NSW Local Council investment exposures

The decline in the sub-prime market in the United State of America in 2007 -2008 andthe corresponding decline in the market values of other financial investments has hada significant financial impact on many of the individuals and organisations whoparticipated in aggressively promoted investment schemes. The New South Wales(NSW) Local Government Councils was one such group of organisations impacted bythe decline in value of these types of investments. At the end of the 2006-2007financial year local councils in New South Wales had invested $590 million dollars instructured financial products such as collateralised debt obligations (CDO). By theend of January 2008, six months later, the market value of these investments dropped$200 million (34%) to $390 million. In response to the decreasing value of the localcouncil investments the NSW State Government commissioned a review of thefinancial exposures of NSW local councils in structured financial products. Thereview found that while acting within the parameters of the Local Government Act(1993), local councils had pursued high return high risk investment strategies. Thispaper reviews and evaluates financial investment exposures of the local councils inNSW and the resulting mix (unqualified/qualified) independent audit opinions issuedon their general purpose financial reports. This paper will contribute to the literatureon the wide spread impact of the 2008 global financial crisis as well as the quality ofLocal Government council financial report audits

An examination of CSR assurance reports of equator principles signatories

Purpose: To undertake a review of the assurance reports, prepared by audit firms and non-audit firms, on the CSR performance and management reporting disclosures of a specific sample of Equator Principles signatory banks. Design/methodology/approach: This paper is based on an initial examination of assurance reports of CSR reporting disclosures of a group of banks who are signatories of the Equator Principles. Rudimentary content analysis has been used to identify the differences in the structure of the titles, number of words and focus of these CSR reporting disclosures assurance reports. Findings: The key finding from this initial review is that there is a degree of difference in the assurance reports, on CSR reporting disclosures, provided by audit firms and by non-audit firms. The main differences are the length of the reports, greater for non-audit firms, and the focus of the assurance reports. Non-audit firms’ assurance reports focus more on the organisations’ governance while audit firm assurance reports have a greater focus on audit qualities and processes. Practical implications: This paper provides an opportunity to identify areas where assurance reports on CSR reporting disclosures could be improved. Originality/value: This study contributes to the limited academic research undertaken on signatories of the Equator Principles, particularly in relation to the assurance reports of these organisations. This paper also presents a relatively simplistic approach, which can be easily replicated, to examine, and identify inconsistencies, in assurance reports on organisations’ CSR reporting disclosures

Patient and Family Caregivers’ Experiences of Living With a Jejunostomy Feeding Tube After Surgery for Esophagogastric Cancer

BACKGROUND: Jejunostomy feeding tubes (JFTs) can be used to provide nutrition support to patients who have had surgery for esophagogastric cancer. Although previous research reports how patients cope with a gastrostomy tube, little is known about the impact of having a JFT. The aim of this qualitative study was to explore how patients and their informal caregivers experience living with a JFT in the first months following surgery. METHODS: Participants were purposively sampled from a cohort of patients recruited to a trial investigating home enteral nutrition vs standard care after esophagogastric surgery for cancer. The sampling framework considered age, sex, and marital status. Informal caregivers were also invited to participate. Interviews were audio recorded, transcribed verbatim, and anonymized. Inductive thematic analysis was used to identify key themes related to living with a JFT. RESULTS: Fifteen patient interviews were conducted; 8 also included a family caregiver. Analysis of the data resulted in 2 main themes: "challenges" and "facilitators" when living with a JFT. While "physical effects," "worries" and "impact on routine" were the main challenges, "support," "adaptation" and "perceived benefit" were what motivated continuation of the intervention. CONCLUSION: Findings suggest that participants coped well with a JFT, describing high levels of compliance with stoma care and the feeding regimen. Nonetheless, disturbed sleep patterns and stoma-related problems proved troublesome. A better understanding of these practical challenges, from the patient and family caregiver perspective, should guide healthcare teams in providing proactive support to avoid preventable problems

Submission in Response to the Australian Productivity Commission's Inquiry into IP Arrangements Draft Report

This Submission by nine intellectual property academics responds to the Draft Report in the Inquiry into IP Arrangements published by the Australian Productivity Commission on 29 April 2016 ('Draft Report'). In broad terms, the submission supports many of the goals of, and recommendations of, the Productivity Commission expressed in the Draft Report, but expresses concerns that some recommendations may not achieve the overall goals of the Commission, or reflect misunderstandings of the statutory framework. The submission addresses many of the Commission's draft recommendations concerning copyright, patents, trade marks and geographical indicators, IP and public institutions, and IP's institutional and governance arrangements

Histamine, mast cells and tumour cell proliferation in breast cancer: does preoperative cimetidine administration have an effect?

