Organisational culture in the volunteer sport sector: A case study of sailing [Abstract]

Organisational culture in the volunteer sport sector: A case study of sailing [Abstract

Interoperable Private Attribution: A Distributed Attribution and Aggregation Protocol

Measuring people’s interactions that span multiple websites can provide unique insight that enables better products and improves people’s experiences, but directly observing people’s individual journeys creates privacy risks that conflict with the newly emerging privacy model for the web. We propose a protocol that uses the combination of multi-party computation and differential privacy that enables the processing of peoples’ data such that only aggregate measurements are revealed, strictly limiting the information leakage about individual people. Our primary application of this protocol is measuring, in aggregate, the effectiveness of digital advertising without enabling cross-site tracking of individuals. In this paper we formalize our protocol, Interoperable Private Attribution (IPA), and analyze its security. IPA is proposed in the W3C’s Private Advertising Technology Community Group (PATCG) [8]. We have implemented our protocol in the malicious honest majority MPC setting for three parties where network costs dominate compute costs. For processing a query with 1M records it uses around 18GB of network which at \$0.08 per GB leads to a network cost of \$1.44

Procuring infrastructure for international sporting events: mapping the field for IPACS and beyond

This article presents the results of a study of infrastructure procurement for international sporting events. The objective was to map both the institutional frameworks and the procedures and governance mechanisms. We were concerned only with the acquisition process and not with prior decisions on whether to host events, what to procure (such as the number and siting of stadiums) or subsequent maintenance. The aim was to provide information relevant to studying the implementation of procurement objectives and the risks to attaining those objectives and to lay the foundations for further work. The study originated in work by the authors in collaboration with the OECD to assist the International Partnership Against Corruption in Sport (IPACS) in managing integrity risks, but also provides a map that can facilitate future study of other issues, such as sustainability. The study sought to map procurement for key sport-specific infrastructure (such as stadiums and swimming pools) and a sample of other infrastructure (sport-specific, sport-related – such as athlete accommodation – and/or other infrastructure procured for the event (such as transport facilities) for 14 international events. It covered events of various sizes and types in the ten-year period to 2018, using public sources. Study data from the first ten projects above was used as the basis for the 2019 IPACS report on procurement standards and risk management in procuring infrastructure for sporting events (IPACS report). That report analysed the aggregate data to identify and analyse integrity risks and make concrete proposals for mitigating them. This article supplements the IPACS report by giving more information on the methodology; providing data from four additional projects, which offer further evidence and insights; and presenting the key information through a project-based, as well as aggregate, approach, to place it in context

Chimpanzee accumulative stone throwing

The study of the archaeological remains of fossil hominins must rely on reconstructions to elucidate the behaviour that may have resulted in particular stone tools and their accumulation. Comparatively, stone tool use among living primates has illuminated behaviours that are also amenable to archaeological examination, permitting direct observations of the behaviour leading to artefacts and their assemblages to be incorporated. Here, we describe newly discovered stone tool-use behaviour and stone accumulation sites in wild chimpanzees reminiscent of human cairns. In addition to data from 17 mid- to long-term chimpanzee research sites, we sampled a further 34 Pan troglodytes communities. We found four populations in West Africa where chimpanzees habitually bang and throw rocks against trees, or toss them into tree cavities, resulting in conspicuous stone accumulations at these sites. This represents the first record of repeated observations of individual chimpanzees exhibiting stone tool use for a purpose other than extractive foraging at what appear to be targeted trees. The ritualized behavioural display and collection of artefacts at particular locations observed in chimpanzee accumulative stone throwing may have implications for the inferences that can be drawn from archaeological stone assemblages and the origins of ritual sites

Evaluating the Effects of SARS-CoV-2 Spike Mutation D614G on Transmissibility and Pathogenicity.

Global dispersal and increasing frequency of the SARS-CoV-2 spike protein variant D614G are suggestive of a selective advantage but may also be due to a random founder effect. We investigate the hypothesis for positive selection of spike D614G in the United Kingdom using more than 25,000 whole genome SARS-CoV-2 sequences. Despite the availability of a large dataset, well represented by both spike 614 variants, not all approaches showed a conclusive signal of positive selection. Population genetic analysis indicates that 614G increases in frequency relative to 614D in a manner consistent with a selective advantage. We do not find any indication that patients infected with the spike 614G variant have higher COVID-19 mortality or clinical severity, but 614G is associated with higher viral load and younger age of patients. Significant differences in growth and size of 614G phylogenetic clusters indicate a need for continued study of this variant

A comprehensive overview of radioguided surgery using gamma detection probe technology

The concept of radioguided surgery, which was first developed some 60 years ago, involves the use of a radiation detection probe system for the intraoperative detection of radionuclides. The use of gamma detection probe technology in radioguided surgery has tremendously expanded and has evolved into what is now considered an established discipline within the practice of surgery, revolutionizing the surgical management of many malignancies, including breast cancer, melanoma, and colorectal cancer, as well as the surgical management of parathyroid disease. The impact of radioguided surgery on the surgical management of cancer patients includes providing vital and real-time information to the surgeon regarding the location and extent of disease, as well as regarding the assessment of surgical resection margins. Additionally, it has allowed the surgeon to minimize the surgical invasiveness of many diagnostic and therapeutic procedures, while still maintaining maximum benefit to the cancer patient. In the current review, we have attempted to comprehensively evaluate the history, technical aspects, and clinical applications of radioguided surgery using gamma detection probe technology

Why Are Outcomes Different for Registry Patients Enrolled Prospectively and Retrospectively? Insights from the Global Anticoagulant Registry in the FIELD-Atrial Fibrillation (GARFIELD-AF).

Background: Retrospective and prospective observational studies are designed to reflect real-world evidence on clinical practice, but can yield conflicting results. The GARFIELD-AF Registry includes both methods of enrolment and allows analysis of differences in patient characteristics and outcomes that may result. Methods and Results: Patients with atrial fibrillation (AF) and ≥1 risk factor for stroke at diagnosis of AF were recruited either retrospectively (n = 5069) or prospectively (n = 5501) from 19 countries and then followed prospectively. The retrospectively enrolled cohort comprised patients with established AF (for a least 6, and up to 24 months before enrolment), who were identified retrospectively (and baseline and partial follow-up data were collected from the emedical records) and then followed prospectively between 0-18 months (such that the total time of follow-up was 24 months; data collection Dec-2009 and Oct-2010). In the prospectively enrolled cohort, patients with newly diagnosed AF (≤6 weeks after diagnosis) were recruited between Mar-2010 and Oct-2011 and were followed for 24 months after enrolment. Differences between the cohorts were observed in clinical characteristics, including type of AF, stroke prevention strategies, and event rates. More patients in the retrospectively identified cohort received vitamin K antagonists (62.1% vs. 53.2%) and fewer received non-vitamin K oral anticoagulants (1.8% vs . 4.2%). All-cause mortality rates per 100 person-years during the prospective follow-up (starting the first study visit up to 1 year) were significantly lower in the retrospective than prospectively identified cohort (3.04 [95% CI 2.51 to 3.67] vs . 4.05 [95% CI 3.53 to 4.63]; p = 0.016). Conclusions: Interpretations of data from registries that aim to evaluate the characteristics and outcomes of patients with AF must take account of differences in registry design and the impact of recall bias and survivorship bias that is incurred with retrospective enrolment. Clinical Trial Registration: - URL: http://www.clinicaltrials.gov . Unique identifier for GARFIELD-AF (NCT01090362)