To adapt or not to adapt? An experimental test of whether the selection of ethnic minority candidates is affected by interparty diffusion

Although it is widely acknowledged that political parties operate in a system of party interdependence, little is known about whether party selectors’ decisions to select ethnic minority aspirants is affected by previous selection strategies and motives of other parties, a process referred to as diffusion. Drawing on a survey experiment conducted among Flemish local party chairs, this study tests whether party selectors are more likely to select ethnic minority aspirants when they are made aware that doing so has previously yielded electoral benefits for some of their competitors (‘competition’), or that by doing so they adhere to social norms (‘emulation’). Contradictory to research examining the diffusion of female candidacies, only little evidence is found that diffusion affects the selection of ethnic minority candidates. Emulation had a general, but weak, positive effect on the selection of ethnic minority candidates, whereas the influence of competition was restricted to leftist and less electorally successful parties. These limited effects can be explained by the high supply of ethnic minority aspirants provided in the experiment, but also by the specific inclusion dilemmas associated with selection ethnic minorities. These are strongly party- and context-specific, which makes parties less likely to respond to other parties’ strategies

<i>Alteromonas stellipolaris</i> sp. nov., a novel, budding, prosthecate bacterium from Antarctic seas, and emended description of the genus <i>Alteromonas</i>

Seven novel, cold-adapted, strictly aerobic, facultatively oligotrophic strains, isolated from Antarctic sea water, were investigated by using a polyphasic taxonomic approach. The isolates were Gram-negative, chemoheterotrophic, motile, rod-shaped cells that were psychrotolerant and moderately halophilic. Buds were produced on mother and daughter cells and on prosthecae. Prostheca formation was peritrichous and prosthecae could be branched. Phylogenetic analysis based on 16S rRNA gene sequences indicated that these strains belong to the γ-Proteobacteria and are related to the genus Alteromonas, with 98·3 % sequence similarity to Alteromonas macleodii and 98·0 % to Alteromonas marina, their nearest phylogenetic neighbours. Whole-cell fatty acid profiles of the isolates were very similar and included C16 : 0, C16 : 1 ω7c, C17 : 1 ω8c and C18 : 1 ω8c as the major fatty acid components. These results support the affiliation of these isolates to the genus Alteromonas. DNA–DNA hybridization results and differences in phenotypic characteristics show that the strains represent a novel species with a DNA G+C content of 43–45 mol%. The name Alteromonas stellipolaris sp. nov. is proposed for this novel species; the type strain is ANT 69aT (=LMG 21861T=DSM 15691T). An emended description of the genus Alteromonas is given

An MLSA-based online scheme for the rapid identification of Stenotrophomonas isolates

An online scheme to assign Stenotrophomonas isolates to genomic groups was developed using the multilocus sequence analysis (MLSA), which is based on the DNA sequencing of selected fragments of the housekeeping genes ATP synthase alpha subunit (atpA), the recombination repair protein (recA), the RNA polymerase alpha subunit (rpoA) and the excision repair beta subunit (uvrB). This MLSA-based scheme was validated using eight of the 10 Stenotrophomonas species that have been previously described. The environmental and nosocomial Stenotrophomonas strains were characterised using MLSA, 16S rRNA sequencing and DNA-DNA hybridisation (DDH) analyses. Strains of the same species were found to have greater than 95% concatenated sequence similarity and specific strains formed cohesive readily recognisable phylogenetic groups. Therefore, MLSA appeared to be an effective alternative methodology to amplified fragment length polymorphism fingerprint and DDH techniques. Strains of Stenotrophomonas can be readily assigned through the open database resource that was developed in the current study (www.steno.lncc.br/)

Robot-Assisted Radical Hysterectomy in Cervical Carcinoma: The Belgian Experience.

peer reviewed[en] OBJECTIVE: The purpose of this study was to report the experience and oncological outcome of robot-assisted radical hysterectomies (RRHs) for cervical cancer performed in Belgium. METHODS: Patients undergoing RRH for cervical cancer (n = 109) were prospectively collected between July 2007 and April 2014 in the 5 Belgian centers performing RRH for cervical cancer. RESULTS: The median age of the patients was 46 years (range, 31-80 years). Histological types included squamous cell carcinoma in 61 patients, adenocarcinoma in 22 patients, adenosquamous in 8 patients, endometrioid carcinoma in 2 patients, and other types (n = 16). The International Federation of Gynecology and Obstetrics stage distribution was IA (n = 9), stage IB1 (n = 71), stage IB2 (n = 4), stage II (n = 24), and unknown (n = 1). Twenty-four patients received adjuvant therapy, 17 patients underwent radiochemotherapy, and 7 underwent adjuvant radiation. Eighteen patients relapsed, and 5 died of disease. The median follow-up was 27.5 months (range, 3-82 months). The 2- and 5-year overall survivals were 96% and 89%, respectively. The 2- and 5-year disease-free survivals (DFSs) were 88% and 72%, respectively. The 2-year DFS per stage was 100% for IA, 88% for IB1, 100% for IB2, and 83% for II. The 5-year DFS per stage was 100% for stage IA and 75% for IB1. The complications were as expected for radical hysterectomy. CONCLUSIONS: This series confirms the feasibility and safety of RRH not only in cervical cancer stage IA to IB1, but also after neoadjuvant chemotherapy in stage IB2 to IIB