Within this article, the authors explore the extent to which the administrative and governance hierarchies, rules, and processes of two English national governing bodies (NGBs) reproduce or resist ...gender segregation and male dominance within their leadership and governance. Drawing on Bourdieu’s theory of practice, the authors expand upon current literature to better understand the workings of gender power relations at the structural level of organizational practice. Semistructured interviews with male and female leaders were supplemented by an analysis of formal documents. The authors found that gender power relations privileging men were simultaneously conserved and resisted within the two NGBs. While resistance to male-dominated leadership and governance was evident, transformational organizational change was lacking. This highlighted the limitations of strategies being primarily driven through top-down, policy-based approaches. The authors end the article by emphasizing the importance of a combined approach at the structural, cultural, and individual levels to enable sustainable and transformational organizational change.
The topic of women's and girls' rights, access and inclusion in sport and physical activity has become a mainstay of sporting and non-sporting organisational discourse. Notwithstanding, there is ...little published on why, how and who enabled these topics to become politicised to this extent. For example, academic texts state key moments for the advancement of women and sport, such as conferences and resolutions, but rarely provide further detail. By explaining how transnational women and sport advocacy groups lobbied the United Nations (UN) and the International Olympic Committee (IOC) into actions for women and sport in the mid-1990s, this article adds to knowledge about how advocacy groups in international sport succeeded in working together to collectively effect change despite demonstrating contention amongst one another. Data from archival analysis of papers and correspondence of key agents involved in these processes were complemented with semi-structured interviews with some of the same individuals decades later. Using terms and concepts from social movement studies, the article shows how the International Working Group on Women and Sport (IWG) and WomenSport International (WSI) developed in relation to each other and the political environment in which they were playing a key role in shaping. Their relationship was not straightforward, due in part to the formations and structure of each group, but their purposive efforts with other agents contributed to a collective endeavour that achieved milestones for the political legitimacy of women and sport.
This article is the first detailed academic analysis of the background, organisation, content, and immediate outcomes of the first World Conference on Women and Sport which took place in Brighton, ...UK, between 05 and 08 May 1994. Women and sport conferences are now commonplace in many parts of the world. Yet in the mid-1990s, Brighton was ground-breaking and the result of concerted activism for women and sport by agents who had participated in various advocacy organisations for decades. Titled 'Women, Sport, and the Challenge of Change', the Conference convened approximately 280 delegates, including representatives of major sporting and non-sporting organisations, based in over eighty countries. They contributed toward establishing a more coordinated and purposeful international strategy for women and sport. However, confusion and competition between existing organisations advocating for women and sport is apparent before and during Brighton. The Conference has also encountered criticism for Western ethnocentrism and liberalised political outcomes. This article contributes to understanding the galvanisation of a collective identity and politicisation of advocacy for women's sport, and the salience of conferences as sites enabling this. Archival document analysis and interviews with key agents involved with the advocacy were employed to understand the relations, politics and significance of the Conference.
Motorsport is an under-researched area of socio-historical study. There is particularly limited academic understanding of female involvement in the social world of motorsports. Therefore, this paper ...focuses on the role of the media in presenting and establishing motorsport for women. In particular, a documentary analysis of articles published by a UK national newspaper group from 1890, and a case study of an all-female UK-based motor-racing championship are used to account for gendered processes that have influenced attitudes and behaviours towards women motor racers. The motor car emerged through technological progress in an overtly masculine-dominated industrial period. Traditional assumptions and biologically deterministic attitudes towards women were used by men to position motoring and motor-racing as a male preserve. Newspaper reporting throughout the 1930s suggests an era of heightened success for women motor racers as a result of gaining access to a key resource in the form of Brooklands motor-racing circuit. Following the Second World War, there was increasing commercialization and professionalization of male-dominated motorsport, as well as renewed marginalization and trivialization of female participants within the newspapers. These processes continue to influence perceptions of women in contemporary motorsport.
Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) has caused a global pandemic in 2020. Testing is crucial for mitigating public health and economic effects. Serology is considered key to ...population-level surveillance and potentially individual-level risk assessment. However, immunoassay performance has not been compared on large, identical sample sets. We aimed to investigate the performance of four high-throughput commercial SARS-CoV-2 antibody immunoassays and a novel 384-well ELISA.
