Courts, campaigns, and corruption : an empirical evaluation of the “appearance of corruption” rationale for campaign finance regulation

In Buckley v. Valeo, arguably their most important campaign finance decision, the United States Supreme Court argued that the appearance of political corruption alone might be sufficient to undermine the health of a representative democracy. There has been little empirical evidence to support this assertion, so to test this hypothesis, I fielded a novel survey containing different measures of factors influencing perceptions of corruption, perceptions about campaign contributions, support for campaign finance reform initiatives, perceptions of the frequency and nature of corruption, and perceptions of democratic health to roughly 1000 participants on Amazon’s Mechanical Turk. I constructed a causal diagram representing the "appearance of corruption" rationale in Buckley v. Valeo and used structural equation modeling, observed-variable path modeling to evaluate that specific causal hypothesis with various survey items. I found that the data did not support the hypotheses derived from the appearance of corruption rationale. To further test the Supreme Court’s claim that perceptions of corruption affect political behavior, I regressed various measures of perceptions of the frequency of corruption on self-reported political participation and found no significant correlation, again suggesting that the appearance of corruption rationale has meager empirical support.Governmen

Perioperative haemostasis with full-length, PEGylated, recombinant factor VIII with extended half-life (rurioctocog alfa pegol) in patients with haemophilia A: Final results of a multicentre, single-arm phase III trial

INTRODUCTION: Rurioctocog alfa pegol (BAX 855, TAK-660) is a PEGylated, full-length, recombinant factor VIII (rFVIII) with extended half-life developed from unmodified rFVIII (antihaemophilic factor [recombinant]). AIM: To determine the perioperative haemostatic efficacy and safety of rurioctocog alfa pegol in male previously treated patients (PTPs) with severe haemophilia A. METHODS: This multicentre, single-arm, phase III study included PTPs who were to undergo major or minor elective or minor emergency surgical, dental or other invasive procedures. Rurioctocog alfa pegol dose and frequency were individualized based on patients' pharmacokinetic profiles for major surgeries and by rurioctocog alfa pegol incremental recovery for minor surgeries. Haemostatic efficacy was assessed using the Global Haemostatic Efficacy Assessment score. RESULTS: Twenty-one patients aged 16-61 years underwent 21 major and five minor surgeries. For all 24 evaluable surgeries, overall haemostatic efficacy was rated as excellent and blood loss comparable to that expected in non-haemophilic patients. No blood transfusions were required intraoperatively but were administered postoperatively for four surgeries in three patients. Five injury-related postoperative bleeding episodes occurred in five patients, of which two required additional rurioctocog alfa pegol treatment. Two non-serious adverse events of mild severity (increased ALT level and headache) were considered possibly related to rurioctocog alfa pegol. There were no deaths or treatment-related serious adverse events. No patients developed inhibitory antibodies to FVIII or persistent IgG- or IgM-binding antibodies to FVIII, PEG-FVIII or PEG. CONCLUSION: Rurioctocog alfa pegol was well tolerated and effective for perioperative use in patients with haemophilia A and showed no signs of immunogenicity

Randomized comparison of prophylaxis and on-demand regimens with FEIBA NF in the treatment of haemophilia A and B with inhibitors

Factor replacement therapy for the treatment of moderate to severe haemophilia A and B can be complicated by the production of inhibitory alloantibodies to factor VIII (FVIII) or factor IX. Treatment with the nanofiltered anti-inhibitor coagulant complex, Factor Eight Inhibitor Bypassing Activity (FEIBA NF), is a key therapeutic option for controlling acute haemorrhages in patients with high-titre inhibitors or low-titre inhibitors refractory to replacement therapy. Given the high risk for morbidity and mortality in haemophilia patients with inhibitors to FVIII or FIX, we conducted this Phase 3 prospective study to evaluate whether prophylaxis with FEIBA NF is a safe and effective treatment option. Over a 1-year period, 17 subjects were treated prophylactically (85 +/- 15Ukg(-1) every other day) while 19 subjects were treated on demand. the median (IQR) annualized bleeding rate (ABR) during prophylaxis was 7.9 (8.1), compared to 28.7 (32.3) during on-demand treatment, which amounts to a 72.5% reduction and a statistically significant difference in ABRs between arms (P=0.0003). Three (17.6%) subjects (ITT) on prophylaxis experienced no bleeding episodes, whereas none treated on demand were bleeding episode-free. Total utilization of FEIBA NF for the treatment of bleeding episodes was significantly higher during on-demand therapy than prophylaxis (P=0.0067). There were no differences in the rates of related adverse events between arms. This study demonstrates that FEIBA prophylaxis significantly reduces all types of bleeding compared with on-demand treatment, and the safety of prophylaxis is comparable to that of on-demand treatment.Baxter Healthcare CorporationUniversidade Federal de São Paulo, São Paulo, BrazilBaxter Healthcare Corp, Westlake Village, CA 91362 USAUkrainian Natl Acad Med Sci, Inst Blood Pathol & Transfus Med, Lvov, UkraineDept Reconstruct Orthoped Surg Hemophilia Patient, Moscow, RussiaWellington Hosp, Wellington, New ZealandUniversidade Federal de São Paulo, São Paulo, BrazilWeb of Scienc

