Office Vacancy - data, evidence and opportunity

This article interrogates the Government's (DCLG, 2013) announcemen,of permitted development rights for office to residential conversion and reviews the availability and reliability of data to quantify and identify the extent of office vacancy in England and Wales. It argues that the announcement can be positive in certain circumstances, although this is contested and currently difficult to evidence, while available vacant property data resources are variable in quality and often difficult to access

Consultations with complementary and alternative medicine practitioners by older Australians: results from a national survey

BACKGROUND The use of complementary and alternative medicines (CAM) and CAM practitioners is common, most frequently for the management of musculoskeletal conditions. Knowledge is limited about the use of CAM practitioners by older people, and specifically those with other long term or chronic conditions. METHODS In 2011 we conducted an Australia wide survey targeting older adults aged over 50 years (n = 2540). Participants were asked to identify their chronic conditions, and from which health professionals they had 'received advice or treatment from in the last 3 months', including 'complementary health practitioners, e.g. naturopath'. Descriptive analyses were undertaken using SPSS and STATA software. RESULTS Overall, 8.8% of respondents reported seeing a CAM practitioner in the past three months, 12.1% of women and 3.9% of men; the vast majority also consulting medical practitioners in the same period. Respondents were more likely to report consulting a CAM practitioner if they had musculoskeletal conditions (osteoporosis, arthritis), pain, or depression/anxiety. Respondents with diabetes, hypertension and asthma were least likely to report consulting a CAM practitioner. Those over 80 reported lower use of CAM practitioners than younger respondents. CAM practitioner use in a general older population was not associated with the number of chronic conditions reported, or with the socio-economic level of residence of the respondent. CONCLUSION Substantial numbers of older Australians with chronic conditions seek advice from CAM practitioners, particularly those with pain related conditions, but less often with conditions where there are clear treatment guidelines using conventional medicine, such as with diabetes, hypertension and asthma. Given the policy emphasis on better coordination of care for people with chronic conditions, these findings point to the importance of communication and integration of health services and suggest that the concept of the 'treating team' needs a broad interpretation

Fe65 Is Phosphorylated on Ser289 after UV-Induced DNA Damage

Fe65 undergoes a phosphatase-sensitive gel mobility shift after DNA damage, consistent with protein phosphorylation. A recent study identified Ser228 as a specific site of phosphorylation, targeted by the ATM and ATR protein kinases, with phosphorylation inhibiting the Fe65-dependent transcriptional activity of the amyloid precursor protein (APP). The direct binding of Fe65 to APP not only regulates target gene expression, but also contributes to secretase-mediated processing of APP, producing cytoactive proteolytic fragments including the APP intracellular domain (AICD) and cytotoxic amyloid β (Aβ) peptides. Given that the accumulation of Aβ peptides in neural plaques is a pathological feature of Alzheimer’s disease (AD), it is essential to understand the mechanisms controlling Aβ production. This will aid in the development of potential therapeutic agents that act to limit the deleterious production of Aβ peptides. The Fe65-APP complex has transcriptional activity and the complex is regulated by multiple post-translational modifications and other protein binding partners. In the present study, we have identified Ser289 as a novel site of UV-induced phosphorylation. Interestingly, this phosphorylation was mediated by ATM, rather than ATR, and occurred independently of APP. Neither phosphorylation nor mutation of Ser289 affected the Fe65-APP interaction, though this was markedly decreased after UV treatment, with a concomitant decrease in the protein levels of APP in cells. Using mutagenesis, we demonstrated that Fe65 Ser289 phosphorylation did not affect the transcriptional activity of the Fe65-APP complex, in contrast to the previously described Ser228 site

Strategic approaches to enhanced health service delivery for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people with chronic illness: a qualitative study

BACKGROUND Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people with chronic illness confront multiple challenges that contribute to their poor health outcomes, and to the health disparities that exist in Australian society. This study aimed to identify barriers and facilitators to care and support for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people with chronic illness. METHODS Face-to-face in-depth interviews were conducted with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people with diabetes, chronic heart failure or chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (n-16) and family carers (n = 3). Interviews were transcribed verbatim and the transcripts were analysed using content analysis. Recurrent themes were identified and these were used to inform the key findings of the study. RESULTS Participants reported both negative and positive influences that affected their health and well-being. Among the negative influences, they identified poor access to culturally appropriate health services, dislocation from cultural support systems, exposure to racism, poor communication with health care professionals and economic hardship. As a counter to these, participants pointed to cultural and traditional knowledge as well as insights from their own experiences. Participants said that while they often felt overwhelmed and confused by the burden of chronic illness, they drew strength from being part of an Aboriginal community, having regular and ongoing access to primary health care, and being well-connected to a supportive family network. Within this context, elders played an important role in increasing people's awareness of the impact of chronic illness on people and communities. CONCLUSIONS Our study indicated that non-Indigenous health services struggled to meet the needs of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people with chronic illness. To address their complex needs, health services could gain considerably by recognising that Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander patients have a wealth of cultural knowledge at their disposal. Strategies to ensure that this knowledge is integrated into care and support programs for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people with chronic illness should achieve major improvements.This study was supported by the National Health and Medical Research Council which provided funding for the project

