Is it the economy, stupid? The role of social versus economic factors in people’s support for hosting the Olympic Games: Evidence from 12 democratic countries

Public referenda have gained momentum as a democratic tool to legitimize public mega projects such as hosting the Olympic Games. Interest groups in favour of hosting the Olympics therefore try to influence voters through public campaigns that primarily focus on economic benefits. However, recent studies find no or hardly any economic impact of hosting the Olympics, instead providing evidence for a positive social impact. This raises the question whether citizens consider economic or social factors when deciding on hosting the Olympics. Based on representative survey data from 12 countries, our results suggest that economic factors can influence voting behaviour, although the influence of social factors is stronger.

Tyrosine monitoring in children with early and continuously treated phenylketonuria: Results of an international practice survey

Investigations into the biochemical markers associated with executive function (EF) impairment in children with early and continuously treated phenylketonuria (ECT-PKU) remain largely phenylalanine-only focused, despite experimental data showing that a high phenylalanine:tyrosine (phe:tyr) ratio is more strongly associated with EF deficit than phe alone. A high phe:tyr ratio is hypothesized to lead to a reduction in dopamine synthesis within the brain, which in turn results in the development of EF impairment. This paper provides a snapshot of current practice in the monitoring and/or treatment of tyrosine levels in children with PKU, across 12 countries from Australasia, North America and Europe. Tyrosine monitoring in this population has increased over the last 5 years, with over 80% of clinics surveyed reporting routine monitoring of tyrosine levels in infancy alongside phe levels. Twenty-five percent of clinics surveyed reported actively treating/managing tyrosine levels (with supplemental tyrosine above that contained in PKU formulas) to ensure tyrosine levels remain within normal ranges. Anecdotally, supplemental tyrosine has been reported to ameliorate symptoms of both attention deficit hyperactivity disorder and depression in this population. EF assessment of children with ECT-PKU was likewise highly variable, with 50% of clinics surveyed reporting routine assessments of intellectual function. However when function was assessed, test instruments chosen tended towards global measures of IQ prior to school entry, rather than specific assessment of EF development. Further investigation of the role of tyrosine and its relationship with phe and EF development is needed to establish whether routine tyrosine monitoring and increased supplementation is recommended.

Neuropsychological development in children with early and continuously treated phenylketonuria : association with biochemical markers

PKU is a genetically inherited inborn error of metabolism caused by a deficiency of the enzyme phenylalanine hydroxylase. The failure of this enzyme causes incomplete metabolism of protein ingested in the diet, specifically the conversion of one amino acid, phenylalanine, to tyrosine, which is a precursor to the neurotransmitter dopamine. Rising levels of phenylalanine is toxic to the developing brain, disrupting the formation of white matter tracts. The impact of tyrosine deficiency is not as well understood, but is hypothesized to lead to a low dopamine environment for the developing brain. Detection in the newborn period and continuous treatment (a low protein phe-restricted diet supplemented with phenylalanine-free protein formulas) has resulted in children with early and continuously treated PKU now developing normal I.Q. However, deficits in executive function (EF) are common, leading to a rate of Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) up to five times the norm. EF worsens with exposure to higher phenylalanine levels, however recent research has demonstrated that a high phenylalanine to tyrosine ratio (phenylalanine:tyrosine ratio), which is hypothesised to lead to poorer dopamine function, has a more negative impact on EF than phenylalanine levels alone. Research and treatment of PKU is currently phenylalanine-focused, with little investigation of the impact of tyrosine on neuropsychological development. There is no current consensus as to the veracity of tyrosine monitoring or treatment in this population. Further, the research agenda in this population has demonstrated a primary focus on EF impairment alone, even though there may be additional neuropsychological skills compromised (e.g., mood, visuospatial deficits). The aim of this PhD research was to identify residual neuropsychological deficits in a cohort of children with early and continuously treated phenylketonuria, at two time points in development (early childhood and early adolescence), separated by eight years. In addition, this research sought to determine which biochemical markers were associated with neuropsychological impairments. A clinical practice survey was also undertaken to ascertain the current level of monitoring/treatment of tyrosine in this population. Thirteen children with early and continuously treated PKU were tested at mean age 5.9 years and again at mean age 13.95 years on several neuropsychological measures. Four children with hyperphenylalaninemia (a milder version of PKU) were also tested at both time points and provide a comparison group in analyses. Associations between neuropsychological function and biochemical markers were analysed. A between groups analysis in adolescence was also conducted (children with PKU compared to their siblings) on parent report measures of EF and mood. Minor EF impairments were evident in the PKU group by age 6 years and these persisted into adolescence. Life-long exposure to high phenylalanine:tyrosine ratio and/or low tyrosine independent of phenylalanine were significantly associated with EF impairments at both time points. Over half the children with PKU showed severe impairment on a visuospatial task, and this was associated only with concurrent levels of tyrosine in adolescence. Children with PKU also showed a statistically significant decline in a language comprehension task from 6 years to adolescence (going from normal to subnormal), this deficit was associated with lifetime levels of phenylalanine. In comparison, the four children with hyperphenylalaninemia demonstrated normal function at both time points, across all measures. No statistically significant differences were detected between children with PKU and their siblings on the parent report of EF and mood. However, depressive symptoms were significantly correlated with: EF; long term high phe:tyr exposure; and low tyrosine levels independent of phenylalanine. The practice survey of metabolic clinics from 12 countries indicated a high level of variability in terms of monitoring/treatment of tyrosine in this population. Whilst over 80% of clinics surveyed routinely monitored tyrosine levels in their child patients, 25% reported treatment strategies to increase tyrosine (and thereby lower the phenylalanine:tyrosine ratio) under a variety of patient presentation conditions. Overall, these studies have shown that EF impairments associated with PKU provide support for the dopamine-deficiency model. A language comprehension task showed a different trajectory, serving a timely reminder that non-EF functions also remain vulnerable in this population; and that normal function in childhood does not guarantee normal function by adolescence. Mood impairments were associated with EF impairments as well as long term measures of phenylalanine:tyrosine and/or tyrosine. The implications of this research for enhanced clinical guidelines are discussed given varied current practice.

