World-ranking performance in judo athletes with visual impairment: An approach considering sport classes and weight categories

The objective of this study was to analyze the ranking scores in Paralympic judo athletes in different visual impairment classifications (B1, B2, and B3) and describe the frequency of athletes of each classification allocated in the first five and last five positions in the ranking list. A total of 488 judo athletes with visual impairment (332 male and 156 female) took part in this study. Data were extracted from the Official Ranking List, documented and organized by the International Blind Sports Federation, and analyzed according to sport classes (B1, B2, and B3) and weight categories. One-way analysis of variance was used to compare the scores among different groups. The main results showed that B1 athletes presented lower total and best scores compared to B2 and B3 counterparts in both female ( p = .020, p < .001, respectively) and male groups ( p = .010, p = .005, respectively). In addition, when analyzing the ranking list position, there was a higher percentage of B1 athletes in the last five positions in female (60%) and male groups (60%) than B2 and B3 athletes. Investigations about classification and competitive system can assist coaches and sports organizations to identify the appropriateness of the ranking system scores adopted for athletes with visual impairment. Our findings showed some issues when considering competitive programming that includes all visual impairment classes in the same category.

The odd one out: The influence of ideological positioning on individual electoral success

Within many countries, voters not only have to cast a vote for a political party, but also have the option to select (a) candidate(s) within that party, a so-called preferential vote. Recent studies indicate that several factors influence the success of candidates within this intra-party competition, such as ballot list position, political experience, and socio-demographic characteristics. However, it has not yet been investigated whether ideology also matters for intra-party success. This study investigates the role of the ideological position of candidates within their party on the share of preferential votes they obtain. Can candidates win preferential votes by taking ideological niche positions within the party? To investigate this question, the study uses data from a candidate survey conducted during the 2014 Belgian elections in which candidates were asked to position themselves ideologically. The results of this study indicate that ideology does not play a strong role within the intra-party competition.

The Netherlands

Speechmaking in the Dutch parliament is characterized by party dominance and individual autonomy. This paradoxical situation can be understood from the perspective of specialization: every Member of Parliament acts as a spokesperson on a specific issue for their party. Therefore, usually, only one MP per party participates in a debate. Within their policy portfolio, MPs enjoy considerable autonomy, in particular in deciding whether to participate in a debate and what to say. The leadership does not decide for each debate whether or not to delegate speaking time to individual MPs, but rather at the beginning of the parliamentary term when the portfolios are assigned. An empirical analysis of debate participation and the number of words spoken shows that these are most strongly related to electoral list position and seniority. PPG leaders speak longer than other MPs, but we observe no such effect for committee chairs or PPG board members.

Transitive inference after minimal training in rhesus macaques (Macaca mulatta)

Rhesus macaques, trained for several hundred trials on adjacent items in an ordered list (e.g. A&gt;B, B&gt;C, C&gt;D, etc.), are able to make accurate transitive inferences (TI) about previously untrained pairs (e.g. A&gt;C, B&gt;D, etc.). How that learning unfolds during training, however, is not well understood. We sought to measure the relationship between the amount of training and the resulting response accuracy in four rhesus macaques, including the absolute minimal case of seeing each of the six adjacent pairs only once prior to testing. We also ran conditions with 24 and 114 trials. In general, learning effects were small, but they varied in proportion to the square root of the amount of training. These results suggest that subjects learned serial order in an incremental fashion. Thus, rather than performing transitive inference by a logical process, serial learning in rhesus macaques proceeds in a manner more akin to a statistical inference, with an initial uncertainty about list position that becomes gradually more accurate as evidence accumulates.

RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN DONOR QUALITY AND RECIPIENT GRAVITY IN LIVER TRANSPLANT

ABSTRACT Background: Tools such as MELD score and DRI are currently used to predict risks and benefits on liver allocation for transplantation. Aim: To evaluate the relation between donor quality and recipient severity on liver allocation. Methods: Liver transplants performed in 2017 and 2018 were evaluated. Data were collected from Paraná’s State Government Registry. DRI was evaluated in relation to recipient MELD score and position on waiting list. Results: It was observed relation between DRI and position on waiting list: higher risk organs were allocated to recipients with worse waiting list position. There was no relation between DRI and MELD score. Afrodescendents and elderly donor organs were allocated to lower MELD score and worse waiting list position recipients. Conclusion: There is no relation between DRI and MELD on liver allocation. However, DRI interferes with allocation decision based on recipients waiting list position. Donor race and age interfere on both recipient MELD score and waiting list position

Party nomination strategies in flexible-list systems: Do preference votes matter for realistic list positions?

Previous studies on flexible-list systems demonstrate that party selectorates promote candidates with a high number of preference votes to better list positions in the next election. This research note asks whether these rank promotions are limited to candidates in unrealistic list positions at the lower end of the ballot or also include candidates moving into realistic list positions (i.e. electorally safer highest ranks). Using a longitudinal data set of candidates for 18 parliamentary elections in Flanders (Belgium), we first successfully replicate the earlier established preference vote-effect on future list positions, but subsequently show that promotions from unrealistic to realistic positions are relatively rare. Moreover, preference votes do not seem to affect the ability to move upwards on the list or to receive a realistic position at the next election when controlling for incumbency and list position at the previous election. Robustness tests using different operationalizations for realistic position lead to similar empirical results. Preference votes do not seem to matter for realistic list positions.