Gatekeeper Role Research Articles

Pathways to Power: The Role of Preparliamentary Careers and Political Human Capital in the Obtainment of Cabinet Positions

Understanding the rise to power is central to the study of politics. Yet, we still know little about the career paths of influential politicians like ministers. The literature assumes that dominant preparliamentary occupations (e.g., lawyer, local offices) predict promotion. We move beyond this potential ecological fallacy and suggest a perspective that emphasizes the role of gatekeepers and political human capital like national political experience and education. We leverage complete career data of all Dutch MPs (N = 1,263; 1945–2012) and study their (N = 4,966) opportunities to obtain a cabinet position. A sequence analysis with fuzzy clustering reveals eight career paths in both the professional and political domain. A logistic regression analysis that uses these career paths as predictors shows that prominent occupations and communicative experience do not constitute the pathway to ministerial power; a university education and preparliamentary national political experience do. Findings support the value of political human‐capital theory to understand political promotion.

General practitioners\u2019 and out-of-hours doctors\u2019 role as gatekeeper in emergency admissions to somatic hospitals in Norway: registry-based observational study

BackgroundPrimary care doctors have a gatekeeper function in many healthcare systems, and strategies to reduce emergency hospital admissions often focus on general practitioners’ (GPs’) and out-of-hours (OOH) doctors’ role. The aim of the present study was to investigate these doctors’ role in emergency admissions to somatic hospitals in the Norwegian public healthcare system, where GPs and OOH doctors have a distinct gatekeeper function.MethodsA cross-sectional analysis was performed by linking data from the Norwegian Patient Registry (NPR) and the physicians’ claims database. The referring doctor was defined as the physician who had sent a claim for a consultation with the patient within 24 h prior to an emergency admission. If there was no claim registered prior to hospital arrival, the admission was defined as direct, representing admissions from ambulance services, referrals from nursing home doctors, and admissions initiated by in-hospital doctors.ResultsIn 2014 there were 497,587 emergency admissions to somatic hospitals in Norway after excluding birth related conditions. Direct admissions were most frequent (43%), 31% were referred by OOH doctors, 25% were referred by GPs, whereas only 2% were referred from outpatient clinics or private specialists with public contract. Direct admissions were more common in central areas (52%), here GPs’ referrals constituted only 16%. The prehospital paths varied with the hospital discharge diagnosis. For anaemias, 46–49% were referred by GPs, for acute appendicitis and mental/alcohol related disorders 52 and 49% were referred by OOH doctors, respectively. For both malignant neoplasms and cardiac arrest 63% were direct admissions.ConclusionsGPs or OOH doctors referred many emergencies to somatic hospitals, and for some clinical conditions GPs’ and OOH doctors’ gatekeeping role was substantial. However, a significant proportion of the emergency admissions was direct, and this reduces the impact of the GPs’ and OOH doctors’ gatekeeper roles, even in a strict gatekeeping system.

Literature analysis on the implementation effect of family physicians contracted service policy in China

Objective To study the implementation effects of China′s contracted service policy for family physicians. Methods Systematic evaluation method was used to extract, describe and analyze the literature information of the research on the implementation effect of family physicians contracted service policy. Results A total of 80 papers of four types were rounded up, including 47 on the effect of health management on patients with chronic diseases, 11 on the effect of health management on the elderly, 15 on the effect on the first diagnosis in the community, and 7 on the effect on the control of medical expenses.The research is mostly distributed in the developed areas in the east.The family physicians contracted service promotes the health management effect of patients with chronic diseases and the elderlies, improves the first visit ratio of residents at their community, and effectively controls the medical expenses.Existing research shows that such a service has achieved initial success.However, the research also identified such common problems as the shortage and low competence of family physicians, low quality, resource integration and inadequate policy publicity. Conclusions The contracted service policy in China has begun to play the role of health gatekeeper and cost gatekeeper to some extent.It is suggested to strengthen the training of general practitioners, establish and perfect incentive mechanism, and improve the construction of information platform, while the implementation effect of contracted services for family physicians deserve further study in a broader scope, deeper level and design specifications. Key words: Family physicians; Contracted service; Implementation effect; Literature review

The Use of Performance Feedback Information by Primary Care Organizations: Learning Gatekeepers?

Background Emphasizing the gatekeeper role of primary care organizations is a strategy to reduce healthcare costs in several systems. Performance of primary care organizations can consequently be o...

Design and Synthesis of Gatekeeper Coated Dendritic Silica/Titania Mesoporous Nanoparticles with Sustained and Controlled Drug Release Properties for Targeted Synergetic Chemo-Sonodynamic Therapy.