Endogenous histamine has been shown to effect growth mechanisms in experimental mammary carcinomas via H2 membrane receptors (Cricco et al, 1994). Both H1 and H2 binding sites are present in human mammary glands but only 75% malignant carcinomas express H2 receptors (Lemos et al, 1995). The presence of mast cells around tumour tissue raises questions concerning the source of histamine in breast tumour tissue. While cimetidine, an H2 antagonist, has been shown to influence the presence of tumour infiltrating lymphocytes (TIL) in colorectal cancer (Adams and Morris, 1994, 1997) that was not found to be the case in breast cancer (Ng et al, 1995). In recent studies tumour cell proliferation, as measured by Ki-67 antibody labelling, has been seen as an additional prognostic indicator in breast cancer (Railo et al, 1993, 1997; Ferno, 1998; Schauer et al, 1998). We investigated the possibility that cimetidine may influence tumour proliferation by blocking the growth-promoting effects of histamine. No relationship between preoperative cimetidine administration and tumour cell proliferation was seen overall. A weak correlation was seen between tissue histamine content and mast cell count which was not influenced by cimetidine. Tumour cell proliferation correlated well with other prognostic indicators such as grade and differentiation. © 2000 Cancer Research Campaig

Nutrient intake and contribution of home enteral nutrition to meeting nutritional requirements after oesophagectomy and total gastrectomy

Background/Objectives: This study evaluated nutrition after oesophago-gastric resection and the influence of home jejunostomy feeding in the six months after surgery. Subjects/Methods: Data on nutritional intake and physiologic measures were collected as part of a randomised trial with measurements taken before and up to six months after surgery. Results: 41 participants (32 oesophagectomy, 9 total gastrectomy) received home jejunostomy feeding (n=18) or usual care without feeding (n=23). At hospital discharge, oral intakes were adequate for energy and protein in 9% and 6% respectively. By three and six months, these values had increased to 61% & 55%, 94% & 77% respectively. Six participants (26%) who received usual care required rescue feeding. Six weeks after hospital discharge, energy intakes were met in those who received jejunal feeding due to the contribution of enteral nutrition. Jejunal feeding did not affect oral intake, being similar in both groups (fed: 77% estimated need, usual care: 79%). At three months, inadequate micronutrient intakes were seen in over one third. Compared to baseline values, six weeks after surgery, weight loss exceeding 5% was seen in 5/18 (28%) who received feeding, 14/17 (82%) who received usual care and 5/6 (83%) of those who required rescue feeding, p=0.002. Weight loss averaged 4.1% (fed), 10.4% (usual care) and 9.2% (rescue fed), p=0.004. These trends persisted out to six months. Conclusions: Supplementary jejunostomy feeding made an important contribution to meeting nutrition after oesophago-gastric resection. Importantly, oral nutritional intake was not compromised dispelling the assertion that jejunal feeding deincentivises patients from eating

Is copyright blind to the visual?

This article argues that, with respect to the copyright protection of works of visual art, the general uneasiness that has always pervaded the relationship between copyright law and concepts of creativity produces three anomalous results. One of these is that copyright lacks much in the way of a central concept of 'visual art' and, to the extent that it embraces any concept of the 'visual', it is rooted in the rhetorical discourse of the Renaissance. This means that copyright is poorly equipped to deal with modern developments in the visual arts. Secondly, the pervasive effect of rhetorical discourse appears to have made it particularly difficult for copyright law to strike a meaningful balance between protecting creativity and permitting its use in further creative works. Thirdly, just when rhetorical discourse might have been useful in identifying the significance and materiality of the unique one-off work of visual art, copyright law chooses to ignore its implications

