The land hoarding and land inspector dilemma in China : an evolutionary game theoretic perspective

China has experienced considerable economic growth since 1978, which was accompanied by unprecedented growth in urbanization and, more recently, by associated rising urban housing and land banking issues. One such issue is that of land hoarding - where real estate developers purchase land to hold unused in the rising market for a future lucrative sale, often several years later. This practice is outlawed in China, where land use is controlled by increasingly strengthened Government policies and inspectors. Despite this, land hoarding continues apace, with the main culprits being the developers and inspectors working subversively. This resembles a game between two players - the inspector and the developer - which provides the setting for this paper in developing an evolutionary game theory model to provide insights into dealing with the dilemmas faced by the players. The logic and dilemma of land banking strategy and illegal land banking issues are analysed, along with the land inspector’s role from a game theory perspective by determining the replication dynamic mechanism and evolutionary stable strategies under the various conditions that the players face. The major factors influencing the actions of land inspectors, on the other hand, are the costs of inspection, no matter if it is strict or indolent, conflict costs, and income and penalties from corruption. From this, it is shown that, when the net loss for corruption (income from corruption minus the penalties for corruption and cost of strict inspections) is less than the cost of strict inspections, the final evolutionary stable strategy of the inspectors is to carry out indolent inspections. Then, whether penalising developers for hoarding is severe or not, the evolutionary strategy for the developer is to hoard. The implications for land use control mechanisms and associated developer-inspector actions and counteractions are then examined in the light of the model's properties.

Marginal costs of hospital-acquired conditions : information for priority-setting for patient safety programmes and research

Objective: To estimate the relative inpatient costs of hospital-acquired conditions. Methods: Patient level costs were estimated using computerized costing systems that log individual utilization of inpatient services and apply sophisticated cost estimates from the hospital's general ledger. Occurrence of hospital-acquired conditions was identified using an Australian ‘condition-onset' flag for diagnoses not present on admission. These were grouped to yield a comprehensive set of 144 categories of hospital-acquired conditions to summarize data coded with ICD-10. Standard linear regression techniques were used to identify the independent contribution of hospital-acquired conditions to costs, taking into account the case-mix of a sample of acute inpatients (n = 1,699,997) treated in Australian public hospitals in Victoria (2005/06) and Queensland (2006/07). Results: The most costly types of complications were post-procedure endocrine/metabolic disorders, adding AU$21,827 to the cost of an episode, followed by MRSA (AU$19,881) and enterocolitis due to Clostridium difficile (AU$19,743). Aggregate costs to the system, however, were highest for septicaemia (AU$41.4 million), complications of cardiac and vascular implants other than septicaemia (AU$28.7 million), acute lower respiratory infections, including influenza and pneumonia (AU$27.8 million) and UTI (AU$24.7 million). Hospital-acquired complications are estimated to add 17.3% to treatment costs in this sample. Conclusions: Patient safety efforts frequently focus on dramatic but rare complications with very serious patient harm. Previous studies of the costs of adverse events have provided information on ‘indicators’ of safety problems rather than the full range of hospital-acquired conditions. Adding a cost dimension to priority-setting could result in changes to the focus of patient safety programmes and research. Financial information should be combined with information on patient outcomes to allow for cost-utility evaluation of future interventions.

Accounting for management costs in sensitivity analyses of matrix population models

Traditional sensitivity and elasticity analyses of matrix population models have been used to inform management decisions, but they ignore the economic costs of manipulating vital rates. For example, the growth rate of a population is often most sensitive to changes in adult survival rate, but this does not mean that increasing that rate is the best option for managing the population because it may be much more expensive than other options. To explore how managers should optimize their manipulation of vital rates, we incorporated the cost of changing those rates into matrix population models. We derived analytic expressions for locations in parameter space where managers should shift between management of fecundity and survival, for the balance between fecundity and survival management at those boundaries, and for the allocation of management resources to sustain that optimal balance. For simple matrices, the optimal budget allocation can often be expressed as simple functions of vital rates and the relative costs of changing them. We applied our method to management of the Helmeted Honeyeater (Lichenostomus melanops cassidix; an endangered Australian bird) and the koala (Phascolarctos cinereus) as examples. Our method showed that cost-efficient management of the Helmeted Honeyeater should focus on increasing fecundity via nest protection, whereas optimal koala management should focus on manipulating both fecundity and survival simultaneously. These findings are contrary to the cost-negligent recommendations of elasticity analysis, which would suggest focusing on managing survival in both cases. A further investigation of Helmeted Honeyeater management options, based on an individual-based model incorporating density dependence, spatial structure, and environmental stochasticity, confirmed that fecundity management was the most cost-effective strategy. Our results demonstrate that decisions that ignore economic factors will reduce management efficiency. ©2006 Society for Conservation Biology.

Costs and benefits of ivory-billed woodpecker re-discovery

Several years ago, the purported re-discovery of the ivory-billed woodpecker (Campephilus principalis) in eastern Arkansas generated lively discussion in renowned scientific journals. The debate concerned both the central question of whether the bird videotaped in April 2004 really was an ivorybilled woodpecker (eg Fitzpatrick et al. 2005; Sibley et al. 2006) and the controversy around the resulting species recovery plan and its costs (McKelvey et al. 2008; Dalton 2010): was $14 million pointlessly spent?