We did a head-to-head assessment of SARS-CoV-2 IgG assay (Abbott, Chicago, IL, USA), LIAISON SARS-CoV-2 S1/S2 IgG assay (DiaSorin, Saluggia, Italy), Elecsys Anti-SARS-CoV-2 assay (Roche, Basel, Switzerland), SARS-CoV-2 Total assay (Siemens, Munich, Germany), and a novel 384-well ELISA (the Oxford immunoassay). We derived sensitivity and specificity from 976 pre-pandemic blood samples (collected between Sept 4, 2014, and Oct 4, 2016) and 536 blood samples from patients with laboratory-confirmed SARS-CoV-2 infection, collected at least 20 days post symptom onset (collected between Feb 1, 2020, and May 31, 2020). Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curves were used to assess assay thresholds.
At the manufacturers' thresholds, for the Abbott assay sensitivity was 92·7% (95% CI 90·2–94·8) and specificity was 99·9% (99·4–100%); for the DiaSorin assay sensitivity was 96·2% (94·2–97·7) and specificity was 98·9% (98·0–99·4); for the Oxford immunoassay sensitivity was 99·1% (97·8–99·7) and specificity was 99·0% (98·1–99·5); for the Roche assay sensitivity was 97·2% (95·4–98·4) and specificity was 99·8% (99·3–100); and for the Siemens assay sensitivity was 98·1% (96·6–99·1) and specificity was 99·9% (99·4–100%). All assays achieved a sensitivity of at least 98% with thresholds optimised to achieve a specificity of at least 98% on samples taken 30 days or more post symptom onset.
Four commercial, widely available assays and a scalable 384-well ELISA can be used for SARS-CoV-2 serological testing to achieve sensitivity and specificity of at least 98%. The Siemens assay and Oxford immunoassay achieved these metrics without further optimisation. This benchmark study in immunoassay assessment should enable refinements of testing strategies and the best use of serological testing resource to benefit individuals and population health.
Public Health England and UK National Institute for Health Research.
Abstract
The relative rarity of giant planets around low-mass stars compared with solar-type stars is a key prediction from the core-accretion planet formation theory. In this paper we report on the ...discovery of four gas giant planets that transit low-mass late K and early M dwarfs. The planets HATS-74Ab (TOI 737b), HATS-75b (TOI 552b), HATS-76b (TOI 555b), and HATS-77b (TOI 730b) were all discovered from the HATSouth photometric survey and follow-up using TESS and other photometric facilities. We use the new ESPRESSO facility at the VLT to confirm systems and measure their masses. We find that these planets have masses of 1.46 ± 0.14
M
J, 0.491 ± 0.039
M
J, 2.629 ± 0.089
M
J, and
1.374
−
0.074
+
0.100
M
J, respectively, and radii of 1.032 ± 0.021
R
J, 0.884 ± 0.013
R
J, 1.079 ± 0.031
R
J, and 1.165 ± 0.021
R
J, respectively. The planets all orbit close to their host stars with orbital periods ranging from 1.7319 days to 3.0876 days. With further work, we aim to test core-accretion theory by using these and further discoveries to quantify the occurrence rate of giant planets around low-mass host stars.
