Urban Growth Boundaries and their impact on land prices

Investigation of the effects of Urban Growth Boundaries (UGB) on land prices are restricted by a lack of good land market data. However, undeveloped land transactions at the urban fringe of the Melbourne metropolitan area in Australia are recorded in a data set that enables exploration of the impact of its UGB. Estimation can take account of endogeneity issues, while controlling for policy anticipation effects and other potential influences on land prices. OLS and instrumental variable estimates indicate that land prices rose substantially inside the UGB after its enactment in 2003 but did not rise much outside of it

Dissemination of CTX-M-15 β-lactamase genes carried on inc FI and FII plasmids among clinical isolates of escherichia coli in a university hospital in Istanbul, Turkey

The CTX-M-1 group was found in 86.8% of the Escherichia coli isolates from Istanbul. A subset study revealed all isolates carrying blaCTX-M-15 genes flanked by the insertion element ISEcp1. Plasmid typing of transconjugates carrying blaCTX-M-15 showed that most isolates belonged to the Inc/rep FII group but that one isolate also belonged to the FI group

Original Article Expression of fibroblast growth factor receptor 1, fibroblast growth factor 2, phosphatidyl inositol 3 phosphate kinase and their clinical and prognostic significance in early and advanced stage of squamous cell carcinoma of the lung

Abstract: Aim: Non-small cell lung carcinoma is the leading cause of cancer related to death in the world. Squamous cell lung carcinoma (SqCLC) is the second most frequent histological subtype of lung carcinomas. Recently, growth factors, growth factor receptors, and signal transduction system-related gene amplifications and mutations are extensively under investigation to estimate the prognosis and to develop individualized therapies in SqCLC. In this study, besides the signal transduction molecule phosphatidyl inositol-3-phosphate kinase (IP3K) p110α, we explored the expressions of fibroblast growth factor 2 (FGF2) and receptor-1 (FGFR1) in tumor tissue and also their clinical and prognostic significance in patients with early/advanced SqCLC. Materials and methods: From 2005 to 2013, 129 patients (23 early, 106 advanced disease) with a histopathological SqCLC diagnosis were selected from the hospital files of Cukurova University Medical Faculty for this study. Two independent pathologists evaluated FGFR1, FGF2, and PI3K (p110α) expressions in both tumor and stromal tissues from 99 of the patients with sufficient tissue samples, using immunohistochemistry. Considering survival analysis separately for patients with both early and advanced stage diseases, the relationship between the clinical features of the patients and expressions were evaluated by univariate and multivariate analyses. Results: FGFR1 expression was found to be low in 59 (60%) patients and high in 40 (40%) patients. For FGF2; 12 (12%) patients had high, 87 (88%) patients had low expression and for IP3K; 31 (32%) patients had high and 66 (68%) patients had low expressions. In univariate analysis, overall survival (OS) was significantly associated with stage of the disease and the performance status of the patient (P<0.0001 and P<0.001). There was no significant difference in OS of the patients with either low or high expressions of FGFR1, FGF2, and IP3K. When the patients with early or advanced stage disease were separately taken into consideration, the relationship did not differ, either. Any of FGFR1, FGF2 or IP3K expressions was not found predictive for the treatment of early or advanced staged patients. On the other hand, the expressions of both FGFR1 and FGF2 were significantly different with respect to smoking, scar of tuberculosis and scar of radiotherapy (P=0.002; P=0.06 and P=0.05, respectively). Discussion: There has not been identified an effective individualized treatment for SqCLC yet. Therefore, in order to be able to develop such a treatment in the future, it is essential to identify the genetic abnormalities that are responsible for the biological behaviors and carcinogenesis of SqCLC. Although we could not show the prognostic and predictive significance of FGFR1, FGF2 and IP3K expressions in SqCLC, we determined the expression rates of FGFR1, FGF2 and IP3K as a reference for Turkish patients. In conclusion, we want to put some emphasis on the fact that, pulmonary fibrosis which is a late complication of radiotherapy at stage III disease, and the scar of tuberculosis could be associated with FGFR1 and FGF2 expressions

Impact of opioid-free analgesia on pain severity and patient satisfaction after discharge from surgery: multispecialty, prospective cohort study in 25 countries

Background: Balancing opioid stewardship and the need for adequate analgesia following discharge after surgery is challenging. This study aimed to compare the outcomes for patients discharged with opioid versus opioid-free analgesia after common surgical procedures.Methods: This international, multicentre, prospective cohort study collected data from patients undergoing common acute and elective general surgical, urological, gynaecological, and orthopaedic procedures. The primary outcomes were patient-reported time in severe pain measured on a numerical analogue scale from 0 to 100% and patient-reported satisfaction with pain relief during the first week following discharge. Data were collected by in-hospital chart review and patient telephone interview 1 week after discharge.Results: The study recruited 4273 patients from 144 centres in 25 countries; 1311 patients (30.7%) were prescribed opioid analgesia at discharge. Patients reported being in severe pain for 10 (i.q.r. 1-30)% of the first week after discharge and rated satisfaction with analgesia as 90 (i.q.r. 80-100) of 100. After adjustment for confounders, opioid analgesia on discharge was independently associated with increased pain severity (risk ratio 1.52, 95% c.i. 1.31 to 1.76; P < 0.001) and re-presentation to healthcare providers owing to side-effects of medication (OR 2.38, 95% c.i. 1.36 to 4.17; P = 0.004), but not with satisfaction with analgesia (beta coefficient 0.92, 95% c.i. -1.52 to 3.36; P = 0.468) compared with opioid-free analgesia. Although opioid prescribing varied greatly between high-income and low- and middle-income countries, patient-reported outcomes did not.Conclusion: Opioid analgesia prescription on surgical discharge is associated with a higher risk of re-presentation owing to side-effects of medication and increased patient-reported pain, but not with changes in patient-reported satisfaction. Opioid-free discharge analgesia should be adopted routinely

