How Are HOPE VI Families Faring? Income and Employment

While the primary goal of the HOPE VI program is to improve the living environment of public housing residents, it also aims to help residents move toward self-sufficiency by helping them find new or better jobs (see page 6). The program's Community Support Services (CSS) component can help identify what residents need, such as job training or placement, to make them more likely to find employment. Relocation itself might help residents find employment if they move to less poor neighborhoods with more job opportunities and better job information networks. Residents who move back to new mixed-income developments on the HOPE VI sites could experience similar improved job networks. However, whether these expectations of increased employment and self-sufficiency are realistic for HOPE VI residents is unclear. For both employed and nonemployed residents, the gap between household income and the income needed for housing and other costs of living is wide. The HOPE VI Panel Study is tracking the well-being of residents from five HOPE VI sites (see page 7). These respondents, mostly African American women, were extremely poor at baseline.[1] The vast majority reported household incomes below the poverty level, and over a third (35 percent) reported annual incomes of less than $5,000. Less than half (45 percent) of respondents were employed, and those who were working earned low wages (Popkin et al. 2002). This brief discusses income and employment findings for working-age adults under 62 years old two years after relocation started at the five HOPE VI Panel Study sites.[2] It examines various barriers to employment for respondents, and considers both expectations for future employment and the services and support systems that might best mitigate those barriers. Future research will examine how residents' employment experiences are affected as relocation is completed and some residents return to the revitalized developments. Notes from this section 1. Among respondents under 62 years old, 82 percent were non-Hispanic African American women and 9 percent were Hispanic women. 2. A future brief in the "A Roof Over Their Heads" series will examine income and employment findings for adults over 62 years old

The impacts of commercial lease structures on landlord and tenant leasing behaviours and experiences

The commercial property market in New Zealand is characterized by two standard but distinct lease environments. In Auckland, the commercial core of the economy, net leases dominate, whereas in Wellington, the political capital, gross leases are dominant. These different lease environments have the potential to strongly influence the nature of landlord and tenant relationships in these markets. Using in-depth interviews with key industry personnel, this study examines the perceptions, behaviours, experiences and key issues confronting landlords and tenants under net and gross leases. The paper examines how different lease structures affect the behavioural and attitudinal characteristics of landlords and tenants including: landlord/tenant perceptions of a lease, the operation and maintenance procedures, landlord-tenant relationship, and ultimately, overall satisfaction

Lightning-induced ventricular fibrillation

We present a case of a previously healthy 17 year-old white male boy scout who collapsed after a lightning strike, and was found to be in ventricular fibrillation when emergency medical services arrived. The ventricular fibrillation was defibrillated into sinus rhythm after a single direct current (DC) countershock. However, the patient has remained in coma. Commotio cordis, sudden cardiac death from low-energy chest wall impact, is a phenomenon in which an exactly timed and located blow on the chest during the cardiac cycle results in ventricular fibrillation. Commotio cordis and electrical shock can both result in ventricular arrhythmias. We speculate that in this patient, ventricular fibrillation began immediately after the lightning, which probably struck at the peak of the T wave. (Cardiol J 2007; 14: 91–94

Nonsteroidal Anti-Inflammatory Drugs: A survey of practices and concerns of pediatric medical and surgical specialists and a summary of available safety data

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Objectives</p> <p>To examine the prescribing habits of NSAIDs among pediatric medical and surgical practitioners, and to examine concerns and barriers to their use.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>A sample of 1289 pediatricians, pediatric rheumatologists, sports medicine physicians, pediatric surgeons and pediatric orthopedic surgeons in the United States and Canada were sent an email link to a 22-question web-based survey.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>338 surveys (28%) were completed, 84 were undeliverable. Of all respondents, 164 (50%) had never prescribed a selective cyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2) NSAID. The most common reasons for ever prescribing an NSAID were musculoskeletal pain, soft-tissue injury, fever, arthritis, fracture, and headache. Compared to traditional NSAIDs, selective COX-2 NSAIDs were believed to be as safe (42%) or safer (24%); have equal (52%) to greater efficacy (20%) for pain; have equal (59%) to greater efficacy (15%) for inflammation; and have equal (39%) to improved (44%) tolerability. Pediatric rheumatologists reported significantly more frequent abdominal pain (81% vs. 23%), epistaxis (13% vs. 2%), easy bruising (64% vs. 8%), headaches (21% vs. 1%) and fatigue (12% vs. 1%) for traditional NSAIDs than for selective COX-2 NSAIDs. Prescribing habits of NSAIDs have changed since the voluntary withdrawal of rofecoxib and valdecoxib; 3% of pediatric rheumatologists reported giving fewer traditional NSAID prescriptions, and while 57% reported giving fewer selective COX-2 NSAIDs, 26% reported that they no longer prescribed these medications.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>Traditional and selective COX-2 NSAIDs were perceived as safe by pediatric specialists. The data were compared to the published pediatric safety literature.</p

A hibridação do Brazilian Jazz e o processo de modernização do país na década de 1980

A produção de música instrumental que encontrou campo fértil para florescer no eixo Rio-São Paulo na década de 1980 por uma geração de músicos que lançou mão da mistura de elementos de gêneros norte-americanos – do jazz em sua grande maioria, mas também do blues, do funk e do soul – com elementos de gêneros brasileiros em suas composições, fez surgir uma música hibridizada, aqui denominada de Brazilian Jazz. Essa denominação guardaria em si a chave para um entendimento mais aprofundado a respeito de processos sócio-culturais e econômicos do país, localizados dentro do contexto da modernização latino-americana das décadas de 1980 e 1990, na medida em que seu entendimento é controverso dentro e fora do país. A análise toma como ponto de partida a primeira participação de um grupo brasileiro no Festival de Montreux, Suíça, em 1977 - o grupo Azymuth - e as relações entre a escolha do grupo e o mercado cultural da época. Será analisado como o jazz, gênero nascido em finais do séc.XIX em Nova Orleans, EUA, foi usado para legitimar uma música frente a um novo mercado, cerca de 80 anos depois, no Brasil. A intenção é a de acender uma luz sobre um período da música instrumental brasileira, pouquíssimo estudado no âmbito acadêmico. Como suporte teórico, será tomado como base o trabalho de Nestor Garcia Canclini sobre a hibridação e a modernização da América Latina, “Culturas híbridas - estratégias para entrar e sair da modernidade” e o conceito de campo artístico, de Pierre Bourdieu

Organizational isomorphism and property investment decision-making amidst disruptions : evidence from listed property trusts in New Zealand

Peer reviewedPublisher PD

Barriers in achieving quality valuations : the New Zealand perspective

Peer reviewe