Self‐reported drug allergy in a general adult Portuguese population

Clin Exp Allergy. 2004 Oct;34(10):1597-601. Self-reported drug allergy in a general adult Portuguese population. Gomes E, Cardoso MF, Praça F, Gomes L, Mariño E, Demoly P. Serviço de Imunoalergologia, Hospital Maria Pia, Porto, Portugal. [email protected] Abstract AIM: To estimate the prevalence of self-reported drug allergy in adults. METHODS: Cross-sectional survey of a general adult population from Porto (all of whom were living with children involved in the International Study of Asthma and Allergies in Childhood-phase three), during the year 2002, using a self-administered questionnaire. RESULTS: The prevalence of self-reported drug allergy was 7.8% (181/2309): 4.5% to penicillins or other beta-lactams, 1.9% to aspirin or other non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) and 1.5% to other drugs. In the group 'allergic to beta-lactams', the most frequently implicated drug was penicillin G or V (76.2%) followed by the association of amoxicillin and clavulanic acids (14.3%). In the group 'allergic to NSAIDs', acetylsalicylic acid (18.2%) and ibuprofen (18.2%) were the most frequently identified drugs, followed by nimesulide and meloxicam. Identification of the exact name of the involved drug was possible in less than one-third of the patients, more often within the NSAID group (59.5%). Women were significantly more likely to claim a drug allergy than men (10.2% vs. 5.3%). The most common manifestations were cutaneous (63.5%), followed by cardiovascular symptoms (35.9%). Most of the reactions were immediate, occurring on the first day of treatment (78.5%). Only half of the patients were submitted to drug allergy investigations. The majority (86.8%) completely avoided the suspected culprit drug thereafter. CONCLUSIONS: The results showed that self-reported allergy to drugs is highly prevalent and poorly explored. Women seem to be more susceptible. beta-lactams and NSAIDs are the most frequently concerned drugs. PMID: 15479276 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE

The effects of supervised exercise training 12-24 months after bariatric surgery oh physical function and body composition: a randomised controlled trial

BACKGROUND: Bariatric surgery is effective for the treatment of stage II and III obesity and its related diseases, although increasing evidence is showing weight regain ~12–24 months postsurgery. Weight regain increases the risk of physical function decline, which negatively affects an individual's ability to undertake activities of daily living. The study assessed the effects of a 12-week supervised exercise intervention on physical function and body composition in patients between 12 and 24 months post bariatric surgery. METHODS: Twenty-four inactive adult bariatric surgery patients whose body mass index remained 30 kg m2 12 to 24 months post surgery were randomised to an exercise intervention (n=12) or control group (n=12). Supervised exercise consisted of three 60-min gym sessions per week of moderate intensity aerobic and resistance training for 12 weeks. Control participants received usual care. The incremental shuttle walk test (ISWT) was used to assess functional walking performance after the 12-week exercise intervention, and at 24 weeks follow-up. Measures of anthropometric, physical activity, cardiovascular and psychological outcomes were also examined. Using an intention-to-treat protocol, independent t-tests were used to compare outcome measures between groups. RESULTS: Significant improvements in the exercise group were observed for the ISWT, body composition, physical function, cardiovascular and self-efficacy measures from baseline to 12 weeks. A large baseline to 12-week change was observed for the ISWT (exercise: 325.00±117.28 m; control: 355.00±80.62 m, P<0.001). The exercise group at 24 weeks recorded an overall mean improvement of 143.3±86.6 m and the control group recorded a reduction of −32.50±75.93 m. Findings show a 5.6 kg difference between groups in body mass change from baseline to 24 weeks favouring the exercise group. CONCLUSION: A 12-week supervised exercise intervention led to significant improvements in body mass and functional walking ability post intervention, with further improvements at the 24-week follow-up

Intellectual property enclosure and economic discourse in the 2012 London Olympic Games.

Special legislation associated with mega sporting events has enabled new forms of cultural enclosure, effectively commoditising aspects of cultural expression that previously remained in the public domain. In this article, the authors examine the tension between economic and political justifications for hosting the Olympics and the intellectual property enclosures that are imposed upon host nations. These enclosures extend beyond what is traditionally protected under trade mark law, to include ‘generic’ terms. Enabling market competitors to freely use generic, descriptive language is a core doctrine of trade mark law, seeking to balance monopoly IP rights with free market competition. The authors evaluate the impact of special legislative enclosures on the public interest, and argue that collective access to expression should be more carefully considered in political and economic calculations of the value of the Olympics