More than a sport and volunteer organisation: Investigating social capital development in a sporting organisation

© 2014 Sport Management Association of Australia and New Zealand. This paper presents the findings of a study that examines the development of social capital within an Australian sporting organisation, Surf Life Saving Australia (SLSA). The study draws on the social capital literature across the not-for-profit sector and specific sport management social capital research. The research design incorporated an interpretive approach with data collected nationally from eight focus groups with key SLSA staff, board members and 'toes in the sand' volunteers. The findings provide fresh insights into the development and understanding of social capital within a sporting organisation. Both bonding and bridging were important social capital outcomes of the organisation's activities, albeit with important implications for antecedents and process. The data presented strong evidence for arguing that within the organisation bonding within the club comes first, which importantly provides a very strong sense of belonging and mutual support for club members, from volunteers through to the board. The strength of bonding provides a powerful base for subsequent bridging capital to the local, regional and national stakeholder communities that are associated with the organisation. Further, social capital develops in both the collective and individual, with leveraging of individual skills contributing to human capital development, which is closely connected to and inseparable from social capital. The paper concludes by discussing the theoretical implications for social capital generally and social capital in a sporting context

School Playground Surfacing and Arm Fractures in Children: A Cluster Randomized Trial Comparing Sand to Wood Chip Surfaces

In a randomized trial of elementary schools in Toronto, Andrew Howard and colleagues show that granitic sand playground surfaces reduce the risk of arm fractures from playground falls when compared with wood fiber surfaces

Rip current related drowning deaths and rescues in Australia 2004–2011

Rip currents are a common hazard to beachgoers found on many beaches around the world, but it has proven difficult to accurately quantify the actual number of rip current related drowning deaths in many regions and countries. Consequently, reported estimates of rip current drowning can fluctuate considerably and are often based on anecdotal evidence. This study aims to quantify the incidence of rip current related drowning deaths and rescues in Australia from 2004 to 2011. A retrospective search was undertaken for fatal and non-fatal rip-related drowning incidents from Australia's National Coronial Information System (NCIS), Surf Life Saving Australia's (SLSA, 2005–2011) SurfGuard Incident Report Database (IRD), and Media Monitors for the period 1 July 2004 to 30 June 2011. In this time, rip currents were recorded as a factor in 142 fatalities of a total of 613 coastal drowning deaths (23.2%), an average of 21 per year. Rip currents were related to 44% of all beach-related drowning deaths and were involved in 57.4% of reported major rescues in Australian locations where rips occur. A comparison with international operational statistics over the same time period describes rip-related rescues as 53.7% of the total rescues in the US, 57.9% in the UK and 49.4% in New Zealand. The range 49–58% is much lower than 80–89% traditionally cited. The results reported are likely to underestimate the size of the rip current hazard, because we are limited by the completeness of data on rip-related events; however this is the most comprehensive estimate to date. Beach safety practitioners need improved data collection and standardized definitions across organisations. The collection of drowning data using consistent categories and the routine collection of rip current information will allow for more accurate global comparisons

Surveying rip current survivors: Preliminary insights into the experiences of being caught in rip currents

This paper begins a process of addressing a significant gap in knowledge about people's responses to being caught in rip currents. While rip currents are the primary hazard facing recreational ocean swimmers in Australia, debate exists about the best advice to give swimmers caught in rip currents. Such surf rescue advice - on what to do and how to respond when caught in a rip - relies on empirical evidence. However, at present, knowledge about swimmers reactions and responses to rip currents is limited. This gap is a considerable barrier to providing effective advice to beach goers and to understanding how this advice is utilised (or not) when actually caught in the rip current. This paper reports the findings of a pilot study that focussed on garnering a better understanding of swimmers' experiences when caught in rip currents. A large scale questionnaire survey instrument generated data about rip current survivors' demographics, knowledge of beach safety and their reactions and responses when caught in a rip current. A mix of online and paper surveys produced a total of 671 completed surveys. Respondents were predominantly an informed group in terms of rip current knowledge, beach experience and had a high self-rated swimming ability. Preliminary insights from the survey show that most respondents recalled a "swim across the rip/parallel to the beach" message when caught in the rip and most escaped unassisted by acting on this message. However, while nearly a quarter of respondents recalled a message of "not to panic", short answer responses revealed that the onset of panic inhibited some respondents from recalling or enacting any other type of beach safety message when caught in the rip current. Results also showed that despite the research sample being younger, competent and frequent ocean swimmers, they were more likely to swim at unpatrolled beaches and outside of the red and yellow safety flags. Moreover, they were still caught in a rip current and they panicked. The findings of this study have significant implications for a range of demographic groups of differing beach safety knowledge and swimming ability who may be caught in rip currents behave, we know very little about how beach goers may respond to being caught in them. © 2012 Author(s)

