Η οικονομική απόδοση της Ελληνικής Ομοσπονδίας Πετοσφαίρισης: Σύγκριση με την Ομοσπονδία Χειροσφαίρισης

Παρότι οι αθλητικές ομοσπονδίες ως μη κερδοσκοπικοί οργανισμοί δε λειτουργούν με σκοπό τη δημιουργία του κέρδους, η ικανότητά τους να είναι οικονομικά αποδοτικές συντελεί στην εκπλήρωση του στόχου τους που είναι η ανάπτυξη και η προαγωγή του εκάστοτε αθλήματος. Η ικανότητα των ομοσπονδιών να προσελκύουν οικονομικούς πόρους είναι πολύ σημαντική για τη μακροπρόθεσμη βιωσιμότητά τους, συνεπώς η μέτρηση της οικονομικής απόδοσης μιας αθλητικής ομοσπονδίας αποτελεί σημαντικό εργαλείο για τη λήψη στρατηγικών αποφάσεων του οργανισμού. Οι μελέτες για τη μέτρηση της οικονομικής απόδοσης των αθλητικών ομοσπονδιών είναι ελάχιστες λόγω της δυσκολίας συγκέντρωσης και καταγραφής των απαραίτητων οικονομικών δεδομένων. Σκοπός της παρούσας μελέτης είναι η ανάλυση της διαχρονικής εξέλιξης της οικονομικής απόδοσης της Ελληνικής Ομοσπονδίας Πετοσφαίρισης (ΕΟΠΕ) και η σύγκριση με την Ομοσπονδία Χειροσφαίρισης Ελλάδος (ΟΧΕ). Τα δεδομένα προέρχονται από στοιχεία του ετήσιου οικονομικού απολογισμού και του μητρώου ενεργών σωματείων που παρείχαν η ΕΟΠΕ και η ΟΧΕ για τη χρονική περίοδο 2000-2019 και 2006-2019 αντίστοιχα. Το δείγμα της έρευνας αφορά στη χρονική περίοδο από το 2006 έως και το 2019 όπου εφαρμόστηκε το ειδικό εργαλείο μέτρησης οικονομικής απόδοσης αθλητικής ομοσπονδίας των Winand, Zintz και Scheerer (2012). Σύμφωνα με τα αποτελέσματα, οι δύο ομοσπονδίες, διαχρονικά, λειτουργούν σχεδόν αποκλειστικά από την κρατική επιχορήγηση με την ΟΧΕ να παραμένει εξαρτημένη από σε μεγαλύτερο βαθμό. Τα έξοδά τους σχεδόν ισοσκελίζονται με τα έσοδα γεγονός που δε δίνει τη δυνατότητα για νέες επενδύσεις σε υπηρεσίες. Αν και η ΕΟΠΕ εμφανίζει μεγαλύτερα εμπορικά έσοδα, είναι ένας τομέας στον οποίο θα μπορούσαν και οι δύο ομοσπονδίες να στοχεύσουν μελλοντικά. Φαίνεται πως δεν αρκεί οι ομοσπονδίες να λειτουργούν συντηρητικά, αλλά θα πρέπει να ακολουθήσουν τις σύγχρονες στρατηγικές αρχές του μάνατζμεντ και μάρκετινγκ για την απεξάρτηση από την κρατική επιχορήγηση μέσω της προσέλκυσης εναλλακτικών πηγών εσόδων.Although sports federations, as non-profit organizations do not serve the purpose of generating profit, their ability to be economically efficient is very important for fulfilling their goal, which is the development and promotion of each sport. Measuring the financial performance of a sports federation is an important tool for determining organizational strategies. Research in the field of financial performance of sports federations is limited due to the difficulty of gathering and registering the necessary financial data. The purpose of this study is to analyze the financial performance of the Hellenic Volleyball Federation and the comparison with the Hellenic Handball Federation. The data collected through the annual financial reports, concern the period 2000-2019 for the Hellenic Volleyball Federation and 2006-2019 for the Hellenic Handball Federation. There was applied a special tool for measuring financial performance of sports federations by Winand, Zintz and Scheerer (2012). According to the results, the two federations, throughout time, depend almost exclusively on public funding, with the Hellenic Handball Federation remaining dependent to a greater extent. Their expenses are almost balanced with the income, which does not allow for new investments. It seems that it is not enough for the federations to operate conservatively, but they should follow the modern strategic principles of management and marketing in order decrease public funding, by attracting alternative sources of income

Individual common variants exert weak effects on the risk for autism spectrum disorders.