New dendritic silica/titania mesoporous nanoparticles (DSTNs) loaded with curcumin (CUR) were synthesized and coated with polyethylenimine-folic acid groups (PEI-FA) for an ultrasound (US)-triggered drug release and combined chemo-sonodynamic therapy. The PEI-FA groups play a gatekeeper role, strongly encapsulate the CUR molecules inside the nanocarrier, and prevent the unwanted premature release by blocking the mesoporous channels. The results showed that the specific cancer cell uptake is improved by FA groups on the surfaces of DSTNs via receptor-mediated endocytosis. The TiO2 layer as a sonosensitizer agent coated on the mesoporous silica nanoparticles generates reactive oxygen species. Following the US irradiation, the PEI molecules were cut off by free radicals, including OH· and O2-, on the exterior surface of DSTNs, and the CUR loaded in the nanocarrier was then released into the cancer cell cytosol. The release profiles of the CUR@PEI-FA-DSTN system showed that the amount of CUR released from DSTNs is controlled by tuning the US radiation time. The results of the MTT cytotoxicity tests of free CUR, free PEI-FA-DSTN nanocarrier, and CUR@PEI-FA-DSTNs against A549 (human lung carcinoma cell lines) and HeLa (human cervical carcinoma cell lines ( showed that the toxicity of CUR@PEI-FA-DSTNs is higher than those of CUR and PEI-FA-DSTNs alone. In addition, the specific targeting ability, the cellular uptake, and the anticancer activity of the synthesized compounds for targeted cancer treatment were investigated using different staining methods and fluorescence microscopy. The results revealed that the new system, CUR@PEI-FA-DSTNs, can be considered as a potent drug delivery system for increasing effectiveness of the anticancer activity of curcumin in the combined chemo-sonodynamic therapy.

Journalists’ Perceptions about Truth in Press Reporting, Freedom and Gate-keeping in South Korea

This paper examines journalists’ perceptions about truth in press reporting, freedom and gate-keeping in South Korea. It is based on quantitative and qualitative survey responses from journalists in South Korea. A study of related theories and an assessment of empirical data result in the following findings: firstly, truth in press reporting connects basically to autonomy of the news production; secondly, the media play gate-keeping roles in every process of news production. With regard to journalists’ primary activities, gathering news was the freest process. The peak-stress part for reporters was writing articles. Editing news was the least free process. A notable finding was that autonomy of the editing news process was predominantly less than it was for the processes of gathering news and writing articles. This means that gate-keeping roles were intensively played by managing groups during the news production.

The Future of Presidential Clemency Decisionmaking

The Framers gave the president the clemency power when the federal government and the nation were in their infancy. The president has far more demands on his time today than George Washington did in 1789. The time necessary to make clemency decisions, even if done properly (and it has not always been done that way) alone could keep a large number of aides busy full time, let alone exhaust a chief executive troubled by the prospect that too many innocent people are rotting in prison or that too many people have been sentenced to the slow death of unnecessarily long terms of imprisonment. Accordingly, the question is whether the president should leave clemency judgments to others, particularly ones who are professionals at sentencing. Some scholars have suggested reinstituting some form of parole. Yet, I think that we not will see a rebirth of parole any time soon. The criticisms that persuaded Congress to abandon parole in the Sentencing Reform Act of 1984 have not disappeared or lost their force. Proof can be seen in the fact that, during the debate over the First Step Act of 2018, neither the House of Representatives nor the Senate seriously considered reinstituting parole to address the overcrowding that federal prisons have witnessed over the last decade-plus. Other scholars urge Congress to adopt a “second-look” resentencing system. That also is unlikely. The suggestion that Congress reinstitute some type of second-look mechanism would be scorned as the attempted resurrection of parole under an alias. Indeed, the First Step Act approached this issue by using well-settled good-time and earned-time credit systems to decide whether and when to release prisoners, not a second-look mechanism. A third option, however, can be found in a provision of the First Step Act modifying the gatekeeper role played by the Federal Bureau of Prisons (BOP) since the Sentencing Reform Act of 1984 went into effect. An argument can be made that district courts now can resentence prisoners because prisoners can now go to court to argue that “extraordinary and compelling reasons” justify their early release without needing the BOP to ask a court for that relief. That type of change to the law, however, is far from the type of interstitial fleshing out that Congress traditionally delegates to others. Nonetheless, it remains to be seen how the Supreme Court will resolve that issue.