Two redundant ubiquitin-dependent pathways of BRCA1 localization to DNA damage sites

The tumor suppressor BRCA1 accumulates at sites of DNA damage in a ubiquitin-dependent manner. In this work, we revisit the role of RAP80 in promoting BRCA1 recruitment to damaged chromatin. We find that RAP80 acts redundantly with the BRCA1 RING domain to promote BRCA1 recruitment to DNA damage sites. We show that that RNF8 E3 ligase acts upstream of both the RAP80- and RING-dependent activities, whereas RNF168 acts uniquely upstream of the RING domain. BRCA1 RING mutations that do not impact BARD1 interaction, such as the E2 binding-deficient I26A mutation, render BRCA1 unable to accumulate at DNA damage sites in the absence of RAP80. Cells that combine BRCA1 I26A and mutations that disable the RAP80-BRCA1 interaction are hypersensitive to PARP inhibition and are unable to form RAD51 foci. Our results suggest that in the absence of RAP80, the BRCA1 E3 ligase activity is necessary for recognition of histone H2A Lys13/Lys15 ubiquitylation by BARD1, although we cannot rule out the possibility that the BRCA1 RING facilitates ubiquitylated nucleosome recognition in other ways.Genome Instability and Cance

Psychological Outcomes of Living Liver Donors From a Multicenter Prospective Study: Results From the Adult‐to‐Adult Living Donor Liver Transplantation Cohort Study2 (A2ALL‐2)

Peer Reviewedhttps://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/136736/1/ajt14134_am.pdfhttps://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/136736/2/ajt14134.pd

Social and Financial Outcomes of Living Liver Donation: A Prospective Investigation Within the Adult‐to‐Adult Living Donor Liver Transplantation Cohort Study 2 (A2ALL‐2)

Peer Reviewedhttps://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/136356/1/ajt14055_am.pdfhttps://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/136356/2/ajt14055.pd

Identification of PKD1L1 Gene Variants in Children with the Biliary Atresia Splenic Malformation Syndrome

Biliary atresia (BA) is the most common cause of end‐stage liver disease in children and the primary indication for pediatric liver transplantation, yet underlying etiologies remain unknown. Approximately 10% of infants affected by BA exhibit various laterality defects (heterotaxy) including splenic abnormalities and complex cardiac malformations — a distinctive subgroup commonly referred to as the biliary atresia splenic malformation (BASM) syndrome. We hypothesized that genetic factors linking laterality features with the etiopathogenesis of BA in BASM patients could be identified through whole exome sequencing (WES) of an affected cohort. DNA specimens from 67 BASM subjects, including 58 patient‐parent trios, from the NIDDK‐supported Childhood Liver Disease Research Network (ChiLDReN) underwent WES. Candidate gene variants derived from a pre‐specified set of 2,016 genes associated with ciliary dysgenesis and/or dysfunction or cholestasis were prioritized according to pathogenicity, population frequency, and mode of inheritance. Five BASM subjects harbored rare and potentially deleterious bi‐allelic variants in polycystin 1‐like 1, PKD1L1, a gene associated with ciliary calcium signaling and embryonic laterality determination in fish, mice and humans. Heterozygous PKD1L1 variants were found in 3 additional subjects. Immunohistochemical analysis of liver from the one BASM subject available revealed decreased PKD1L1 expression in bile duct epithelium when compared to normal livers and livers affected by other non‐cholestatic diseases. Conclusion WES identified bi‐allelic and heterozygous PKD1L1 variants of interest in 8 BASM subjects from the ChiLDReN dataset. The dual roles for PKD1L1 in laterality determination and ciliary function suggest that PKD1L1 is a new, biologically plausible, cholangiocyte‐expressed candidate gene for the BASM syndrome

The Natural History of Severe Acute Liver Injury.

