire and also for dissemination of the survey information and link to a range of patient facing organisations, and to Beverley Smith for her assistance in organising the consensus meeting. We would also like to thank all participants of the study (including interview participants, Delphi respondents, and consensus meeting members) and organisations who disseminated the survey. Data Sharing: Data from the systematic review and Delphi survey phases of work are available from the corresponding author on request.Peer reviewedPublisher PD

Patterns of genomic and phenomic diversity in wine and table grapes.

Grapes are one of the most economically and culturally important crops worldwide, and they have been bred for both winemaking and fresh consumption. Here we evaluate patterns of diversity across 33 phenotypes collected over a 17-year period from 580 table and wine grape accessions that belong to one of the world's largest grape gene banks, the grape germplasm collection of the United States Department of Agriculture. We find that phenological events throughout the growing season are correlated, and quantify the marked difference in size between table and wine grapes. By pairing publicly available historical phenotype data with genome-wide polymorphism data, we identify large effect loci controlling traits that have been targeted during domestication and breeding, including hermaphroditism, lighter skin pigmentation and muscat aroma. Breeding for larger berries in table grapes was traditionally concentrated in geographic regions where Islam predominates and alcohol was prohibited, whereas wine grapes retained the ancestral smaller size that is more desirable for winemaking in predominantly Christian regions. We uncover a novel locus with a suggestive association with berry size that harbors a signature of positive selection for larger berries. Our results suggest that religious rules concerning alcohol consumption have had a marked impact on patterns of phenomic and genomic diversity in grapes

Genomic, Pathway Network, and Immunologic Features Distinguishing Squamous Carcinomas

This integrated, multiplatform PanCancer Atlas study co-mapped and identified distinguishing molecular features of squamous cell carcinomas (SCCs) from five sites associated with smokin

Pan-Cancer Analysis of lncRNA Regulation Supports Their Targeting of Cancer Genes in Each Tumor Context

Long noncoding RNAs (lncRNAs) are commonly dys-regulated in tumors, but only a handful are known toplay pathophysiological roles in cancer. We inferredlncRNAs that dysregulate cancer pathways, onco-genes, and tumor suppressors (cancer genes) bymodeling their effects on the activity of transcriptionfactors, RNA-binding proteins, and microRNAs in5,185 TCGA tumors and 1,019 ENCODE assays.Our predictions included hundreds of candidateonco- and tumor-suppressor lncRNAs (cancerlncRNAs) whose somatic alterations account for thedysregulation of dozens of cancer genes and path-ways in each of 14 tumor contexts. To demonstrateproof of concept, we showed that perturbations tar-geting OIP5-AS1 (an inferred tumor suppressor) andTUG1 and WT1-AS (inferred onco-lncRNAs) dysre-gulated cancer genes and altered proliferation ofbreast and gynecologic cancer cells. Our analysis in-dicates that, although most lncRNAs are dysregu-lated in a tumor-specific manner, some, includingOIP5-AS1, TUG1, NEAT1, MEG3, and TSIX, synergis-tically dysregulate cancer pathways in multiple tumorcontexts

Spatial Organization and Molecular Correlation of Tumor-Infiltrating Lymphocytes Using Deep Learning on Pathology Images

Beyond sample curation and basic pathologic characterization, the digitized H&E-stained images of TCGA samples remain underutilized. To highlight this resource, we present mappings of tumorinfiltrating lymphocytes (TILs) based on H&E images from 13 TCGA tumor types. These TIL maps are derived through computational staining using a convolutional neural network trained to classify patches of images. Affinity propagation revealed local spatial structure in TIL patterns and correlation with overall survival. TIL map structural patterns were grouped using standard histopathological parameters. These patterns are enriched in particular T cell subpopulations derived from molecular measures. TIL densities and spatial structure were differentially enriched among tumor types, immune subtypes, and tumor molecular subtypes, implying that spatial infiltrate state could reflect particular tumor cell aberration states. Obtaining spatial lymphocytic patterns linked to the rich genomic characterization of TCGA samples demonstrates one use for the TCGA image archives with insights into the tumor-immune microenvironment

Pan-cancer Alterations of the MYC Oncogene and Its Proximal Network across the Cancer Genome Atlas

