Do editors favor their students' work? A test of undue favoritism in top economics journals

This paper asks whether students with top journal editors as dissertation advisors observe statistical advantages in publishing over students without top journal editors as dissertation advisors. We analyze early-career publication histories of nearly 2,000 graduates from top 30 economics programs in the early 1990s. We find that students who work with QJE editors average significantly higher values over four common measures of general research productivity than otherwise similar students and that students of QJE editors average significantly more AER and QJE publications. We further find that both students of ReStat editors and students of Econometrica editors average statistically more ReStat articles. Our results appear to reject the argument that top journal editors exhibit undue favoritism in the publication process with regards to their former students.Dissertation Advisor; Research Productivity

A DESCRIPTIVE AND ECONOMETRIC ANALYSIS OF ANNUAL SALARIES, GENDER, EXPERIENCE, AND PEER-REVIEWED PUBLICATION HISTORIES WITHIN TOP-RANKED AGRICULTURAL ECONOMICS PROGRAMS

Utilizing an original data set containing annual salaries and peer-reviewed publication histories for 328 faculty members we examine the labor market for academic agricultural economists. Our descriptive analysis shows that while the profession remains male-dominated, females are making significant inroads at the lower academic ranks, the profession is relatively top-heavy, with nearly two-thirds of the faculty in our data set currently holding the rank of full professor, differences in annual salary exist primarily for faculty at Top 6 programs, and then primarily for full professors. Our regression analysis suggests that controlling for publication history there are neither statistically significant negative returns to increased tenure nor statistically significant negative returns to gender, holding all else constant.Teaching/Communication/Extension/Profession,

Women Helping Women in Agricultural Economics? Same-Gender Mentoring and Early Career Research Productivity for Agricultural Economics Ph.D.s

This paper is the first to empirically examine the degree to which student outcomes differ across gender-mentorship configurations for agricultural economics Ph.D. recipients. Using a Negative Binomial regression model, we find that female students working with male advisors average statistically fewer total publications in their early careers than men working with male advisors.Teaching/Communication/Extension/Profession,

ON THE RETURN TO JOURNAL QUALITY, COAUTHORSHIP AND AUTHOR ORDER WITHIN TOP RANKED AGRICULTURAL ECONOMICS PROGRAMS

Utilizing an original data set containing annual salaries and peer-reviewed publication histories for 326 faculty members from top-ranked Ph.D.-granting programs we examine the labor market for academic agricultural economists. The results suggest that higher quality publications have a greater impact on annual earnings, that sole authored articles have a higher return than multi-authored articles and that no wage premium exists for being the lead author of a non-alphabetic paper.Teaching/Communication/Extension/Profession,

Group A Streptococcus Secreted Esterase Hydrolyzes Platelet-Activating Factor to Impede Neutrophil Recruitment and Facilitate Innate Immune Evasion

The innate immune system is the first line of host defense against invading organisms. Thus, pathogens have developed virulence mechanisms to evade the innate immune system. Here, we report a novel means for inhibition of neutrophil recruitment by Group A Streptococcus (GAS). Deletion of the secreted esterase gene (designated sse) in M1T1 GAS strains with (MGAS5005) and without (MGAS2221) a null covS mutation enhances neutrophil ingress to infection sites in the skin of mice. In trans expression of SsE in MGAS2221 reduces neutrophil recruitment and enhances skin invasion. The sse deletion mutant of MGAS5005 (ΔsseMGAS5005) is more efficiently cleared from skin than the parent strain. SsE hydrolyzes the sn-2 ester bond of platelet-activating factor (PAF), converting biologically active PAF into inactive lyso-PAF. KM and kcat of SsE for hydrolysis of 2-thio-PAF were similar to those of the human plasma PAF acetylhydrolase. Treatment of PAF with SsE abolishes the capacity of PAF to induce activation and chemotaxis of human neutrophils. More importantly, PAF receptor-deficient mice significantly reduce neutrophil infiltration to the site of ΔsseMGAS5005 infection. These findings identify the first secreted PAF acetylhydrolase of bacterial pathogens and support a novel GAS evasion mechanism that reduces phagocyte recruitment to sites of infection by inactivating PAF, providing a new paradigm for bacterial evasion of neutrophil responses

A predictive in vitro model of the impact of drugs with anticholinergic properties on human neuronal and astrocytic systems

The link between off-target anticholinergic effects of medications and acute cognitive impairment in older adults requires urgent investigation. We aimed to determine whether a relevant in vitro model may aid the identification of anticholinergic responses to drugs and the prediction of anticholinergic risk during polypharmacy. In this preliminary study we employed a co-culture of human-derived neurons and astrocytes (NT2.N/A) derived from the NT2 cell line. NT2.N/A cells possess much of the functionality of mature neurons and astrocytes, key cholinergic phenotypic markers and muscarinic acetylcholine receptors (mAChRs). The cholinergic response of NT2 astrocytes to the mAChR agonist oxotremorine was examined using the fluorescent dye fluo-4 to quantitate increases in intracellular calcium [Ca2+]i. Inhibition of this response by drugs classified as severe (dicycloverine, amitriptyline), moderate (cyclobenzaprine) and possible (cimetidine) on the Anticholinergic Cognitive Burden (ACB) scale, was examined after exposure to individual and pairs of compounds. Individually, dicycloverine had the most significant effect regarding inhibition of the astrocytic cholinergic response to oxotremorine, followed by amitriptyline then cyclobenzaprine and cimetidine, in agreement with the ACB scale. In combination, dicycloverine with cyclobenzaprine had the most significant effect, followed by dicycloverine with amitriptyline. The order of potency of the drugs in combination frequently disagreed with predicted ACB scores derived from summation of the individual drug scores, suggesting current scales may underestimate the effect of polypharmacy. Overall, this NT2.N/A model may be appropriate for further investigation of adverse anticholinergic effects of multiple medications, in order to inform clinical choices of suitable drug use in the elderly

Neurotransmitter Detection Using Corona Phase Molecular Recognition on Fluorescent Single-Walled Carbon Nanotube Sensors

ABSTRACT: Temporal and spatial changes in neurotransmitter concentrations are central to information processing in neural networks. Therefore, biosensors for neurotransmitters are essential tools for neuroscience. In this work, we applied a new technique, corona phase molecular recognition (CoPhMoRe), to identify adsorbed polymer phases on fluorescent single-walled carbon nanotubes (SWCNTs) that allow for the selective detection of specific neurotransmitters, including dopamine. We functionalized and suspended SWCNTs with a library of different polymers (n = 30) containing phospholipids, nucleic acids, and amphiphilic polymers to study how neurotransmitters modulate the resulting band gap, near-infrared (nIR) fluorescence of the SWCNT. We identified several corona phases that enable the selective detection of neurotransmitters. Catecholamines such as dopamine increased the fluorescence of specific single-stranded DNA- and RNA-wrapped SWCNTs by 58−80 % upon addition of 100 μM dopamine depending on the SWCNT chirality (n,m). In solution, the limit of detection was 11 nM [Kd = 433 nM for (GT)15 DNA-wrapped SWCNTs]. Mechanistic studies revealed that this turn-on response is due to an increase in fluorescence quantum yield and not covalent modification of the SWCNT or scavenging o