Strategic analysis of medal markets at the Winter Olympics: Introducing an index to analyse the market potential of sports disciplines

Purpose This paper aims to propose the concept of market potential analysis, which is commonly applied in economics, as a method to enable these investment decisions to be based on sound evidence. Design/methodology/approach The markets for Olympic awards, i.e. medals (top three places) and diplomas (i.e. top eight places) are compared in alpine skiing, biathlon, cross country, speed skating, freestyle skiing, short track and snowboarding from 1992 to 2018. Findings The most notable changes are identified in cross country (2002), biathlon (2006), freestyle skiing (2014), snowboarding (2006 and 2014) and speed skating (2018). Originality/value In spite of the evidence of nations investing strategically in their elite sport systems to produce Olympic success, there is a lack of knowledge on how national-level decision makers can use a strategy to analyse the competitive environment concerning sports contested in the Olympic Winter Games

The Analysis of Tsunami Vertical Shelter in Padang City

Padang is a coastal city, which is located opposite to the Indian Ocean. Just across Padang city there are areas of subduction, which can trigger a powerful earthquake and generate tsunami. Geologists have to say that the city of Padang is the area that is highly vulnerable to tsunamis in the near future. Several studies have been conducted to prepare Padang city for tsunamis. Through the research, maps of tsunami inundation area has been successfully designed. So that the tsunami-prone areas, and tsunami safe area can be clearly identified. According to Singh (2008), the time interval between the first powerful earthquake and tsunami to hit the coast of Padang is about 20-30 minutes. While residents have to walk 3-5 km to the safe area. It can be said that the time for tsunami evacuation in Padang city is very short. Therefore the choice of conducting vertical evacuation is urgent for the majority of the population rather than walking along the horizontal evacuation. Padang city government with the aid of the international donors has built buildings for the shelter. Some of them are schools that have a strong structure, three storeys in which the roof are served as a tsunami evacuation. Data from the BPBDs office (Disaster Management Agency), stated that there are 13 tsunami evacuation buildings at this time with a total capacity of 30.550 people and the capacity for each building is varied between 1,000 - 3,000 people (BPBDs, 2013). This amount is very far from enough when compared to the potential loss of life as many as 400,000 people or more, or as only 7.64% of the total amount. And the location of the shelter buildings are not evenly distributed in tsunamis prone areas Places for vertical tsunami evacuation in Padang are called TES (Temporary Evacuation Shelter). There have been 13 shelters established by the Government of Padang and BPBDs, and there is only one TES found in the study area. It really is not enough as it is seen in the range of services. Therefore the existing buildings and multi-storey structure is another alternate places to rescue in which they are expected to withstand earthquakes and tsunamis. This alternative building called Potential TES (PTES)and there are 14 shelters for the study area

School counsellors’ roles in the implementation of universal basic education [UBE] scheme in Nigeria

The Universal Basic Education (UBE) scheme, which came into existence in September 1999, was lauded by the Federal Government of Nigeria as a preferred programme of Nigeria’s basic education service. It is expected to provide full and compulsory education from primary one all through to junior secondary school 3 (that is nine years of compulsory schooling). This paper discussed ways in which Universal Basic Education (UBE) could be successfully implemented in order to attain national integration and development. The review of relevant literature shows that lack of resources and political manipulation of programmes are the two critical problems that could hamper a successful implementation of UBE. To get the dividends of Education For All (EFA) by 2015, we need the services of school counsellors in order to be able to implement the UBE programmes successfully. The paper thus recommended that the three-tiers of government local, state, and federal must utilise the services of school counsellors in order to successfully implement the scheme in Nigeria. Key words: Mass literacy, School success, literacy education, compulsory educatio

The History of Public Relations in Greece from 1950 to 1980: Professionalization of the “art”

The early development of public relations in Greece is explored through a focus on the period between 1950 and 1980. Specifically, the article considers the origins and early developments, important actors, international influences, professional bodies and the field of practice. It found that Greek business public relations was greatly influenced by American practices and through influential practitioners’ contact with the International Public Relations Association (IPRA)

Variable clinical phenotype in TBK1 mutations: case report of a novel mutation causing primary progressive aphasia and review of the literature

TBK1 mutations are a recently discovered cause of disorders in the frontotemporal dementia (FTD)-amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) spectrum. We describe a novel L683* mutation, predicted to cause a truncated protein and therefore be pathogenic, in a patient presenting with nonfluent variant primary progressive aphasia (PPA) at the age of 65. Her disease progressed over the following years, leading to her being mute and wheelchair bound seven years into her illness. Brain imaging showed asymmetrical left-sided predominant atrophy affecting the frontal, insular and temporal cortices as well as the striatum in particular. Review of the literature found 60 different nonsense, frameshift, deletion or splice site mutations, including the newly described mutation, with data on clinical diagnosis available in 110 people: 58% of the cases presented with an ALS syndrome, 16% with an FTD-ALS overlap, 19% with a cognitive presentation (including behavioural variant FTD (bvFTD) and PPA) and 4% with atypical parkinsonism. Age at onset (AAO) data was available in 75 people: mean (standard deviation) AAO was 57.5 (10.3) in those with ALS, which was significantly younger than those with a cognitive presentation (AAO = 65.1 (10.5), p = 0.008), or atypical parkinsonism (AAO = 68.3 (8.7), p = 0.021), with a trend compared with the FTD-ALS group (AAO = 61.9 (7.0), p=0.065); there was no significant difference in AAO between the other groups. In conclusion, clinical syndromes across the whole FTD-ALS-atypical parkinsonism spectrum have been reported in conjunction with mutations in TBK1. It is therefore important to include TBK1 on future gene panels for each of these disorders, and to suspect such mutations particularly when there are multiple different phenotypes in the same family

