Search

To what extent did the COVID-19 pandemic impact PhD candidates in political science? To what extent were their supervisors aware of this impact? PhD candidates in political science are not strangers to the lack of available and stable academic employment and the potentially isolating experience of research. Our survey of Australian PhD candidates in political science and international relations (N = 109) confirms that the COVID-19 pandemic exacerbated these preexisting challenges. By comparing political science PhD candidates and their supervisors in relation to their experiences during the pandemic, our survey also reveals that there has been a disconnect between the two groups relative to the former’s experience of COVID-19. Although supervisors recognize the stressors that candidates have faced, they are more likely than candidates to report that department support relative to pandemic-related challenges was available, and they appear to be somewhat unaware of the impact that COVID-19 has had on candidates’ career plans. The survey also reveals substantial disagreement between candidates and supervisors about perceived career-mentoring styles. These points of disconnect must be addressed to ensure the success and well-being of current and future PhD candidates.

Do all PhD students aspire to an academic career? Do PhD programs appropriately prepare students for the realities of the job market? There is a well-established gap between political science PhD graduates and tenure-track academic postings. The mismatch between PhD graduates and academic positions may point to alternative models of doctoral education as a possible solution. However, the survey of Canadian and Australian PhD students described in this article suggests that issues and challenges are common regardless of the model of doctoral education. Canadian PhDs report more mentoring activity, but they also are more fixated on securing academic positions. However, we find important gender differences across countries: men are more interested in an academic career and only a (disproportionately male) minority is confident that they will succeed in securing a faculty career. This raises questions about diversity in the future of the profession. This research suggests that although students have different experiences under different doctoral models, issues of academic jobs and a mismatch are common in both systems.

Background Inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) guidelines recommend tumor necrosis factor-α inhibitors (TNFis) for patients who have not responded to conventional therapy, and vedolizumab in case of inadequate response to conventional therapy and/or TNFis. Recent studies have shown that vedolizumab may also be effective in the earlier treatment lines. Therefore, we conducted cost-effectiveness analyses to determine the optimal treatment sequence in patients with IBD. Methods A Markov model with a 10-year time horizon compared the cost-effectiveness of different biologic treatment sequences in patients with moderate to severe ulcerative colitis (UC) and Crohn’s disease (CD) from the UK and French perspectives. Subcutaneous formulations of infliximab, vedolizumab, and adalimumab were evaluated. Comparative effectiveness was based on a network meta-analysis of clinical trials and real-world evidence. Costs included pharmacotherapy, surgery, adverse events, and disease management. Results The results indicated that treatment sequences starting with infliximab were less costly and more effective than those starting with vedolizumab for patients with UC in the United Kingdom and France, and patients with just CD in France. For patients with CD in the United Kingdom, treatment sequences starting with infliximab resulted in better health outcomes with incremental cost-effectiveness ratios (ICERs) near the threshold. Conclusions Based on the ICERs, treatment sequences starting with infliximab are the dominant option for patients with UC in the United Kingdom, and patients with UC and CD in France. In UK patients with CD, ICERs were near the assumed “willingness to pay” threshold. These results reinforce the UK’s National Institute for Health and Care Excellence recommendations for using infliximab prior to using vedolizumab in biologics-naïve patients.

While research has shown that policy outputs are punctuated, there is a paucity of research about the punctuation of public opinion and political participation. Policymakers rely on political participation to understand public opinion, so it is important to understand the patterns and flows of political participation, to help understanding democratic responsiveness, and how policy outputs behave. I advance punctuated equilibrium theory by applying it to individuals' decision to participate. I argue that bounded rationality and disproportionate information processing, will result in a punctuated equilibrium pattern. Using innovative new datasets on the volume and topic of letters to the Australian Prime Minister and American President, I find consistent evidence of punctuations, using weekly, fortnightly, and annual data, across both Australia and the USA. These results extend punctuated equilibrium further up the policy process chain than has previously been done, supporting its claim to be a full theory of government information processing.

Boron isotopes in planktonic foraminifera are a widely used proxy to determine ancient surface seawater pH, and by extension atmospheric CO2 concentration and climate forcing on geological time scales. Yet, to reconstruct absolute values for pH and CO2, we require a δ11Bforam-borate to pH calibration and independent determinations of ocean temperature, salinity, a second carbonate parameter, and the boron isotope composition of seawater. Although δ11B-derived records of atmospheric CO2 have been shown to perform well against ice core-based CO2 reconstructions, these tests have been performed at only a few locations and with limited temporal resolution. Here we present two highly resolved CO2 records for the late Pleistocene from ODP Sites 999 and 871. Our δ11B-derived CO2 record shows a very good agreement with the ice core CO2 record with an average offset of 4.6 ± 49 (2σ) ppm, and a RMSE of 25 ppm, with minor short-lived overestimations of CO2 (of up to ~50 ppm) occurring during some glacial onsets. We explore potential drivers of this disagreement and conclude that partial dissolution of foraminifera has a minimal effect on the CO2 offset. We also observe that the general agreement between δ11B -derived and ice core CO2 is improved by optimising the δ11Bforam-borate calibration. Despite these minor issues a strong linear relationship between relative change in climate forcing from CO2 (from ice core data) and pH change (from δ11B) exists over the late Pleistocene, confirming that pH change is a robust proxy of climate forcing over relatively short (2 beyond the reach of the ice cores and can help improve determinations of climate sensitivity for ancient time intervals.

Is there a steady, consistent flow of public opinion to political leaders? Or are the public usually fairly quiet, with occasional periods of shouting from rooftops? Research has shown that policy agendas are punctuated, with long periods of stasis and short periods of major change, there is a paucity of research on punctuation of public opinion and political participation. This paper advances punctuated equilibrium theory by applying this approach to political participation. I use new datasets of the volume and topic of letters to the Australian Prime Minister and American President. I find clear evidence that that individuals’ decision to participate is punctuated. I also find that topics with a high volume of letters have a higher level of punctuation, supporting the theory that punctuations can occur when the conflict is expanded, and public is drawn into the conflict. These results extend punctuated equilibrium further up the policy process chain.

Additional file 3. UAB IRB Stamped Consent Form for the Patient Interview – This file contains the IRB approved consent form that patients will review and sign if they agree to participate in the patient interview.

Additional file 1. Provider Semi-structured Interview Guide – This file contains the interview guide that will used for each of the Provider interviews that will be conducted.

Additional file 2. ePRO Patient Interview Guide – This file contains the interview guide that will be used for each of the patient interviews that will be conducted.

Childhood cancer survivors are at high risk for developing human papillomavirus (HPV)-associated subsequent neoplasms. Henderson et al., 2021 identified risk factors for subsequent HPV-associated malignant neoplasms among enrollees in the Childhood Cancer Survivor Study. The exacerbated risk of subsequent HPV cancers found in the study underscores the need for more stringent surveillance and tracking to inform intervention approaches to ensure maximal protection. In addition, HPV vaccination must be prioritized as part of transitional care and survivorship planning. Limited sources of data on survivor practices and outcomes results in limited information to develop guidelines and provide childhood cancer survivors with information on preventing subsequent HPV cancers. Improved efforts are needed to increase HPV vaccination and HPV-related surveillance among childhood cancer survivors to prevent subsequent neoplasms.