International stock market linkages : are overnight returns on the U.S. Market informative?

Based on the theory of international stock market co-movements, this study shows that a profitable trading strategy can be developed. The U.S. market return is considered as overnight information by ordinary investors in the Asian and the European stock markets, and opening prices in local markets reflect the U.S. overnight return. However, smart traders would either judge the impact of overnight information more correctly, or predict unreleased information. Thus, the difference between expected opening prices based on the U.S. return and actual opening prices is counted as smart traders’ prediction power, which is either a buy or a sell signal. Using index futures price data from 12 countries from 2000 to 2011, cumulative returns on the trading strategy are calculated with taking into account transaction costs. The empirical results show that the proposed trading strategy generates higher riskadjusted returns than that of the benchmarks in 12 sample countries. The trading performances for the Asian markets surpass those for the European markets because the U.S. return is the only overnight information for the Asian markets whereas the Asian markets returns are additional information to the European investors.

Asia Pacific Business Process Management

This book constitutes the proceedings of the Second Asia Pacific Conference on Business Process Management held in Brisbane, QLD, Australia, in July 2014. In all, 33 contributions from 12 countries were submitted. After each submission was reviewed by at least three Program Committee members, nine full papers were accepted for publication in this volume. These nine papers cover various topics that can be categorized under four main research focuses in BPM: process mining, process modeling and repositories, process model comparison, and process analysis.

Milling and diffusion extraction : theory and practice

AN ENGINEERING Workshop was held from 21 to 24 November 2006 in Veracruz, Mexico. Forty delegates from 12 countries attended the workshop on theory and practice of milling and diffusion extraction. This report provides a general overview of activities undertaken during that workshop which consisted of five technical sessions over two days with presentations and discussions plus two days of field and factory visits. Topics covered during the technical sessions included: power transmissions, cane preparation, diffusers, mills, and a comparison of milling and diffusion.

Senator Elizabeth Warren fights the White House over the secret Trans-Pacific Partnership #TPP #TPPA

In his visit to the G20 in Brisbane, President Barack Obama sought to promote his ambitious Pacific Rim trade agreement — the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP). He told an audience at the University of Queensland: We’ll keep leading the effort to realize the Trans-Pacific Partnership to lower barriers, open markets, export goods, and create good jobs for our people. But with the 12 countries of the TPP making up nearly 40 percent of the global economy, this is also about something bigger. It is our chance to put in place new, high standards for trade in the 21st century that uphold our values. So, for example, we are pushing new standards in this trade agreement, requiring countries that participate to protect their workers better and to protect the environment better, and protect intellectual property that unleashes innovation, and baseline standards to ensure transparency and rule of law.

