A feasibility study to assess the design of a multicentre randomized controlled trial of the clinical and cost-effectiveness of a caregiving intervention for people following hip fracture surgery

AIMS: This study aims to assess the feasibility of conducting a pragmatic, multi-centre randomised controlled trial (RCT) to test the clinical and cost-effectiveness of an informal caregiver training programme to support the recovery of people following hip fracture surgery. METHODS: A mixed-methods feasibility RCT, recruiting 60 patients following hip fracture surgery and their informal caregivers. Patients will be randomised to usual NHS care versus usual NHS care plus a caregiver-patient dyad training programme (HIP HELPER). This programme will comprise of three, one-hour, one-to-one training sessions for the patient and caregiver, delivered by a nurse, physiotherapist or occupational therapist. Training will be delivered in the hospital setting pre-patient discharge. It will include practical skills for rehabilitation such as: transfers and walking; recovery goal setting and expectations; and pacing and stress management techniques and introduction to the HIP HELPER Caregiver Workbook, which provides information on recovery, exercises, worksheets, goal-setting plans to facilitate a ‘good’ recovery. After discharge, patients and caregivers will be supported in delivering rehabilitation through three telephone coaching sessions. Data, collected at baseline and four months post-randomisation will include: screening logs, intervention logs, fidelity checklists, quality assurance monitoring visit data and clinical outcomes assessing quality of life, physical, emotional, adverse event and resource use outcomes. The acceptability of the study intervention and RCT design will be explored through qualitative methods with 20 participants (patients and informal caregivers) and 12 health professionals. DISCUSSION: A multi-centre recruitment approach will provide greater external validity across population characteristics in England. The mixed-methods approach will permit in-depth examination of the intervention and trial design parameters. The findings will inform whether and how a definitive trial may be undertaken to test the effectiveness of this caregiver intervention for patients after hip fracture surgery

The Analysis of Coordinated Effects in EU Merger Control: Where Do We Stand after Sony/BMG and Impala?

The recent Impala Judgment by the CFI on the Sony/BMG Decision by the Commission represents the most important ruling on collective dominance since Airtours. We review both the Decision and the Judgment and derive implications for the institutional and substantive development of EU Merger Control. Firstly, Impala introduces an ambitious symmetric standard of proof for prohibition and clearance decisions by the Commission. While alleviating fears of an increasing number of false positives in the aftermath of Airtours, this entails the problem of how to deal with cases in which neither the existence, nor the absence of anticompetitive effects can be proven to the required standard. Secondly, the ongoing process of increasing the role of third parties in European Merger Control is fuelled. Thirdly, Impala has the potential to herald a comeback of coordinated effects analysis, further precising the conditions for establishing this kind of anticompetitive effect. Additionally, given the characteristics of the music industry, we criticise a lack of in-depth economic analysis of non-price competition issues, such as innovations and product diversity

Cognitive Engineering

Cognitive engineering is the application of cognitive psychology and related disciplines to the design and operation of human–machine systems. Cognitive engineering combines both detailed and close study of the human worker in the actual work context and the study of the worker in more controlled environments. Cognitive engineering combines multiple methods and perspectives to achieve the goal of improved system performance. Given the origins of experimental psychology itself in issues regarding the design of human–machine systems, cognitive engineering is a core, or fundamental, discipline within academic psychology

Recent Progress in Steroid Synthesis Triggered by the Emergence of New Catalytic Methods

Peer Reviewedhttps://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/154510/1/ejoc201901466_am.pdfhttps://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/154510/2/ejoc201901466.pd