Although theMYConcogene has been implicated incancer, a systematic assessment of alterations ofMYC, related transcription factors, and co-regulatoryproteins, forming the proximal MYC network (PMN),across human cancers is lacking. Using computa-tional approaches, we define genomic and proteo-mic features associated with MYC and the PMNacross the 33 cancers of The Cancer Genome Atlas.Pan-cancer, 28% of all samples had at least one ofthe MYC paralogs amplified. In contrast, the MYCantagonists MGA and MNT were the most frequentlymutated or deleted members, proposing a roleas tumor suppressors.MYCalterations were mutu-ally exclusive withPIK3CA,PTEN,APC,orBRAFalterations, suggesting that MYC is a distinct onco-genic driver. Expression analysis revealed MYC-associated pathways in tumor subtypes, such asimmune response and growth factor signaling; chro-matin, translation, and DNA replication/repair wereconserved pan-cancer. This analysis reveals insightsinto MYC biology and is a reference for biomarkersand therapeutics for cancers with alterations ofMYC or the PMN

Trial Forge Guidance 2: how to decide if a further Study Within A Trial (SWAT) is needed

The evidence base available to trialists to support trial process decisions—e.g. how best to recruit and retain participants, how to collect data or how to share the results with participants—is thin. One way to fill gaps in evidence is to run Studies Within A Trial, or SWATs. These are self-contained research studies embedded within a host trial that aim to evaluate or explore alternative ways of delivering or organising a particular trial process. SWATs are increasingly being supported by funders and considered by trialists, especially in the UK and Ireland. At some point, increasing SWAT evidence will lead funders and trialists to ask: given the current body of evidence for a SWAT, do we need a further evaluation in another host trial? A framework for answering such a question is needed to avoid SWATs themselves contributing to research waste. This paper presents criteria on when enough evidence is available for SWATs that use randomised allocation to compare different interventions

Reducing child abuse amongst adolescents in low- and middle-income countries:A pre-post trial in South Africa

Background: No known studies have tested the effectiveness of child abuse prevention programmes for adolescents in low- or middle-income countries. ‘Parenting for Lifelong Health’ (http://tiny.cc/whoPLH) is a collaborative project to develop and rigorously test abuse-prevention parenting programmes for free use in low-resource contexts. Research aims of this first pre-post trial in South Africa were: i) to identify indicative effects of the programme on child abuse and related outcomes; ii) to investigate programme safety for testing in a future randomised trial, and iii) to identify potential adaptations. Methods: 230 participants (adolescents and their primary caregivers) were recruited from schools, welfare services and community-sampling in rural, high-poverty South Africa (no exclusion criteria). All participated in a 12-week parenting programme, implemented by local NGO childcare workers to ensure real-world external validity. Standardised pre-post measures with adolescents and caregivers were used, and paired t-tests were conducted for primary outcomes: abuse (physical, emotional and neglect), adolescent behaviour problems and parenting (positive and involved parenting, poor monitoring and inconsistent discipline), and secondary outcomes: mental health, social support and substance use. Results: Participants reported high levels of socio-economic deprivation, e.g. 60% of adolescents had either an HIV-positive caregiver or were orphaned by AIDS, and 50% of caregivers experienced intimate partner violence. i) indicative effects: Primary outcomes comparing pre-test and post-test assessments showed reductions reported by adolescents and caregivers in child abuse (adolescent report 63.0% pre-test to 29.5% post-test, caregiver report 75.5% pre-test to 36.5% post-test, both p<0.001) poor monitoring/inconsistent discipline (p<.001), adolescent delinquency/ aggressive behaviour (both p<.001), and improvements in positive/involved parenting (p<.01 adolescent report, p<.001 caregiver report). Secondary outcomes showed improved social support (p<.001 adolescent and caregiver reports), reduced parental and adolescent depression (both p<.001), parenting stress (p<.001 caregiver report) and caregiver substance use (p<.002 caregiver report). There were no changes in adolescent substance use. No negative effects were detected. ii) Programme acceptability and attendance was high. There was unanticipated programme diffusion within some study villages, with families initiating parenting groups in churches, and diffusion through school assemblies and religious sermons. iii) potential adaptations identified included the need to strengthen components on adolescent substance use and to consider how to support spontaneous programme diffusion with fidelity. Conclusions: The programme showed no signs of harm and initial evidence of reductions in child abuse and improved caregiver and adolescent outcomes. It showed high acceptability and unexpected community-level diffusion. Findings indicate needs for adaptations, and suitability for the next research step of more rigorous testing in randomised trials, using cluster randomization to allow for diffusion effects