Elite signaling and efficient markets : the evaluation of endorsements in presidential primaries

Endorsements are an integral part of American political campaigns, but despite their ubiquity, there exists only sparse literature evaluating either the impact of endorsements on electoral outcomes or the circumstances in which endorsements are offered. I hypothesized that the primary factor influencing a politician’s decision to endorse was a perceived increase in a candidate’s chance of success; thus politicians are more likely to endorse candidates who have demonstrated a real potential for winning the election. Using the 2012 Republican Presidential nomination and the 2008 Democratic Presidential nomination as case studies, I regressed daily proportions of endorsements given on prediction market share prices from the Iowa Electronic Markets. I used an Almon distributed lag model to account for the delay between a politician observing an increase in a candidate’s chance of success and their subsequent endorsement. Though there was a weakly positive association between prediction market share prices and endorsements shares, I found little evidence to support the claim that politicians systematically offer endorsements in response to increases in a candidate’s probability of success.Statistic

PDE4iandPDE5i_plosOne_final

The excel sheet is the functional data collected from the experiment presented in the manuscript. All experimental procedures and data analysis are described in the published paper.  The excel sheet contains two tabs, the first one contains conscious cystometry data, and the second one contains anesthetized cystometry data. The data is organized into columns with the title of each parameter being at the top.

Combination phosphodiesterase type 4 inhibitor and phosphodiesterase type 5 inhibitor treatment reduces non-voiding contraction in a rat model of overactive bladder.

IntroductionCurrent treatments for overactive bladder (OAB) are often discontinued due to side effects or lack of efficacy. The goal of this study was to determine if combining a phosphodiesterase type 4 inhibitor (PDE4i); with a type 5 inhibitor (PDE5i); would have a beneficial effect on OAB symptoms and if a reduced dose of PDE4i in combination with PDE5i could also provide a beneficial effect in OAB. We hypothesized that PDE5i and PDE4i combination treatment could be utilized to reduce non-voiding contractions and smooth muscle disruption in a rat model of OAB.MethodsFifty-eight age-matched Sprague-Dawley rats underwent PBOO and daily gavage with PDE4i alone (roflumilast; 1mg/kg), PDE5i alone (tadalafil;10mg/kg), high dose combination (PDE4i 1mg/kg, PDE5i 10mg/kg), low dose combination (PDE4i 0.2mg/kg, PDE5i 10mg/kg), or vehicle for 28 days. Fourteen animals underwent sham PBOO with vehicle. Rats underwent conscious and anesthetized cystometry 28 days after PBOO and were euthanized for qualitative bladder histology. One-way ANOVA on ranks with a Dunn's post hoc test was used to indicate statistically significant differences between groups (pResultsBladder & urethral weight was significantly increased after PBOO with vehicle, PDE4i alone, and PDE5i alone, but not with either combination treatment. Frequency of non-voiding contractions during both conscious and anesthetized cystometry increased significantly after PBOO with vehicle, but not after PDE4i or high dose combination treatments compared to sham PBOO. Threshold pressure for voiding was significantly decreased with high dose combination compared to vehicle. PBOO treated with PDE4i alone or high dose combination showed less bladder smooth muscle fibrosis than vehicle, PDE5i alone, or low dose combination treatments.ConclusionA PDE4i and PDE5i combination treatment has potential benefit in reducing OAB symptoms, but future research is needed

Postauthorization safety surveillance study of antihaemophilic factor (recombinant) reconstituted in 2 mL sterile water for injection in children with haemophilia A

International audienceIntroduction - Antihaemophilic factor (recombinant) (rAHF; ADVATE ) is approved for prophylaxis and treatment of bleeding in children and adults with haemophilia A. Reconstitution in 2 mL sterile water for injection instead of 5 mL allows for a 60% reduction in infusion volume and administration time, but could increase the likelihood of hypersensitivity and infusion-related reactions, especially in children. Aim - To assess local tolerability, safety and effectiveness of rAHF 2 mL during routine clinical practice factor VIII (FVIII) replacement (on-demand and prophylaxis) in children with severe (FVIII < 1%) or moderately severe (FVIII 1%-2%) haemophilia A. Methods - This was a prospective, non-interventional, postauthorization safety surveillance study (NCT02093741). Eligible patients were previously treated with rAHF and had a negative inhibitor test result during ≤10 exposure days prior to study entry. Results - Of 65 patients enrolled (0-11 years of age), 54 and 11 had severe and moderately severe haemophilia A, respectively; 56 patients received prophylaxis, and 11 had ≤50 exposure days, of which 4 had ≤4 exposure days. No patients reported local hypersensitivity reactions, treatment-related adverse events or developed inhibitors. Investigators rated overall effectiveness of rAHF 2 mL prophylaxis as excellent or good. Ninety-four bleeding events in 34 patients were treated. Haemostatic effectiveness was rated as excellent or good for 75.8% of bleeds; 86.2% of bleeds required 1 or 2 infusions. Conclusion - In children with severe/moderately severe haemophilia A, no hypersensitivity reactions were reported with rAHF 2 mL treatment, and the safety and effectiveness are consistent with data previously reported for rAHF 5 mL