Pan-Plasmodium band sensitivity for Plasmodium falciparum detection in combination malaria rapid diagnostic tests and implications for clinical management

Background: Malaria rapid diagnostic tests (RDTs) are appropriate for case management, but persistent antigenaemia is a concern for HRP2-detecting RDTs in endemic areas. It has been suggested that pan-pLDH test bands on combination RDTs could be used to distinguish persistent antigenaemia from active Plasmodium falciparum infection, however this assumes all active infections produce positive results on both bands of RDTs, an assertion that has not been demonstrated. Methods: In this study, data generated during the WHO-FIND product testing programme for malaria RDTs was reviewed to investigate the reactivity of individual test bands against P. falciparum in 18 combination RDTs. Each product was tested against multiple wild-type P. falciparum only samples. Antigen levels were measured by quantitative ELISA for HRP2, pLDH and aldolase. Results: When tested against P. falciparum samples at 200 parasites/μL, 92% of RDTs were positive; 57% of these on both the P. falciparum and pan bands, while 43% were positive on the P. falciparum band only. There was a relationship between antigen concentration and band positivity; ≥4 ng/mL of HRP2 produced positive results in more than 95% of P. falciparum bands, while ≥45 ng/mL of pLDH was required for at least 90% of pan bands to be positive. Conclusions: In active P. falciparum infections it is common for combination RDTs to return a positive HRP2 band combined with a negative pan-pLDH band, and when both bands are positive, often the pan band is faint. Thus active infections could be missed if the presence of a HRP2 band in the absence of a pan band is interpreted as being caused solely by persistent antigenaemia.

Depression in Working Adults: Comparing the Costs and Health Outcomes of Working When Ill

Objective Working through a depressive illness can improve mental health but also carries risks and costs from reduced concentration, fatigue, and poor on-the-job performance. However, evidence-based recommendations for managing work attendance decisions, which benefit individuals and employers, are lacking. Therefore, this study has compared the costs and health outcomes of short-term absenteeism versus working while ill (“presenteeism”) amongst employed Australians reporting lifetime major depression. Methods Cohort simulation using state-transition Markov models simulated movement of a hypothetical cohort of workers, reporting lifetime major depression, between health states over one- and five-years according to probabilities derived from a quality epidemiological data source and existing clinical literature. Model outcomes were health service and employment-related costs, and quality-adjusted-life-years (QALYs), captured for absenteeism relative to presenteeism, and stratified by occupation (blue versus white-collar). Results Per employee with depression, absenteeism produced higher mean costs than presenteeism over one- and five-years ($42,573/5-years for absenteeism, $37,791/5-years for presenteeism). However, overlapping confidence intervals rendered differences non-significant. Employment-related costs (lost productive time, job turnover), and antidepressant medication and service use costs of absenteeism and presenteeism were significantly higher for white-collar workers. Health outcomes differed for absenteeism versus presenteeism amongst white-collar workers only. Conclusions Costs and health outcomes for absenteeism and presenteeism were not significantly different; service use costs excepted. Significant variation by occupation type was identified. These findings provide the first occupation-specific cost evidence which can be used by clinicians, employees, and employers to review their management of depression-related work attendance, and may suggest encouraging employees to continue working is warranted.

Conceptual beliefs about human values and their implications: Human nature beliefs predict value importance, value trade-offs, and responses to value-laden rhetoric

Beliefs that may underlie the importance of human values were investigated in 4 studies, drawing on research that distinguishes natural-kind (natural), nominal-kind (conventional), and artifact (functional) beliefs. Values were best characterized by artifact and nominal-kind beliefs, as well as a natural-kind belief specific to the social domain, “human nature” (Studies 1 and 2). The extent to which values were considered central to human nature was associated with value importance in both Australia and Japan (Study 2), and experimentally manipulating human nature beliefs influenced value importance (Study 3). Beyond their association with importance, human nature beliefs predicted participants’ reactions to value trade-offs (Study 1) and to value-laden rhetorical statements (Study 4). Human nature beliefs therefore play a central role in the psychology of values.

Creative labour and graduate outcomes : Implications for higher education and cultural policy

One of the principal ways that cultural and higher education policy and practice intersect is over a shared concern with the supply of talent and its employability and career sustainability. This article considers the multidisciplinary contributions to these debates, and then engages with these debates by drawing upon research from analyses of national Census data, and via granular empirical survey research into Australian creative arts graduates’ initial career trajectories. In so doing, it seeks to paint a more nuanced picture of graduate outcomes, the significance of creative skills and by extension creative education and training, and the various kinds of value that creative graduates add through their work. This evidence should assist in a closer affinity between the differing approaches to creative labour and the creative economy, and has implications for cultural and higher education policy.