Global variation in the effects of ambient temperature on mortality: A systematic evaluation

Background: Studies have examined the effects of temperature on mortality in a single city, country, or region. However, less evidence is available on the variation in the associations between temperature and mortality in multiple countries, analyzed simultaneously. Methods: We obtained daily data on temperature and mortality in 306 communities from 12 countries/regions (Australia, Brazil, Thailand, China, Taiwan, Korea, Japan, Italy, Spain, United Kingdom, United States, and Canada). Two-stage analyses were used to assess the nonlinear and delayed relation between temperature and mortality. In the first stage, a Poisson regression allowing overdispersion with distributed lag nonlinear model was used to estimate the community-specific temperature-mortality relation. In the second stage, a multivariate meta-analysis was used to pool the nonlinear and delayed effects of ambient temperature at the national level, in each country. Results: The temperatures associated with the lowest mortality were around the 75th percentile of temperature in all the countries/regions, ranging from 66th (Taiwan) to 80th (UK) percentiles. The estimated effects of cold and hot temperatures on mortality varied by community and country. Meta-analysis results show that both cold and hot temperatures increased the risk of mortality in all the countries/regions. Cold effects were delayed and lasted for many days, whereas heat effects appeared quickly and did not last long. Conclusions: People have some ability to adapt to their local climate type, but both cold and hot temperatures are still associated with increased risk of mortality. Public health strategies to alleviate the impact of ambient temperatures are important, in particular in the context of climate change.

Elements of public asset management framework for local governments in developing countries

There is a widespread recognition to the need of better manage municipal property in most cities in the world. Structural problems across regional, state, and territorial governments that have legal powers to own and maintain real property are similar, regardless of the level of development of each country. Start from a very basic level of property inventory records. The need for better manage to the local government owned property is the result of widespread decentralisation initiatives that often have devolved huge property portfolios from central to local governments almost “overnight”. At the same time municipal or regional governments were and continue to be unprepared to deal with multiple issues related to the role of property owners and managers. The lack of discussion of public asset management especially the elements that should be incorporated in the framework creates an important challenge to study the discipline of public asset management further. The aim of this paper is to study the practices of public asset management in developed countries, especially the elements of public asset management framework, and its transferability to developing countries. A case study was selected and conducted to achieve this aim. They involved interviews and a focus group. The study found that in public asset management framework, proper asset identification, public asset needs analysis, asset life cycle and performance measurements are an important element that should be incorporated in the framework. Those elements are transferable and applicable to developing countries’ local governments. Finally, findings from this study provide useful input for the local government policy makers, scholars and asset management practitioners to establish a public asset management framework toward more efficient and effective local governments in managing their assets as well as increasing public services quality.

Time-dependent analysis of length of stay and mortality due urinary tract infections in ten developing countries : INICC findings

Catheter associated urinary tract infections (CAUTI) are a worldwide problem that may lead to increased patient morbidity, cost and mortality.1e3 The literature is divided on whether there are real effects from CAUTI on length of stay or mortality. Platt4 found the costs and mortality risks to be largeyetGraves et al found the opposite.5 A reviewof the published estimates of the extra length of stay showed results between zero and 30 days.6 The differences in estimates may have been caused by the different epidemiological methods applied. Accurately estimating the effects of CAUTI is difficult because it is a time-dependent exposure. This means that standard statistical techniques, such asmatched case-control studies, tend to overestimate the increased hospital stay and mortality risk due to infection. The aim of the study was to estimate excess length of stay andmortality in an intensive care unit (ICU) due to a CAUTI, using a statistical model that accounts for the timing of infection. Data collected from ICU units in lower and middle income countries were used for this analysis.7,8 There has been little research for these settings, hence the need for this paper.

On IT and business value in developing countries : A complementarities-based approach

Developing economies accommodate more than three quarters of the world's population. This means understanding their growth and well-being is of critical importance. Information technology (IT) is one resource that has had a profound effect in shaping the global economy. IT is also an important resource for driving growth and development in developing economies. Investments in developing economies, however, have focused on the exploitation of labor and natural resources. Unlike in developed economies, focus on IT investment to improve efficiency and effectiveness of business process in developing economies has been sparse, and mechanisms for deriving better IT-related business value is not well understood. This study develops a complementarities-based business value model for developing economies, and tests the relationship between IT investments, IT-related complementarities, and business process performance. It also considers the relationship between business processes performance and firm-level performance. The results suggest that a coordinated investment in IT and IT-related complementarities related favorably to business process performance. Improvements in process-level performance lead to improvements in firm-level performance. The results also suggest that the IT-related complementarities are not only a source of business value on their own, but also enhance the IT resources' ability to contribute to business process performance. This study demonstrates that a coordinated investment approach is required in developing economies. With this approach, their IT resources and IT-related complementaries would help them significantly in improving their business processes, and eventually their firm-level performances.