Addressing recurring or protracted episodes in housing affordability stress 2001–11

This study utilized the first 11 waves of the Household, Income and Labour Dynamics of Australia (HILDA) Survey to track individuals’ tenure transitions and housing affordability dynamics over the period 2001–11. The study used the widely recognized definition of ‘housing affordability stress’, where an individual’s housing costs exceed 30 per cent of their equivalised income and their income leaves them in the bottom 40 per cent of the household income distribution. This study confirmed previous findings that relatively few Australians slip into housing affordability stress if they at first enter affordable housing, and if they fall into stress, most escape quickly. Over a 10-year period, only around 21 per cent of Australians slip into housing affordability stress (‘stress’) after being in affordable housing, and 73 per cent of Australians experiencing stress escape within a year. However, some Australians have problematic experiences—defined as ‘dynamic affordability stress’. These individuals experience difficulty in rebounding into affordable housing, relapse back into stress even if escape is at first achieved; or experience episodic recurrences of stress. Susceptible groups include migrants from non-English speaking backgrounds, low-income home purchasers or households with dependent children. Falling into housing affordability stress is on average equally due to labour market factors (e.g. reduced income or unemployment) as housing factors (increased housing costs), but exiting stress is more commonly linked to increased income. This suggests that policies to boost employment participation and supplements to income might assist most in helping low-income groups make more permanent exits from stress. Macroeconomic conditions also matter, with vulnerability to dynamic affordability stress higher post-GFC controlling for all other factors, and the odds of a bounce back into affordable housing 44 per cent lower than before the GFC. This suggests that moving out of stress after the GFC has been harder. Both Commonwealth Rent Assistance (CRA) and public housing still play important roles in preventing stress, however, there is evidence to show the effectiveness of CRA has declined and the affordability of public housing might be eroded with recent policy proposals to impose market rents

Australian demographic trends and their implications for housing subsidies

This Positioning Paper is the first output of a project that aims to forecast future housing subsidies that will accompany projected demographic changes and the challenges these trends may pose for the fiscal sustainability of housing policy. Population ageing is a key demographic trend that features strongly in Australia’s future demographic projections and has important implications for the future of Australia’s welfare system, including the role of housing policy in that system. In particular, there are fears that the budgetary cost of housing subsidy arrangements will blow out as the Australian population ages. But there are also wider concerns in this context. Increasing numbers of home owners are approaching retirement with mortgages, and a sizeable number of older mortgagors are dropping out of home ownership, particularly those affected by separation and divorce. So there is now a growing interest in whether the type of housing subsidy required by seniors will change, and the risks this might present for retirement incomes policy. Our forecasts will shed light on these issues by modelling the consequences of demographic trends under different home ownership projections

The spatial dynamics of homelessness in Australia 2001–2011

Examines the impact of housing and labour market factors, demographics and service availability on rates of homelessness across Australia over the past decade. Executive summary This is the first of two reports focusing on the structural factors underlying homelessness in Australia. This first stage details the analysis undertaken with large secondary data sources to examine the spatial dynamics of homelessness from 2001 to 2011. The second stage of the project, to be presented in a Final Report, will model the role of housing and labour markets, household income, and household characteristics in shaping the spatial distribution of homelessness across Australia. Australia has a rich bank of qualitative research that describes the circumstances, personal characteristics, and practices of people who experience homelessness. More recently research has investigated the pathways into and out of homelessness. However, to date there has been little investigation of the structural drivers of homelessness and minimal use of quantitative evidence to inform an understanding of the role that housing and labour market conditions play in shaping whether people are more or less vulnerable to homelessness. This project aims to fill this knowledge gap. In this report we address the following research questions: Where is homelessness high and where is it low? Where is homelessness rising or falling? Is homelessness becoming more or less spatially concentrated? Are there changes in the composition of the homeless population? Are homelessness services well located to intervene in areas with high and rising rates of homelessness? And finally, are changes in the geography of homelessness associated with changes in housing and labour market conditions, household income or other household characteristics? Following an increased national focus on homelessness, the Australian Bureau of Statistics has, for the first time, developed a statistical definition of homelessness that could be applied to multiple ABS census collections (2001, 2006, 2011), and for geographical units at different levels of aggregation. This recent development has enabled the current project to be undertaken.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                  &nbsp