Follow the yellow brick road: The passeur, the gatekeeper and the young migrant film-maker

In the first part of this article, the author reflects on her experience of making filmmaking workshops with young people in Australia, China and the UK an integral component of a research project on the representation of child migrants and refugees in world cinema. She then sets her approach to these workshops in the context of Alain Bergala's ideas about film education, of which she had initially been unaware. In discussing a couple of further workshops that she ran in the UK and Australia as part of the 'Cinéma, cent ans de jeunesse' programme, she focuses particularly on the benign or obstructive role of institutional gatekeepers, who act as intermediaries or agents determining the terms of access to children and young people for film educators, researchers and practitioners. The legal, protective and ethical dimensions of the relationship between educator, gatekeeper and participating students are discussed. The article cites cases in which the interaction worked well, and others in which it proved problematic. The functions, responsibilities and potential drawbacks of gatekeepers are compared with Bergala's conception of the pedagogic role of the passeur – a figure who also holds power in relation to young people's access to film and film-making, but one that connotes positive, even magical, properties.

The Regulatory Complex for Health Care in the Federal District, Brazil and the challenge for integrating levels of health care.

The integration among levels of care is a continuous challenge even in consolidated and high performance health systems. The reform of public health system of Distrito Federal, based on the strengthening of primary health care associated to the reconfiguration of specialized attention (ambulatory and hospital) and of its of urgency and emergence network brought, as a challenge, the need for integration between these levels. Thus, became necessary to create an instrumentto perform the role of gatekeeper, leading to equanimous, transparent and safe access to specialized and hospital care. Thus, the Regulatory Complex in Health of Distrito Federal (CRDF) and its Regulatory Centers (CR) were created to carry out the regulatory process of access to care services, such as hospitalization, ambulatory care (procedures and specialized consultations), elective surgeries, complex procedures, sanitary transport, urgencies and transplants of patients of the Federal District and outside it. This article describes the process of the CRDF implementation and its CRs, aiming to reflect on the potential and challenges of its role as an instrument of integration among the levels of care.

Love and Sexuality in Later Life: What Your Grandparents are not Telling You

Abstract In a study of dating in later life, conducted in the Midwest in the United States, in which a sample of people age 60+ were interviewed regarding their dating behaviors and perceived functions of dating at this stage in the life course, preliminary evidence suggests that middle-generation offspring took on the role of gatekeepers of sexual standards of conduct and cohabitation outside marriage. Concomitantly, the older generation displayed modified attitudes about sexuality outside marriage in keeping with the opportunity structures available to them as part of the dating experience. When this paper was published in 1986 there were few studies of later life intimacy and dating, and the focus was on the older daters rather than on extended family or social network implications of dating in later life. Since my study in the mid-1980’s, research has flourished on later life dating and intimacy, but the focus continues to be on the dyad rather than exploring intergenerational family relationships and changes that result from re-coupling in later life. This paper will explore the adult child-older parent relationship in which the older person is dating and posit research questions based on two conceptual areas and one theoretical perspective – stereotyping of older people, transmission of values across generations, and social exchange theory – on which to build future studies of intergenerational relationships. This review of the literature will assist in understanding the middle generation’s response to an older parent’s dating and courtship behavior as well as consider why conflicts about later life dating between adult children and older parents are more likely under certain family conditions. Exploration of the literature on later life dating that has resulted since our 1986 study, coupled with theoretical underpinnings, is intended to help scholars in this area of study conduct research that will be more generalizable and theory-based.

Exploring Educators' Figured Worlds of Controversial Literature and Adolescent Readers

AbstractEducators assume the role of gatekeepers when they make literature selections for adolescent classrooms. Their taken‐for‐granted assumptions, or figured worlds, about adolescent and youth literature may inform their decisions to either select or preemptively censor books. In this qualitative study, the authors examined the figured worlds of six preservice and inservice middle and secondary educators as they read and discussed controversial youth literature (i.e., challenged or banned books). Three themes emerged in the analysis: figured worlds about youth, figured worlds about “appropriate” literature, and figured worlds about how adolescents should access controversial literature. These figured worlds may shape which books these participants would choose to include or exclude from their classrooms. The authors conclude by sharing suggestions that educators may use to deconstruct their own figured worlds and promote wider access to a diverse range of literature for adolescent readers.

2019 AATS/ACC/ASE/SCAI/STS expert consensus systems of care document: A proposal to optimize care for patients with valvular heart disease: A Joint Report of the American Association for Thoracic Surgery, American College of Cardiology, American Society of Echocardiography, Society for Cardiovascular Angiography and Interventions, and Society of Thoracic Surgeons.