While it is apparent that rare variation can play an important role in the genetic architecture of autism spectrum disorders (ASDs), the contribution of common variation to the risk of developing ASD is less clear. To produce a more comprehensive picture, we report Stage 2 of the Autism Genome Project genome-wide association study, adding 1301 ASD families and bringing the total to 2705 families analysed (Stages 1 and 2). In addition to evaluating the association of individual single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs), we also sought evidence that common variants, en masse, might affect the risk. Despite genotyping over a million SNPs covering the genome, no single SNP shows significant association with ASD or selected phenotypes at a genome-wide level. The SNP that achieves the smallest P-value from secondary analyses is rs1718101. It falls in CNTNAP2, a gene previously implicated in susceptibility for ASD. This SNP also shows modest association with age of word/phrase acquisition in ASD subjects, of interest because features of language development are also associated with other variation in CNTNAP2. In contrast, allele scores derived from the transmission of common alleles to Stage 1 cases significantly predict case status in the independent Stage 2 sample. Despite being significant, the variance explained by these allele scores was small (Vm< 1%). Based on results from individual SNPs and their en masse effect on risk, as inferred from the allele score results, it is reasonable to conclude that common variants affect the risk for ASD but their individual effects are modest

Post-COVID-19 interstitial lung disease: Insights from a machine learning radiographic model

IntroductionPost-acute sequelae of COVID-19 seem to be an emerging global crisis. Machine learning radiographic models have great potential for meticulous evaluation of post-COVID-19 interstitial lung disease (ILD).MethodsIn this multicenter, retrospective study, we included consecutive patients that had been evaluated 3 months following severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 infection between 01/02/2021 and 12/5/2022. High-resolution computed tomography was evaluated through Imbio Lung Texture Analysis 2.1.ResultsTwo hundred thirty-two (n = 232) patients were analyzed. FVC% predicted was ≥80, between 60 and 79 and <60 in 74.2% (n = 172), 21.1% (n = 49), and 4.7% (n = 11) of the cohort, respectively. DLCO% predicted was ≥80, between 60 and 79 and <60 in 69.4% (n = 161), 15.5% (n = 36), and 15.1% (n = 35), respectively. Extent of ground glass opacities was ≥30% in 4.3% of patients (n = 10), between 5 and 29% in 48.7% of patients (n = 113) and <5% in 47.0% of patients (n = 109). The extent of reticulation was ≥30%, 5–29% and <5% in 1.3% (n = 3), 24.1% (n = 56), and 74.6% (n = 173) of the cohort, respectively. Patients (n = 13, 5.6%) with fibrotic lung disease and persistent functional impairment at the 6-month follow-up received antifibrotics and presented with an absolute change of +10.3 (p = 0.01) and +14.6 (p = 0.01) in FVC% predicted at 3 and 6 months after the initiation of antifibrotic.ConclusionPost-COVID-19-ILD represents an emerging entity. A substantial minority of patients presents with fibrotic lung disease and might experience benefit from antifibrotic initiation at the time point that fibrotic-like changes are “immature.” Machine learning radiographic models could be of major significance for accurate radiographic evaluation and subsequently for the guidance of therapeutic approaches

A novel approach of homozygous haplotype sharing identifies candidate genes in autism spectrum disorder

Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is a highly heritable disorder of complex and heterogeneous aetiology. It is primarily characterized by altered cognitive ability including impaired language and communication skills and fundamental deficits in social reciprocity. Despite some notable successes in neuropsychiatric genetics, overall, the high heritability of ASD (~90%) remains poorly explained by common genetic risk variants. However, recent studies suggest that rare genomic variation, in particular copy number variation, may account for a significant proportion of the genetic basis of ASD. We present a large scale analysis to identify candidate genes which may contain low-frequency recessive variation contributing to ASD while taking into account the potential contribution of population differences to the genetic heterogeneity of ASD. Our strategy, homozygous haplotype (HH) mapping, aims to detect homozygous segments of identical haplotype structure that are shared at a higher frequency amongst ASD patients compared to parental controls. The analysis was performed on 1,402 Autism Genome Project trios genotyped for 1 million single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs). We identified 25 known and 1,218 novel ASD candidate genes in the discovery analysis including CADM2, ABHD14A, CHRFAM7A, GRIK2, GRM3, EPHA3, FGF10, KCND2, PDZK1, IMMP2L and FOXP2. Furthermore, 10 of the previously reported ASD genes and 300 of the novel candidates identified in the discovery analysis were replicated in an independent sample of 1,182 trios. Our results demonstrate that regions of HH are significantly enriched for previously reported ASD candidate genes and the observed association is independent of gene size (odds ratio 2.10). Our findings highlight the applicability of HH mapping in complex disorders such as ASD and offer an alternative approach to the analysis of genome-wide association data

