Abstract:We use a case study of job talks in five engineering departments to analyze the under-studied area of gendered barriers to finalists for faculty positions. We focus on one segment of the interview day of short-listed candidates invited to campus: the "job talk", when candidates present their original research to the academic department. We analyze video recordings of 119 job talks across five engineering departments at two Research 1 universities. Specifically, we analyze whether there are differences by gender or by years of post-Ph.D. experience in the number of interruptions, follow-up questions, and total questions that job candidates receive. We find that, compared to men, women receive more follow-up questions and more total questions. Moreover, a higher proportion of women's talk time is taken up by the audience asking questions. Further, the number of questions is correlated with the job candidate's statements and actions that reveal he or she is rushing to present their slides and complete the talk. We argue that women candidates face more interruptions and often have less time to bring their talk to a compelling conclusion, which is connected to the phenomenon of "stricter standards" of competence demanded by evaluators of short-listed women applying for a masculine-typed job. We conclude with policy recommendations.

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Infestation levels of dogwood borer [Synanthedon scitula (Harris)] on flowering dogwood (Cornus florida L.) in commercial nursery, urban, and forest habitats in eastern and middle Tennessee were measured during 1987 and 1988. The highest average infestation level (ca. 60%) was found in the urban habitat, where mechanical injury, e.g., damage caused by lawn mowers or string trimmers, may have provided oviposition or larval entry sites. Dogwood borer larvae were found in all nursery blocks examined, with ca. 7% of the trees infested/block. Infested trees are not marketable; thus, economic losses averaged ca. $l,800/block (x̄ = 1,770 trees/block) of dogwoods. Infestation levels were lowest (ca. 1%) in the forest habitat, where dogwoods grow as a natural component of the forest understory.

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BackgroundOver 12,000 new cases of B-cell malignancies are diagnosed in the UK each year, with diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (DLBCL) and follicular lymphoma (FL) being the most common subtypes. Standard frontline therapy consists of immunochemotherapy with a CD20 monoclonal antibody (mAb), such as rituximab, delivered in combination with multi-agent chemotherapy. Despite being considered a treatable and potentially curable cancer, approximately 30% of DLBCL cases will relapse after frontline therapy. Advanced stage FL is incurable and typically has a relapsing and remitting course with a frequent need for re-treatment. Based on supportive preclinical data, we hypothesised that the addition of varlilumab (an anti-CD27 mAb) to rituximab (an anti-CD20 mAb) can improve the rate, depth and duration of the response of rituximab monotherapy in patients with relapsed or refractory B-cell malignancies.Methods/designCombination treatment of varlilumab plus rituximab, in two different dosing regimens, is being tested in the RIVA trial. RIVA is a two-stage open-label randomised phase IIa design in up to 40 patients with low- or high-grade relapsed or refractory CD20+ B-cell lymphoma. The study is open to recruitment in the UK. Enrolled patients are randomised 1:1 to two different experimental varlilumab to rituximab combinations.The primary objective is to determine the safety and tolerability of the combination and the anti-tumour activity (response) in relapsed or refractory B-cell malignancies. Secondary objectives will include an evaluation of the duration of the response and overall survival. Tertiary translational objectives include assessment of B-cell depletion, changes in immune effector cell populations, expression of CD27 as a biomarker of response and pharmacokinetic properties. Analyses will not be powered for formal statistical comparisons between treatment arms.DiscussionRIVA will determine whether the combination of rituximab and varlilumab in relapsed or refractory B-cell malignancies is active and safe prior to future phase II/III trials.Trial registrationEudraCT, 2017–000302-37. Registered on 16 January 2017. ISRCTN, ISRCTN15025004. Registered on 16 August 2017.Electronic supplementary materialThe online version of this article (10.1186/s13063-018-2996-6) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.