This statement was commissioned as a Multisociety Expert Consensus Systems of Care Document by the American Association for Thoracic Surgery (AATS), American College of Cardiology (ACC), American Society of Echocardiography (ASE), Society for Cardiovascular Angiography and Interventions (SCAI), and

Strangers at the gate: the role of multidimensional ideas, policy anomalies and institutional gatekeepers in biofuel policy developments in the USA and European Union

This article contributes to scholarly understanding of how policy ideas and institutions interact to affect policy change by investigating why legislation mandating the use of biofuels in transport vehicles has been upheld in the USA but scaled back in the European Union. To explain this puzzle, the article advances propositions regarding the role of multidimensional policy ideas, policy anomalies and institutional gatekeepers in legislative agenda-setting. Using structural topic modelling and qualitative methods, the analyses demonstrate that differences in action frames follow from agenda-setting institutions. The corporate structure of the European Commission ensures that EU agenda-setters are reasonably attentive to policy anomalies. By contrast, individuals with agenda-setting authority in the US Congress are liable to discount anomalies by limiting their focus to certain aspects of multidimensional policy issues. Moreover, individuals with gatekeeping authority may prevent repeal bills from accessing the legislative agenda.

Maize synthesized benzoxazinoids affect the host associated microbiome

BackgroundPlants actively shape their associated microbial communities by synthesizing bio-active substances. Plant secondary metabolites are known for their signaling and plant defense functions, yet little is known about their overall effect on the plant microbiome. In this work, we studied the effects of benzoxazinoids (BXs), a group of secondary metabolites present in maize, on the host-associated microbial structure. Using BX knock-out mutants and their W22 parental lines, we employed 16S and ITS2 rRNA gene amplicon analysis to characterize the maize microbiome at early growth stages.ResultsRhizo-box experiment showed that BXs affected microbial communities not only in roots and shoots, but also in the rhizosphere. Fungal richness in roots was more affected by BXs than root bacterial richness. Maize genotype (BX mutants and their parental lines) as well as plant age explained both fungal and bacterial community structure. Genotypic effect on microbial communities was stronger in roots than in rhizosphere. Diverse, but specific, microbial taxa were affected by BX in both roots and shoots, for instance, many plant pathogens were negatively correlated to BX content. In addition, a co-occurrence analysis of the root microbiome revealed that BXs affected specific groups of the microbiome.ConclusionsThis study provides insights into the role of BXs for microbial community assembly in the rhizosphere and in roots and shoots. Coupling the quantification of BX metabolites with bacterial and fungal communities, we were able to suggest a gatekeeper role of BX by showing its correlation with specific microbial taxa and thus providing insights into effects on specific fungal and bacterial taxa in maize roots and shoots. Root microbial co-occurrence networks revealed that BXs affect specific microbial clusters.

Financial Reporting and Credit Ratings: On the Effects of Competition in the Rating Industry and Rating Agencies' Gatekeeper Role

AbstractThis paper studies firms' financial reporting incentives in the presence of strategic credit rating agencies and how these incentives are affected by the level of competition in the rating industry and by rating agencies' role as gatekeepers to debt markets. We develop a model featuring an entrepreneur who seeks project financing from a perfectly competitive debt market. After publicly disclosing a financial report, the entrepreneur can purchase credit ratings from rating agencies that strategically choose their rating fees and rating inflation. We derive the following core results: (1) More rating industry competition leads to stronger corporate misreporting incentives if ratings are sufficiently precise or if rating agencies assume a gatekeeper role. Under imperfect rating industry competition, (2) agencies' gatekeeper role primarily weakens firms' misreporting incentives, which then influences rating agencies' strategies, and (3) firms' misreporting and rating agencies' rating inflation can be strategic complements when agencies assume a gatekeeper role. (4) Regulatory initiatives aimed at increasing rating industry competition or at weakening rating agencies' gatekeeper role improve investment efficiency as long as corporate misreporting incentives are not significantly strengthened.

The Role of Gatekeepers in Capital Markets

ABSTRACTGatekeepers in financial markets have the power to provide the institutional stability, fortitude, and direction necessary for the development and the smooth functioning of capital markets. At the same time, they are often motivated by their own private incentives. This along with the tradeoffs they face, and the at‐times unintended consequences of the regulations they propose and enforce, can undermine their effectiveness. A thorough understanding of gatekeepers and their roles can thus illuminate academics, the financial community, and regulators on how such gatekeepers can be the most effective and generate the greatest benefits for capital markets. Since gatekeeping roles and the literature they have inspired encompass a wide array of institutions and agencies, our overview concentrates on those that the conference papers appearing in this volume focus on. We conclude that collectively, the papers contribute to significant progress, and point out some crucial areas that call for further investigation and offer opportunities for future research.