The culture of young women's drinking: Implications for developing effective policing strategies. Report to National Drug Strategy Law Enforcement Committee

Alcohol-related mortality and morbidity represents a substantial financial burden on communities across the world. Adolescence and young adulthood is a peak period for heavy episodic alcohol consumption, with over a third of all people aged 14-19 years having been at risk of acute alcoholrelated harm at least once in the previous 12 months (Australian Institute of Health and Welfare [AIHW], 2011). Excessive alcohol consumption has long been seen as a male problem; however, a gradual shift towards a social acceptance of female drunkenness has narrowed the gap in drinking quantity and style between men and women (Grucza, Bucholz, Rice, & Bierut, 2008). The presented data point to the vulnerability of women to the consequences of acute alcohol intoxication and indicate that alcohol-related offending by women is on the rise. Taken together, these findings reveal that alcohol-related harms and aggression for young women are becoming more prevalent and problematic. This report addressed these issues from a policing perspective...

Raman and infrared spectroscopic studies of phurcalite from Red Canyon, Utah, USA – Implications for the molecular structure

Raman and infrared spectra of the uranyl mineral phurcalite, Ca2(UO2)3O2(PO4)2⋅7H2O, from Red Canyon, Utah, USA, were studied and tentatively interpreted. Observed bands were assigned to the stretching and bending vibrations of (UO2)2+ and (PO4)3− units and to the stretching and bending vibrations and libration modes of water molecules. Approximate lengths of U–O in (UO2)2+ and O–H⋯O hydrogen bond lengths were inferred from observed stretching vibrations. The presence of structurally nonequivalent U6+ and P5+ was inferred from the number of corresponding stretching bands of (UO2)2+ and (PO4)3− units observed in the Raman and infrared spectra..

A vibrational spectroscopic study of the borate mineral ezcurrite Na4B10O17·7H2O – Implications for the molecular structure

We have studied the boron containing mineral ezcurrite Na4B10O17·7H2O using electron microscopy and vibrational spectroscopy. Both tetrahedral and trigonal boron units are observed. The nominal resolution of the Raman spectrometer is of the order of 2 cm−1 and as such is sufficient enough to identify separate bands for the stretching bands of the two boron isotopes. The Raman band at 1037 cm−1 is assigned to BO stretching vibration. Raman bands at 1129, 1163, 1193 cm−1 are attributed to BO stretching vibration of the tetrahedral units. The Raman band at 947 cm−1 is attributed to the antisymmetric stretching modes of tetrahedral boron. The sharp Raman peak at 1037 cm−1 is from the 11-B component such a mode, then it should have a smaller 10-B satellite near (1.03) × (1037) = 1048 cm−1, and indeed a small peak at 1048 is observed. The broad Raman bands at 3186, 3329, 3431, 3509, 3547 and 3576 cm−1 are assigned to water stretching vibrations. Broad infrared bands at 3170, 3322, 3419, 3450, 3493, 3542, 3577 and 3597 cm−1 are also assigned to water stretching vibrations. Infrared bands at 1330, 1352, 1389, 1407, 1421 and 1457 cm−1 are assigned to the antisymmetric stretching vibrations of trigonal boron. The observation of so many bands suggests that there is considerable variation in the structure of ezcurrite. Infrared bands at 1634, 1646 and 1681 cm−1 are assigned to water bending modes. The number of water bending modes is in harmony with the number of water stretching vibrations.

Vibrational spectroscopic characterization of the sulphate-carbonate mineral burkeite: Implications for evaporites

Burkeite formation is important in saline evaporites and in pipe scales. Burkeite is an anhydrous sulphate-carbonate with an apparent variable anion ratio. Such a formula with two oxyanions lends itself to vibrational spectroscopy. Two symmetric sulphate stretching modes are observed, indicating at least at the molecular level the nonequivalence of the sulphate ions in the burkeite structure. The strong Raman band at 1065 cm−1 is assigned to the carbonate symmetric stretching vibration. The series of Raman bands at 622, 635, 645, and 704 cm−1 are assigned to the ν4 sulphate bending modes. The observation of multiple bands supports the concept of a reduction in symmetry of the sulphate anion from T d to C 3v or even C 2v.

Vibrational spectroscopic characterization of the arsenate mineral barahonaite: Implications for the molecular structure

The mineral barahonaite is in all probability a member of the smolianinovite group. The mineral is an arsenate mineral formed as a secondary mineral in the oxidized zone of sulphide deposits. We have studied the barahonaite mineral using a combination of Raman and infrared spectroscopy. The mineral is characterized by a series of Raman bands at 863 cm−1 with low wavenumber shoulders at 802 and 828 cm−1. These bands are assigned to the arsenate and hydrogen arsenate stretching vibrations. The infrared spectrum shows a broad spectral profile. Two Raman bands at 506 and 529 cm−1 are assigned to the triply degenerate arsenate bending vibration (F 2, ν4), and the Raman bands at 325, 360, and 399 cm−1 are attributed to the arsenate ν2 bending vibration. Raman and infrared bands in the 2500–3800 cm−1 spectral range are assigned to water and hydroxyl stretching vibrations. The application of Raman spectroscopy to study the structure of barahonaite is better than infrared spectroscopy, probably because of the much higher spatial resolution.