Evaluation of a New Recombinant K39 Rapid Diagnostic Test for Sudanese Visceral Leishmaniasis.

A new rK39 rapid diagnostic dipstick test (DiaMed-IT-Leish) was compared with aspiration and a direct agglutination test (DAT) for diagnosis of visceral leishmaniasis (VL) in 201 parasitologically confirmed cases, 133 endemic controls, and in 356 clinical suspects in disease-endemic and -epidemic areas in Sudan. The sensitivity of the rK39 test in parasitologically confirmed VL cases was 90%, whereas the specificity in disease-endemic controls was 99%. The sensitivity of the DAT was 98%. In clinically suspected cases, the sensitivity of the rK39 test was 81% and the specificity was 97%. When compared with the diagnostic protocol based on the DAT and aspiration used by Médecins sans Frontières in epidemic situations, the positive predictive value was 98%, and the negative predictive value was 71%. This rK39 rapid diagnostic test is suitable for screening as well as diagnosis of VL. Further diagnostic work-up of dipstick-negative patients with clinically suspected VL is important. The ease and convenience of the dipstick test will allow decentralization and improved access to care in disease-endemic areas in Sudan

#RLNewEra: An exploratory study into the marketing planning activities of rugby league clubs in the UK. European Association of Sport Management Conference, September 9-12, 2015. Dublin, Ireland: EASM.

#RLNEWERA: AN EXPLORATORY STUDY INTO THE MARKETING PLANNING ACTIVITIES OF RUGBY LEAGUE CLUBS IN THE UK Mackreth, K ¹, Bond, A¹, O’Keeffe, L¹ ¹ Leeds Beckett University, Leeds, UK. [email protected] AIM: The sport of rugby league in the UK has embraced a new ‘whole game’ philosophy following the 2013 Policy Review that restored promotion and relegation (RFL, 2015). The resulting 2015 season competition format included a 12 team elite Super League, a 12 team Championship, and a new 14 team League One. In its 2015-2021 strategic plan, the Rugby Football League (RFL) outlined its vision to increase the visibility and profile of the sport in the UK, through an integrated marketing and communication plan (RFL, 2015). The integration of all league competitions through promotion and relegation facilitates an opportunity to increase the the visibility and profile of Championship teams. The aim of this exploratory study was to investigate the marketing activities that Championship teams have implemented to take advantage of the RFL’s new era. LITERATURE REVIEW: The sport marketplace in the UK is currently saturated, with consumers having a wide choice of sport and leisure offerings to engage with. This competitive environment requires sport industry managers to realise the contribution that marketing in general, and strategic marketing in particular, can make to the success of their organisation (Brooksbank, Garland & Werder, 2012). Strategic marketing planning has been stated as an appropriate policy for a wide range of organisations, from large multi-nationals to not-for-profit and small to medium sized enterprises (Harris & Jenkins, 2001). Regardless of size, many sporting organisations now employ marketing specialists to manage the contribution of marketing in the planning process. Despite this, it has been suggested that the sports industry is guilty of complacency in relation to marketing and promotion of their product (Shilbury, Westerbeek, Quick & Funk, 2009). Unfortunately there is currently a limited understanding of the marketing activities that have been utilised within rugby football league. METHODOLOGY: A qualitative research design was employed to investigate the RFL’s marketing strategy and the marketing planning activities of Championship RFL clubs. A purposive sampling technique was used, with semi-structured interviews carried out between July 2014 and January 2015 with appropriate representatives who had responsibility for marketing activity within their organisation. The sample included 12 participants, comprising of 1 RFL Executive Officer, ten Championship Club representatives, and 1 League One club representative, who had been relegated from the Championship. An interview guide was developed in line with a strategic sport marketing planning framework (Shilbury et al, 2009). The interview guide facilitated the data collection of key areas including: identification of marketing opportunities, strategy determination, strategy implementation, evaluation, and the exploration of barriers and facilitators to planning activities. All interviews lasted between 35 minutes to 65 minutes and were recorded and transcribed. Transcripts were then analysed using MAXQDA11 qualitative software package. RESULTS/DISCUSSION: The RFL had a marketing strategy with clear objectives of how to grow interest in the sport. Despite this, results indicate that 7 out of 11 Championship League clubs did not have a formalised strategic marketing plan in place. Instead, there was a reliance on a range of reactive and short-term marketing tactics to engage fans and increase attendances. Primary barriers recognised as impacting a club’s ability to develop and execute a coordinated strategic marketing plan were organisational structure, limited staffing resource, limited expertise and limited finance. All 11 clubs welcomed the restructuring of the league as they believe promotion and relegation would reinvigorate interest amongst their supporters and present an opportunity to broaden their fan base. Clubs felt they would benefit from a more formalised approach to strategic marketing planning to maximise engagement and take advantage of the change in league structure. IMPLICATIONS/CONCLUSIONS: Due to the limited staffing resource, finance and expertise acknowledged within clubs, it is essential to develop shared expertise and resource across the sport. Without the development of shared resource there will continue to be a gap between the leagues and clubs off field performance. The findings support that greater commercial development is needed in Championship clubs to address the aforementioned barriers in the strategic marketing planning process. This will allow clubs to efficiently and effectively allocate marketing resources to engage supporters and generate a new fan base, especially within the restructured league format. REFERENCES: Brooksbank, R., Garland, R., & Werder, W. (2012). Strategic marketing practices as drivers of successful business performance in British, Australian and New Zealand golf clubs. European Sport Management Quarterly, 12(5), 457-475. Harris, L.C. & Jenkins, H, (2001) Planning the future of rugby union: a study of the planning activities of UK rugby clubs, Marketing Intelligence & Planning, Vol. 19 Iss: 2, pp.112 – 124. RFL. (2015). Strategic and Operational Plans 2015 – 2021. Retrieved from http://www.therfl.co.uk/the-rfl/about_the_rfl/annual_report__governance. Shilbury, D.,Westerbeek, H., Quick, S. & Funk, D. (2009). Strategic sport marketing,3rd ed. Crows Nest, N.S.W. : Allen & Unwin