An experimental study of automotive underbody diffusers

Aerodynamics has always been a driving force in motorsport and road vehicle design and development, and continues to play an important role. A significant advancement in race car aerodynamics was the development of the vehicle underbody to produce downforce, in particular the implementation of the diffuser. This thesis concentrates on the performance flow mechanisms found in simple rear diffusers commonly seen in motorsport applications. There is little published work on these mechanisms, especially the influence of the more commonly used multiple-channel diffusers

Constraining Montague Grammar for computational applications

This work develops efficient methods for the implementation of Montague Grammar on a computer. It covers both the syntactic and the semantic aspects of that task. Using a simplified but adequate version of Montague Grammar it is shown how to translate from an English fragment to a purely extensional first-order language which can then be made amenable to standard automatic theorem-proving techniques. Translating a sentence of Montague English into the first-order predicate calculus usually proceeds via an intermediate translation in the typed lambda calculus which is then simplified by lambda-reduction to obtain a first-order equivalent. If sufficient sortal structure underlies the type theory for the reduced translation to always be a first-order one then perhaps it should be directly constructed during the syntactic analysis of the sentence so that the lambda-expressions never come into existence and no further processing is necessary. A method is proposed to achieve this involving the unification of meta-logical expressions which flesh out the type symbols of Montague's type theory with first-order schemas. It is then shown how to implement Montague Semantics without using a theorem prover for type theory. Nothing more than a theorem prover for the first-order predicate calculus is required. The first-order system can be used directly without encoding the whole of type theory. It is only necessary to encode a part of second-order logic and this can be done in an efficient, succinct, and readable manner. Furthermore the pseudo-second-order terms need never appear in any translations provided by the parser. They are vital just when higher-order reasoning must be simulated. The foundation of this approach is its five-sorted theory of Montague Semantics. The objects in this theory are entities, indices, propositions, properties, and quantities. It is a theory which can be expressed in the language of first-order logic by means of axiom schemas and there is a finite second-order axiomatisation which is the basis for the theorem-proving arrangement. It can be viewed as a very constrained set theory

Counterexamples to the maximum force conjecture

Dimensional analysis shows that the speed of light and Newton's constant of gravitation can be combined to define a quantity $F_* = {c^4\over G_N}$ with the dimensions of force (equivalently, tension). Then in any physical situation we must have $F_{physical} = f \; F_*$, where the quantity $f$ is some dimensionless function of dimensionless parameters. In many physical situations explicit calculation yields $f= O(1)$, and quite often $f \leq {1\over4}$. This has lead multiple authors to suggest a (weak or strong) maximum force/maximum tension conjecture. Working within the framework of standard general relativity, we will instead focus on counter-examples to this conjecture, paying particular attention to the extent to which the counter-examples are physically reasonable. The various counter-examples we shall explore strongly suggest that one should not put too much credence into any universal maximum force/maximum tension conjecture. Specifically, fluid spheres on the verge of gravitational collapse will generically violate the weak (and strong) maximum force conjectures. If one wishes to retain any general notion of "maximum force" then one will have to very carefully specify precisely which forces are to be allowed within the domain of discourse.Comment: V1: 29 pages; 6 figures; V2: minor typos fixe

Challenges for co-morbid chronic illness care and policy in Australia: a qualitative study

BACKGROUND: In response to the escalating burden of chronic illness in Australia, recent health policies have emphasised the promotion of patient self-management and better preventive care. A notable omission from these policies is the acknowledgment that patients with chronic illness tend to have co-morbid conditions. Our objectives were: to identify the common challenges co-morbidity poses to patients and carers in their experiences of self-management; to detail the views and perceptions of health professionals about these challenges; and to discuss policy options to improve health care for people with co-morbid chronic illness. The method included semistructured interviews and focus groups with 129 purposively sampled participants. Participants were people with Type 2 diabetes, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and/or chronic heart failure as well as carers and health care professionals. Content analysis of the interview data was conducted using NVivo7 software. RESULTS: Patients and their carers found co-morbidity influenced their capacity to manage chronic illness in three ways. First, co-morbidity created barriers to patients acting on risk factors; second, it complicated the process of recognising the early symptoms of deterioration of each condition, and third, it complicated their capacity to manage medication. CONCLUSION: Findings highlight challenges that patients with multiple chronic conditions face in relation to preventive care and self-management. Future clinical policy initiatives need to move away from single illness orientation toward strategies that meet the needs of people with co-morbid conditions and strengthen their capacity to self-manage. These patients will benefit directly from specialised education and services that cater to the needs of people with clusters of co-morbidities.NHMRC, Australian National University, University of Sydney, Menzies Centre for Health Polic