OBJECTIVES: Acute liver failure (ALF) is classically defined by coagulopathy and hepatic encephalopathy (HE); however, acute liver injury (ALI), i.e., severe acute hepatocyte necrosis without HE, has not been carefully defined nor studied. Our aim is to describe the clinical course of specifically defined ALI, including the risk and clinical predictors of poor outcomes, namely progression to ALF, the need for liver transplantation (LT) and death. METHODS: 386 subjects prospectively enrolled in the Acute Liver Failure Study Group registry between 1 September 2008 through 25 October 2013, met criteria for ALI: International Normalized Ratio (INR)≥2.0 and alanine aminotransferase (ALT)≥10 × elevated (irrespective of bilirubin level) for acetaminophen (N-acetyl-p-aminophenol, APAP) ALI, or INR≥2.0, ALT≥10x elevated, and bilirubin≥3.0 mg/dl for non-APAP ALI, both groups without any discernible HE. Subjects who progressed to poor outcomes (ALF, death, LT) were compared, by univariate analysis, with those who recovered. A model to predict poor outcome was developed using the random forest (RF) procedure. RESULTS: Progression to a poor outcome occurred in 90/386 (23%), primarily in non-APAP (71/179, 40%) vs. only 14/194 (7.2%) in APAP patients comprising 52% of all cases (13 cases did not have an etiology assigned; 5 of whom had a poor outcome). Of 82 variables entered into the RF procedure: etiology, bilirubin, INR, APAP level and duration of jaundice were the most predictive of progression to ALF, LT, or death. CONCLUSIONS: A majority of ALI cases are due to APAP, 93% of whom will improve rapidly and fully recover, while non-APAP patients have a far greater risk of poor outcome and should be targeted for early referral to a liver transplant center

Total Serum Bilirubin within 3 Months of Hepatoportoenterostomy Predicts Short-Term Outcomes in Biliary Atresia

OBJECTIVES: To prospectively assess the value of serum total bilirubin (TB) within 3 months of hepatoportoenterostomy (HPE) in infants with biliary atresia as a biomarker predictive of clinical sequelae of liver disease in the first 2 years of life. STUDY DESIGN: Infants with biliary atresia undergoing HPE between June 2004 and January 2011 were enrolled in a prospective, multicenter study. Complications were monitored until 2 years of age or the earliest of liver transplantation (LT), death, or study withdrawal. TB below 2 mg/dL (34.2 μM) at any time in the first 3 months (TB <2.0, all others TB ≥ 2) after HPE was examined as a biomarker, using Kaplan-Meier survival and logistic regression. RESULTS: Fifty percent (68/137) of infants had TB < 2.0 in the first 3 months after HPE. Transplant-free survival at 2 years was significantly higher in the TB < 2.0 group vs TB ≥ 2 (86% vs 20%, P < .0001). Infants with TB ≥ 2 had diminished weight gain (P < .0001), greater probability of developing ascites (OR 6.4, 95% CI 2.9-14.1, P < .0001), hypoalbuminemia (OR 7.6, 95% CI 3.2-17.7, P < .0001), coagulopathy (OR 10.8, 95% CI 3.1-38.2, P = .0002), LT (OR 12.4, 95% CI 5.3-28.7, P < .0001), or LT or death (OR 16.8, 95% CI 7.2-39.2, P < .0001). CONCLUSIONS: Infants whose TB does not fall below 2.0 mg/dL within 3 months of HPE were at high risk for early disease progression, suggesting they should be considered for LT in a timely fashion. Interventions increasing the likelihood of achieving TB <2.0 mg/dL within 3 months of HPE may enhance early outcomes