New Quinoline-Based Heterocycles as Anticancer Agents Targeting Bcl-2.

The Bcl-2 protein has been studied as an anticancer drug target in recent years, due to its gatekeeper role in resisting programmed cancer cell death (apoptosis), and the design of BH3 domain mimetics has led to the clinical approval of Venetoclax (ABT-199) for the treatment of chronic lymphocytic leukaemia. In this work we extend our previous studies on the discovery of indole-based heterocycles as Bcl-2 inhibitors, to the identification of quinolin-4-yl based oxadiazole and triazole analogues. Target compounds were readily synthesized via a common aryl-substituted quinolin-4-carbonyl-N-arylhydrazine-1-carbothioamide (5a–b) intermediate, through simple variation of the basic cyclisation conditions. Some of the quinoline-based oxadiazole analogues (e.g. compound 6i) were found to exhibit sub-micromolar anti-proliferative activity in Bcl-2-expressing cancer cell lines, and sub-micromolar IC50 activity within a Bcl2-Bim peptide ELISA assay. The Bcl-2 targeted anticancer activity of 6i was further rationalised via computational molecular modelling, offering possibilities to extend this work into the design of further potent and selective Bcl-2 inhibitory heteroaromatics with therapeutic potential.

Child-related Criminal History Screening and Social Work Education in Australia

ABSTRACTIncreasingly human service organisations in Australia require staff, volunteers, and social work students on placement to undergo child-related criminal history checks. In turn, many schools of social work require prospective or enrolled students to undergo criminal history checks and provide a clearance of their suitability to work with children. Universities have historically played a role of gatekeeper to the social work profession, but the appropriateness of using past criminal history in this gatekeeping process is contested. This study examines the websites of 30 Australian universities to ascertain the extent to which they require social work students to undertake child-related criminal history screening. Most universities required students to have a child-related criminal history clearance, and all but one of the remaining universities identified that screening may be required, depending upon placement agency requirements. This may limit or close off access to social work education for people with criminal histories and lived experience of hardship and disadvantage.

The Role of Gatekeepers in Capital Markets

Gatekeepers in financial markets have the power to provide the institutional stability, fortitude, and direction necessary for the development and the smooth functioning of capital markets. At the same time, they are often motivated by their own private incentives. This along with the tradeoffs they face, and the at‐times unintended consequences of the regulations they propose and enforce, can undermine their effectiveness. A thorough understanding of gatekeepers and their roles can thus illuminate academics, the financial community, and regulators on how such gatekeepers can be the most effective and generate the greatest benefits for capital markets. Since gatekeeping roles and the literature they have inspired encompass a wide array of institutions and agencies, our overview concentrates on those that the conference papers appearing in this volume focus on. We conclude that collectively, the papers contribute to significant progress, and point out some crucial areas that call for further investigation and offer opportunities for future research.

Profiling Chinese university students’ motivation to learn multiple languages

ABSTRACTThis study extends our understanding of Chinese university students’ motivation to learn languages other than English (LOTEs) by adding a contextual dimension to the L2 Motivational Self System. The study drew on Higgins’ ([1987]. “Self-discrepancy: A Theory Relating Self and Affect.” Psychological Review 94: 319–340.) original Own-Other standpoints and Lanvers’ ([2016]. “Lots of Selves, Some Rebellious: Developing the Self Discrepancy Model for Language Learners.” System 60: 79–92.; [2017]. “Contradictory Others and the Habitus of Languages: Surveying the L2 Motivation Landscape in the United Kingdom.” The Modern Language Journal 101 (3): 517–532.) Self-Discrepancy Theory for Language Learners to enrich the framework, and recruited two different learner groups with Chinese as their first language and English as their second language – voluntary learners of Spanish as a third language and non-voluntary learners of Spanish. The Q-methodology was applied to profile these two groups’ multilingual selves, with four motivational profiles emerging from the analysis: self-motivated with multilingual posture, self-motivated with instrumentality, other-motivated with promotion-focused instrumentality, and other-motivated with prevention-focused instrumentality. The findings revealed that multilingual posture was prominent in the self-motivated learners’ investment in learning Spanish, and the other-motivated learners were subjugated to the macro-level sociological influences of global English and the national foreign language policy. Our findings also suggested a potential gate-keeping role of global English in conceptualising non-Anglophone learners’ LOTE learning motivation. This paper concludes with some methodological and theoretical implications for future LOTE learning motivation research.