Trust, professionalism and regulation: a critical comparison of Medicine and Law

Background & Aims: Trust, professionalism and regulation are complex social phenomena, which are contextually dependent and dynamic. This project aims to explore the concept of ‘trust’ in Law and Medicine - questioning what it means to be a ‘trustworthy’ professional and how these understandings relate to ideas of professionalism and regulation. Methods: This study draws on a comprehensive review of the literature and interviews with thirty participants from within, or related to, the UK legal and medical professions. Participants included practitioners, those creating and implementing policy, and public representatives. Data was analysed using the ‘logics approach’ from Political Discourse Theory (PDT). This helped us draw out taken-for-granted ideas and beliefs about trust, professionalism and regulation and expose these to critique. Results: Participants highly valued patient/client trust, seeing it as fundamental to the functioning of their professional ‘service’. Trust was seen as attributed primarily to the individual practitioner and maintained through demonstrating measurable ‘professionalism’. Practitioners were understood to be individually responsible for preserving their image as a ‘good professional’, via evidencing their ‘professionalism’ to the patient/client and the regulator. Discussion: Current ways-of-thinking about trust permitted trust in individuals to be maintained, even when trust in the professions as a whole was challenged. However, for medical professionals particularly, this was predicated on a need to ‘evidence’ that one was a ‘good professional’ through intensive and continual regulation. This created an increased dependency on a ‘trust-industry’ of regulatory bodies and systems. This project critically questions how regulation shapes and impacts trust in the professions. It is a problem-driven approach, which seeks to break with current patterns of thinking and question: ‘what might be possible instead?’ This opens up an ideological space and new viewpoints, whereby audiences are encouraged to consider future change

Resective, Ablative and Radiosurgical Interventions for Drug Resistant Mesial Temporal Lobe Epilepsy: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis of Outcomes

Objectives: One-third of individuals with focal epilepsy do not achieve seizure freedom despite best medical therapy. Mesial temporal lobe epilepsy (MTLE) is the most common form of drug resistant focal epilepsy. Surgery may lead to long-term seizure remission if the epileptogenic zone can be defined and safely removed or disconnected. We compare published outcomes following open surgical techniques, radiosurgery (SRS), laser interstitial thermal therapy (LITT) and radiofrequency ablation (RF-TC). / Methods: PRISMA systematic review was performed through structured searches of PubMed, Embase and Cochrane databases. Inclusion criteria encompassed studies of MTLE reporting seizure-free outcomes in ≥10 patients with ≥12 months follow-up. Due to variability in open surgical approaches, only comparative studies were included to minimize the risk of bias. Random effects meta-analysis was performed to calculate effects sizes and a pooled estimate of the probability of seizure freedom per person-year. A mixed effects linear regression model was performed to compare effect sizes between interventions. / Results: From 1,801 screened articles, 41 articles were included in the quantitative analysis. Open surgery included anterior temporal lobe resection as well as transcortical and trans-sylvian selective amygdalohippocampectomy. The pooled seizure-free rate per person-year was 0.72 (95% CI 0.66–0.79) with trans-sylvian selective amygdalohippocampectomy, 0.59 (95% CI 0.53–0.65) with LITT, 0.70 (95% CI 0.64–0.77) with anterior temporal lobe resection, 0.60 (95% CI 0.49–0.73) with transcortical selective amygdalohippocampectomy, 0.38 (95% CI 0.14–1.00) with RF-TC and 0.50 (95% CI 0.34–0.73) with SRS. Follow up duration and study sizes were limited with LITT and RF-TC. A mixed-effects linear regression model suggests significant differences between interventions, with LITT, ATLR and SAH demonstrating the largest effects estimates and RF-TC the lowest. / Conclusions: Overall, novel “minimally invasive” approaches are still comparatively less efficacious than open surgery. LITT shows promising seizure effectiveness, however follow-up durations are shorter for minimally invasive approaches so the durability of the outcomes cannot yet be assessed. Secondary outcome measures such as Neurological complications, neuropsychological outcome and interventional morbidity are poorly reported but are important considerations when deciding on first-line treatments

Penning ionization of doped helium nanodroplets following EUV excitation

Helium nanodroplets are widely used as a cold, weakly interacting matrix for spectroscopy of embedded species. In this work we excite or ionize doped He droplets using synchrotron radiation and study the effect onto the dopant atoms depending on their location inside the droplets (rare gases) or outside at the droplet surface (alkali metals). Using photoelectron-photoion coincidence imaging spectroscopy at variable photon energies (20-25 eV), we compare the rates of charge-transfer to Penning ionization of the dopants in the two cases. The surprising finding is that alkali metals, in contrast to the rare gases, are efficiently Penning ionized upon excitation of the (n=2)-bands of the host droplets. This indicates rapid migration of the excitation to the droplet surface, followed by relaxation, and eventually energy transfer to the alkali dopants

The impact of service change on doctors' training (GMC 822)

The aim of this research is to gain a deeper understanding about the direct and indirect impacts of service change on doctors’ training: to understand if specific types of service change pose a risk to the training experience, and to gain insights into the contextual influences that undermine or enhance the education of doctors during service change