Prevalence, associated factors and outcomes of pressure injuries in adult intensive care unit patients: the DecubICUs study

Funder: European Society of Intensive Care Medicine; doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.13039/501100013347Funder: Flemish Society for Critical Care NursesAbstract: Purpose: Intensive care unit (ICU) patients are particularly susceptible to developing pressure injuries. Epidemiologic data is however unavailable. We aimed to provide an international picture of the extent of pressure injuries and factors associated with ICU-acquired pressure injuries in adult ICU patients. Methods: International 1-day point-prevalence study; follow-up for outcome assessment until hospital discharge (maximum 12 weeks). Factors associated with ICU-acquired pressure injury and hospital mortality were assessed by generalised linear mixed-effects regression analysis. Results: Data from 13,254 patients in 1117 ICUs (90 countries) revealed 6747 pressure injuries; 3997 (59.2%) were ICU-acquired. Overall prevalence was 26.6% (95% confidence interval [CI] 25.9–27.3). ICU-acquired prevalence was 16.2% (95% CI 15.6–16.8). Sacrum (37%) and heels (19.5%) were most affected. Factors independently associated with ICU-acquired pressure injuries were older age, male sex, being underweight, emergency surgery, higher Simplified Acute Physiology Score II, Braden score 3 days, comorbidities (chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, immunodeficiency), organ support (renal replacement, mechanical ventilation on ICU admission), and being in a low or lower-middle income-economy. Gradually increasing associations with mortality were identified for increasing severity of pressure injury: stage I (odds ratio [OR] 1.5; 95% CI 1.2–1.8), stage II (OR 1.6; 95% CI 1.4–1.9), and stage III or worse (OR 2.8; 95% CI 2.3–3.3). Conclusion: Pressure injuries are common in adult ICU patients. ICU-acquired pressure injuries are associated with mainly intrinsic factors and mortality. Optimal care standards, increased awareness, appropriate resource allocation, and further research into optimal prevention are pivotal to tackle this important patient safety threat

Correction to: Prevalence, associated factors and outcomes of pressure injuries in adult intensive care unit patients: the DecubICUs study

The original version of this article unfortunately contained a mistake

Prevalence, associated factors and outcomes of pressure injuries in adult intensive care unit patients: the DecubICUs study

Funder: European Society of Intensive Care Medicine; doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.13039/501100013347Funder: Flemish Society for Critical Care NursesAbstract: Purpose: Intensive care unit (ICU) patients are particularly susceptible to developing pressure injuries. Epidemiologic data is however unavailable. We aimed to provide an international picture of the extent of pressure injuries and factors associated with ICU-acquired pressure injuries in adult ICU patients. Methods: International 1-day point-prevalence study; follow-up for outcome assessment until hospital discharge (maximum 12 weeks). Factors associated with ICU-acquired pressure injury and hospital mortality were assessed by generalised linear mixed-effects regression analysis. Results: Data from 13,254 patients in 1117 ICUs (90 countries) revealed 6747 pressure injuries; 3997 (59.2%) were ICU-acquired. Overall prevalence was 26.6% (95% confidence interval [CI] 25.9–27.3). ICU-acquired prevalence was 16.2% (95% CI 15.6–16.8). Sacrum (37%) and heels (19.5%) were most affected. Factors independently associated with ICU-acquired pressure injuries were older age, male sex, being underweight, emergency surgery, higher Simplified Acute Physiology Score II, Braden score 3 days, comorbidities (chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, immunodeficiency), organ support (renal replacement, mechanical ventilation on ICU admission), and being in a low or lower-middle income-economy. Gradually increasing associations with mortality were identified for increasing severity of pressure injury: stage I (odds ratio [OR] 1.5; 95% CI 1.2–1.8), stage II (OR 1.6; 95% CI 1.4–1.9), and stage III or worse (OR 2.8; 95% CI 2.3–3.3). Conclusion: Pressure injuries are common in adult ICU patients. ICU-acquired pressure injuries are associated with mainly intrinsic factors and mortality. Optimal care standards, increased awareness, appropriate resource allocation, and further research into optimal prevention are pivotal to tackle this important patient safety threat