Enabling access to research data in developing countries : designing a policy and practice framework for Malaysia’s Public Research Universities

Members of the World Trade Organisation (WTO) are obliged to implement the Agreement on Trade-related Intellectual Property Rights 1994 (TRIPS) which establishes minimum standards for the protection and enforcement of intellectual property rights. Almost two decades after TRIPS was adopted at the conclusion of the Uruguay Round of trade negotiations, it is widely accepted that intellectual property systems in developing and least-developed countries must be consistent with, and serve, their development needs and objectives. In adopting the Development Agenda in 2007, the World Intellectual Property Organisation (WIPO) emphasised the importance to developing and least-developed countries of being able to obtain access to knowledge and technology and to participate in collaborations and exchanges with research and scientific institutions in other countries. Access to knowledge, information and technology is crucial if creativity and innovation is to be fostered in developing and least-developed countries. It is particularly important that developing and least-developed countries give effect to their TRIPS obligations by implementing intellectual property systems and adopting intellectual property management practices that enable them to benefit from knowledge flows and support their engagement in international research and science collaborations. However, developing and least-developed countries did not participate in the deliberations leading to the adoption in 2004 by Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) member countries of the Ministerial Declaration on Access to Research Data from Public Funding, nor have they formulated policies on access to publicly funded research outputs such as those developed by the National Institutes of Health in the United States, the United Kingdom Research Councils or the Australian National Health and Medical Research Council. These issues are considered from the viewpoint of Malaysia, a developing country whose economy has grown strongly in recent years. Lacking an established policy covering access to the outputs of publicly funded research, data sharing and licensing practices continue to be fragmented. Obtaining access to research data requires arrangements to be negotiated with individual data owners and custodians. Given the potential for restrictions on access to impact negatively on scientific progress and development in Malaysia, measures are required to ensure that access to knowledge and research results is facilitated. This paper proposes a policy framework for Malaysia‘s public research universities that recognises intellectual property rights while enabling the open access to research data that is essential for innovation and development. It also considers how intellectual property rights in research data can be managed in order to give effect to the policy‘s open access objectives.

An examination of the factorial invariance and refinement of the multidimensional school anger inventory for five Pacific Rim countries

The validity of the Multidimensional School Anger Inventory (MSAI) was examined with adolescents from 5 Pacific Rim countries (N ¼ 3,181 adolescents; age, M ¼ 14.8 years; 52% females). Confirmatory factor analyses examined configural invariance for the MSAI’s anger experience, hostility, destructive expression, and anger coping subscales. The model did not converge for Peruvian students. Using the top 4 loaded items for anger experience, hostility, and destructive expression configural invariance and partial metric and scalar invariances were found. Latent means analysis compared mean responses on each subscale to the U.S. sample. Students from other countries showed higher mean responses on the anger experience subscale (ds ¼ .37–.73). Australian (d ¼ .40) and Japanese students (d ¼ .21) had significantly higher mean hostility subscale scores. Australian students had higher mean scores on the destructive expression subscale (d ¼ .30), whereas Japanese students had lower mean scores (d ¼ 2.17). The largest latent mean gender differences (females lower than males) were for destructive expression among Australian (d ¼ 2.67), Guatemalan (d ¼ 2.42), and U.S. (d ¼ 2.66) students. This study supported an abbreviated, 12-item MSAI with partial invariance. Implications for the use of the MSAI in comparative research are discussed.

Utilisation of hospital emergency departments among immigrants from refugee source-countries in Queensland

Despite the increasing number of immigrants, there is a limited body of literature describing the use of hospital emergency department (ED) care by immigrants in Australia. This study aims to describe how immigrants from refugee source countries (IRSC) utilise ED care, compared to immigrants from the main English speaking countries (MESC), immigrants from other countries (IOC) and the local population in Queensland. A retrospective analysis of a Queensland state-wide hospital ED dataset (ED Information System) from 1-1-2008 to 31-12-2010 was conducted. Our study showed that immigrants are not a homogenous group. We found that immigrants from IRSC are more likely to use interpreters (8.9%) in the ED compared to IOC. Furthermore, IRSC have a higher rate of ambulance use (odds ratio 1.2, 95% confidence interval (CI) 1.2–1.3), are less likely to be admitted to the hospital from the ED (odds ratio 0.7 (95% CI 0.7–0.8), and have a longer length of stay (LOS; mean differences 33.0, 95% CI 28.8–37.2), in minutes, in the ED compared to the Australian born population. Our findings highlight the need to develop policies and educational interventions to ensure the equitable use of health services among vulnerable immigrant populations.

Mapping journalism cultures across nations : a comparative study of 18 countries

This article reports key findings from a comparative survey of the role perceptions, epistemological orientations and ethical views of 1800 journalists from 18 countries. The results show that detachment, non-involvement, providing political information and monitoring the government are considered essential journalistic functions around the globe. Impartiality, the reliability and factualness of information, as well as adherence to universal ethical principles are also valued worldwide, though their perceived importance varies across countries. Various aspects of interventionism, objectivism and the importance of separating facts from opinion, on the other hand, seem to play out differently around the globe. Western journalists are generally less supportive of any active promotion of particular values, ideas and social change, and they adhere more to universal principles in their ethical decisions. Journalists from non-western contexts, on the other hand, tend to be more interventionist in their role perceptions and more flexible in their ethical views.