Allied health leadership in New South Wales: A study of perceptions and priorities of allied health leaders

© AHHA 2018. Objective. The aim of the present study was to investigate the opinions and perceptions of senior allied health (AH) leaders in relation to AH leadership, governance and organisation from an Australian public health perspective. The target group was the New South Wales (NSW) Health AH directors or advisors, the most senior public AH professionals in NSW. Methods. The study was conducted over a 6-month period in 2014-15 and comprised two parts: (1) data collection through a 46-question online survey that sought the views of AH leaders about the field of AH in NSW; and (2) two confirmatory focus groups with members of the NSW Health Allied Health Directors Committee. Results. The online questionnaire generated novel information about the field of AH in the public sector of NSW, including the current organisation, governance and culture of AH. Focus group participants explored key findings in greater depth, including the effects of AH on and value of AH to the health system as a whole, as well as the attributes and competencies required by AH leaders. Participants identified the need to build and grow their influence, to more clearly demonstrate AH's contribution and to realign efforts towards more strategic issues influencing governance, performance, professional standards and advocacy. This entailed broadening the vision and scope of AH Directors as well as across discipline leaders. Conclusion. The results provide new information about Australian AH leadership, governance, culture and organisation, and highlight potential priorities for future leadership activities

A study on the impact of elections and ownership on the performance of commercial banks in the Philippines

Over the years, the Philippine electroral system has faced a lot of issues with cheating, icluding vote buying, padding voters\u27 lists, and the infamous dagdag-bawas. Considering the importance of elections and the issues related to such event, knowing the effects of elections on bank performance can be useful to many. This research studied the effects of not only the lections, but also of the type of ownership structure on the performance of commercial banks in the Philippines. Secondary data was gathered from the financial statements found in the Securities and Exchange Commission, Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas, the Philippine Stock Exchange, and the main branches of banks whose financial statements were not available in the aforementioned. The results of the regression showed that ownership structure indeed affects bank performance as measured by return on assets (ROA), net interest margin (NIM) and overhead cost (cost). Results showed, althuogh insignificant, that public banks tend to be negatively correlated with NIM, and negatively correlated with ROA, positively correlated with NIM, and negatively correlated with COST. On the other hand, foreign banks tend to be significant and negatively correlated with COST, negatively correlated with ROA, and positively correlated with NIM. The proponents found no significant difference during election and non-election periods in the ROA and COST of public and foreign banks. The impact of elections and ownership can be seen in the NIM criterion of a bank\u27s performance. This change, however, cannot be attributed to the use of loans for campaigns, but to the low demand for loans then resulting in lower interest rates

Complete Closed Genome Sequences of Three Salmonella enterica subsp. enterica Serovar Dublin Strains Isolated from Cattle at Harvest

Salmonella enterica subsp. enterica serovar Dublin is a host-adapted pathogen for cattle that can cause invasive disease in humans. To facilitate genomic comparisons characterizing virulence determinants of this pathogen, we present the complete genome sequences of three S. Dublin strains isolated from bovine sources at harvest

Detection of serum antibody responses in cattle with natural or experimental Neospora infections

Parasite-specific antibody responses were detected using an indirect fluorescent antibody (IFA) test in cattle that were naturally or experimentally infected with Neospora parasites. The test was developed using Neospora tachyzoites isolated from an aborted bovine fetus and grown in bovine cell cultures (isolate BPA1). In all cases, infections were confirmed by the identification of Neospora tachyzoites and/or bradyzoite cysts in fetal or calf tissues using an immunoperoxidase test procedure. Fifty-five naturally infected cows that aborted Neospora-infected fetuses had titers of 320-5,120 at the time of abortion. The titer of 6 cows that were serologically monitored over a prolonged period decreased to 160-640 within 150 days after they aborted infected fetuses. Two of the cows showed an increase in their Neospora titers during their subsequent pregnancy, and they gave birth to congenitally infected calves that had precolostral titers of 10,240-20,480. Postcolostral titers of these calves and of 4 other calves with congenital Neospora infections were all 25,120, whereas calves with no detectable parasites had titers ≤ 160. Two pregnant heifers that were experimentally infected with the BPA1 isolate at approximately 120 days gestation seroconverted to Neospora antigens within 9 days and developed peak titers of 5,120 and 20,480 within 32 days of infection. The fetus taken by caesarian section 32 days postinfection from 1 heifer and the full-term calf born to the other had Neospora titers of 640 and 10,240, respectively. Nine cows that aborted uninfected fetuses and 61 adult cattle maintained under pasture or feedlot conditions, where risk of exposure to Neospora was considered to be low, had titers ≤ 320. Some of the feedlot cattle tested had serologic reactivity that was restricted to antigens at the apical end of both Neospora and Toxoplasma gondii tachyzoites. This type of reactivity, which may result from serologic cross-reactivity between conserved apical complex antigens of closely related sporozoan parasites, differed from the whole parasite fluorescence that was observed with sera from Neospora-infected animals. The significance of these results and the potential application of the IFA test for the diagnosis of Neospora infections in cattle are discussed