Differential chemokine alteration in the variants of primary progressive aphasia-a role for neuroinflammation

BACKGROUND: The primary progressive aphasias (PPA) represent a group of usually sporadic neurodegenerative disorders with three main variants: the nonfluent or agrammatic variant (nfvPPA), the semantic variant (svPPA), and the logopenic variant (lvPPA). They are usually associated with a specific underlying pathology: nfvPPA with a primary tauopathy, svPPA with a TDP-43 proteinopathy, and lvPPA with underlying Alzheimer's disease (AD). Little is known about their cause or pathophysiology, but prior studies in both AD and svPPA have suggested a role for neuroinflammation. In this study, we set out to investigate the role of chemokines across the PPA spectrum, with a primary focus on central changes in cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) METHODS: Thirty-six participants with sporadic PPA (11 svPPA, 13 nfvPPA, and 12 lvPPA) as well as 19 healthy controls were recruited to the study and donated CSF and plasma samples. All patients with lvPPA had a tau/Aβ42 biomarker profile consistent with AD, whilst this was normal in the other PPA groups and controls. We assessed twenty chemokines in CSF and plasma using Proximity Extension Assay technology: CCL2 (MCP-1), CCL3 (MIP-1a), CCL4 (MIP-1β), CCL7 (MCP-3), CCL8 (MCP-2), CCL11 (eotaxin), CCL13 (MCP-4), CCL19, CCL20, CCL23, CCL25, CCL28, CX3CL1 (fractalkine), CXCL1, CXCL5, CXCL6, CXCL8 (IL-8), CXCL9, CXCL10, and CXCL11. RESULTS: In CSF, CCL19 and CXCL6 were decreased in both svPPA and nfvPPA compared with controls whilst CXCL5 was decreased in the nfvPPA group with a borderline significant decrease in the svPPA group. In contrast, CCL2, CCL3 and CX3CL1 were increased in lvPPA compared with controls and nfvPPA (and greater than svPPA for CX3CL1). CXCL1 was also increased in lvPPA compared with nfvPPA but not the other groups. CX3CL1 was significantly correlated with CSF total tau concentrations in the controls and each of the PPA groups. Fewer significant differences were seen between groups in plasma, although in general, results were in the opposite direction to CSF, i.e. decreased in lvPPA compared with controls (CCL3 and CCL19), and increased in svPPA (CCL8) and nfvPPA (CCL13). CONCLUSION: Differential alteration of chemokines across the PPA variants is seen in both CSF and plasma. Importantly, these results suggest a role for neuroinflammation in these poorly understood sporadic disorders, and therefore also a potential future therapeutic target

Microglial burden, activation and dystrophy patterns in frontotemporal lobar degeneration

BACKGROUND: Microglial dysfunction is implicated in frontotemporal lobar degeneration (FTLD). Although studies have reported excessive microglial activation or senescence (dystrophy) in Alzheimer's disease (AD), few have explored this in FTLD. We examined regional patterns of microglial burden, activation and dystrophy in sporadic and genetic FTLD, sporadic AD and controls. METHODS: Immunohistochemistry was performed in frontal and temporal grey and white matter from 50 pathologically confirmed FTLD cases (31 sporadic, 19 genetic: 20 FTLD-tau, 26 FTLD-TDP, four FTLD-FUS), five AD cases and five controls, using markers to detect phagocytic (CD68-positive) and antigen-presenting (CR3/43-positive) microglia, and microglia in general (Iba1-positive). Microglial burden and activation (morphology) were assessed quantitatively for each microglial phenotype. Iba1-positive microglia were assessed semi-quantitatively for dystrophy severity and qualitatively for rod-shaped and hypertrophic morphology. Microglia were compared in each region between FTLD, AD and controls, and between different pathological subtypes of FTLD, including its main subtypes (FTLD-tau, FTLD-TDP, FTLD-FUS), and subtypes of FTLD-tau, FTLD-TDP and genetic FTLD. Microglia were also compared between grey and white matter within each lobe for each group. RESULTS: There was a higher burden of phagocytic and antigen-presenting microglia in FTLD and AD cases than controls, but activation was often not increased. Burden was generally higher in white matter than grey matter, but activation was greater in grey matter. However, microglia varied regionally according to FTLD subtype and disease mechanism. Dystrophy was more severe in FTLD and AD than controls, and more severe in white than grey matter, but this also varied regionally and was particularly extensive in FTLD due to progranulin (GRN) mutations. Presence of rod-shaped and hypertrophic microglia also varied by FTLD subtype. CONCLUSIONS: This study demonstrates regionally variable microglial involvement in FTLD and links this to underlying disease mechanisms. This supports investigation of microglial dysfunction in disease models and consideration of anti-senescence therapies in clinical trials