Objective Coverage of celiac artery (CA) during thoracic endovascular aortic aneurysm repair (TEVAR) has been performed to extend the distal seal zone for which preliminary results and short-term ...follow-up have been reported. We aim to show the outcomes up to 81 months after CA coverage during TEVAR. Methods Patients undergoing TEVAR with coverage of the CA origin from 2005 to 2013 were retrospectively analyzed. Points of analysis include indications for covering the CA, demonstration of collateral circulation between the CA and superior mesenteric artery (SMA), anatomic features of the distal landing zone, rate of reintervention, technical success, presence of clinical ischemic symptoms after the procedure, and mortality. Results During the 9-year period, 366 patients underwent TEVAR, 18 (5%) of whom had CA coverage. Eleven (61%) had TEVAR with CA coverage due to a thoracic aneurysm, three (17%) had thoracic aortic dissection related to aneurysm, and four (22%) had previous TEVAR with a type Ib endoleak (EL) requiring distal coverage. Mesenteric angiography in preparation for TEVAR with CA coverage diagnosed a critical SMA stenosis in one patient that was treated with stenting before the index procedure. At the conclusion of the indicated procedure, two patients (11%) had a type Ia EL and two patients (11%) had a type Ib EL. Three of the type I ELs required reintervention. Two patients (11%) had a type II EL, both of which were managed with observation and resolved. Reintervention was required in 27% of patients. Postoperative complications included visceral ischemia in 2 (11%), weight loss in 1 (5%), spinal cord ischemia in 2 (11%), a cerebrovascular event in 1 (6%), and death in 1 (6%). The mean follow-up period was 38 months (range, 0.5-81 months). Conclusions This analysis of outcomes up to 81 months supports the suitability of covering the CA in selected patients for extending the distal landing zone to the visceral aortic level above the SMA or when alternative branch vessel treatment is unavailable. Preoperative angiographic evaluation of the mesenteric collaterals and early postoperative surveillance may limit postoperative complications. Once the CA is covered, new symptoms do not develop unless the SMA is compromised.
MDA5 is a cytosolic sensor of double-stranded RNA (ds)RNA including viral byproducts and intermediates. We studied a child with life-threatening, recurrent respiratory tract infections, caused by ...viruses including human rhinovirus (HRV), influenza virus, and respiratory syncytial virus (RSV). We identified in her a homozygous missense mutation in
that encodes MDA5. Mutant MDA5 was expressed but did not recognize the synthetic MDA5 agonist/(ds)RNA mimic polyinosinic-polycytidylic acid. When overexpressed, mutant MDA5 failed to drive luciferase activity from the
promoter or promoters containing ISRE or NF-κB sequence motifs. In respiratory epithelial cells or fibroblasts, wild-type but not knockdown of MDA5 restricted HRV infection while increasing IFN-stimulated gene expression and IFN-β/λ. However, wild-type MDA5 did not restrict influenza virus or RSV replication. Moreover, nasal epithelial cells from the patient, or fibroblasts gene-edited to express mutant MDA5, showed increased replication of HRV but not influenza or RSV. Thus, human MDA5 deficiency is a novel inborn error of innate and/or intrinsic immunity that causes impaired (ds)RNA sensing, reduced IFN induction, and susceptibility to the common cold virus.
Pragmatic primary care trials aim to test interventions in "real world" health care settings, but clinics willing and able to participate in trials may not be representative of typical clinics. This ...analysis compared patients in participating and non-participating clinics from the same health systems at baseline in the PRimary care Opioid Use Disorders treatment (PROUD) trial.
This observational analysis relied on secondary electronic health record and administrative claims data in 5 of 6 health systems in the PROUD trial. The sample included patients 16-90 years at an eligible primary care visit in the 3 years before randomization. Each system contributed 2 randomized PROUD trial clinics and 4 similarly sized non-trial clinics. We summarized patient characteristics in trial and non-trial clinics in the 2 years before randomization ("baseline"). Using mixed-effect regression models, we compared trial and non-trial clinics on a baseline measure of the primary trial outcome (clinic-level patient-years of opioid use disorder (OUD) treatment, scaled per 10,000 primary care patients seen) and a baseline measure of the secondary trial outcome (patient-level days of acute care utilization among patients with OUD).
Patients were generally similar between the 10 trial clinics (n = 248,436) and 20 non-trial clinics (n = 341,130), although trial clinics' patients were slightly younger, more likely to be Hispanic/Latinx, less likely to be white, more likely to have Medicaid/subsidized insurance, and lived in less wealthy neighborhoods. Baseline outcomes did not differ between trial and non-trial clinics: trial clinics had 1.0 more patient-year of OUD treatment per 10,000 patients (95% CI: - 2.9, 5.0) and a 4% higher rate of days of acute care utilization than non-trial clinics (rate ratio: 1.04; 95% CI: 0.76, 1.42).
trial clinics and non-trial clinics were similar regarding most measured patient characteristics, and no differences were observed in baseline measures of trial primary and secondary outcomes. These findings suggest trial clinics were representative of comparably sized clinics within the same health systems. Although results do not reflect generalizability more broadly, this study illustrates an approach to assess representativeness of clinics in future pragmatic primary care trials.
PDF
