No win no fee - no lien and no costs

In Lupker v Shine Lawyers Pty Ltd [2015] QSC 278 Bond J considered the implications for a law practice in relation to its entitlement to recovery of its professional fees when the client terminates a no win no fee retainer.

Costs on review - what charges are appropriate?

In Picamore Pty Ltd v Challen [2015] QDC 067 McGill DCJ considered the nature of a review under r742 of the Uniform Civil Procedure Rules 1999 (Qld) (UCPR) in the context of a review of a costs assessment conducted under the Legal Profession Act 2007 (Qld). His Honour increased the amount that had been allowed by the costs assessor for a number of items. The judgment includes observations about what may appropriately be charged for particular items of legal work.

Impact of dental insurance on adults’ oral health care in Tehran, Iran.

The aim of the present study was to determine relationships between insurance status and utilization of oral health care and its characteristics and to identify factors related to insured patients’ selection of dental clinic or dentist. The study was based on cross-sectional data obtained through phone interviews. The target population included adults in the city of Tehran. Using a two-stage stratified random technique, 3,200 seven-digit numbers resembling real phone numbers were drawn; when calling, 1,669 numbers were unavailable (busy, no answer, fax, line blocked). Of the 1,531 subjects who answered the phone call, 224 were outside the target age (under 18), and 221 refused to respond, leaving 1,086 subjects in the final sample. The interviews were carried out using a structured questionnaire and covered characteristics of dental visits, the respondent’s reason for selecting a particular dentist or clinic and demographic and socio-economic background (gender, age, level of education, income, and insurance status). Data analysis included the Chi-square test, ANOVA, and logistic regression and the corresponding odds ratios (OR). Of all the 1,086 respondents, 57% were women, 62% were under age 35, 46% had a medium and 34% a high level of education, 13% were under the poverty line, and 70% had insurance coverage; 64% with the public, and 6% with a commercial insurance. Having insurance coverage was more likely for women (OR=1.5), for those in the oldest age group (OR=2.0), and for those with a high level of education (OR=2.5). Of those with dental insurance, 54% reported having had a dental visit within the past 12 months ; more often by those with commercial insurance in comparison with public (65% vs. 53% p<0.001). Check-up as the reason for the most recent visit occurred most frequently among those with commercial insurance (28%) compared with those having public insurance (16%) or being non-insured (13%) (p<0.001). Having had two or more dental visits within the past 12 months was most common among insured respondents, when compared with the non-insured (31% vs. 22% p=0.01). The non-insured respondents reported tooth extractions almost twice as frequently as did the insured ones (p<0.001). Of the 726 insured subjects, 60% selected fully out-of-pocket-paid services (FOP), and 53% were unaware of their insurance benefits. Of those who selected FOP, good interpersonal aspects (OR=4.6), being unaware of dental insurance benefits (OR=4.6), and good technical aspects (OR=2.3) as a reason had greater odds of selecting FOP. The present study revealed that dental insurance was positively related to demand for oral health care as well as to utilization of services, but to the latter with a minor extent. Among insured respondents, despite their opportunity to use fully or highly subsidized oral health care services, good interpersonal relationship and high quality of services were the most important factors when an insured patient selected a dentist or a clinic. The present findings indicate a clear need to modify dental insurance systems in Iran to facilitate optimal use of oral health care services to maximize the oral health of the population. A special emphasis in the insurance schemes should be focused on preventive care.

Increase water use efficiency and productivity, and reduce energy and water usage and costs, of dairy and fodder enterprises, to reduce costs of milk production

Increase water use efficiency and productivity, and reduce energy and water usage and costs, of dairy and fodder enterprises, to reduce costs of milk production.

Inpatient hospital care and its costs among type 1 diabetic patients in Finland : a nationwide longitudinal study

Background. In Finland, the incidence of type 1 diabetes mellitus (T1DM) is the highest in the world, and it continues to increase steadily. No effective preventative interventions exist either for individuals at high risk or for the population as a whole. In addition to problems with daily lifelong insulin replacement therapy, T1DM patients with long-lasting disease suffer from various diabetes related complications. The complications can lead to severe impairments and reductions in functional capacity and quality of life and in the worst case they can be fatal. Longitudinal studies on the costs of T1DM are extremely rare, especially in Finland. Typically, in these studies, distinctions between the various types of diabetes have not been made, and costs have not been calculated separately for the sexes. Aims. The aim of this study was to describe inpatient hospital care and costs of inpatient care in a cohort of 5,166 T1DM patients by sex during 1973-1998 in Finland. Inpatient care and costs of care due to T1DM without complications, due to T1DM with complications and due to other causes were calculated separately. Material and Methods. The study population consisted of all Finnish T1DM patients diagnosed before the age of 18 years between January 1st in 1965 and December 31st in 1979 and derived from the Finnish population based T1DM register (N=5,120 in 1979 and N=4,701 in 1997). Data on hospitalisations were obtained from the Finnish Hospital Discharge Register. Results. In the early stages of T1DM, the majority of the use of inpatient care was due to the treatment of T1DM without complications. There were enormous increases in the use of inpatient care for certain complications when T1DM lasted longer (from 9.5 years to 16.5 years). For women, the yearly number of bed-days for renal complications increased 4.8-fold, for peripheral vascular disease 4.3-fold and for ophthalmic complications 2.5-fold. For men, the corresponding increases were as follows: 5-fold, 6.9-fold and 2.5-fold. The yearly bed-days for glaucoma increased 8-fold, nephropathy 7-fold and microangiopathy 6-fold in the total population. During these 7 years, the yearly numbers of bed-days for T1DM without complications dropped dramatically. The length of stay in inpatient care decreased notably, but hospital visits became more frequent when the length of duration of T1DM increased from 9.5 years to 16.5 years. The costs of treatments due to complications increased when T1DM lasted longer. Costs due to inpatient care of complications in the cohort 2.5-folded as duration of T1DM increased from 9.5 years to 16.5 years, while the total costs of inpatient care in the cohort dropped by 22% due to an 80% decrease in the costs of care of T1DM without complications. Treating complications of female patients was more expensive than treating complications of men when T1DM had lasted 9.5 years; the mean annual costs for inpatient care of a female diabetic (any cause) were 1,642 , and the yearly costs of care of complications were 237 . The corresponding yearly mean costs for a male patient were 1,198 and 167 . Treating complications of female patients was more expensive than that of male patients also when the duration of diabetes was 16.5 years, although the difference in average annual costs between sexes was somewhat smaller. Conclusions. In the early phases of T1DM, the treatment of T1DM without complications causes a considerable amount of hospital bed-days. The use of inpatient care due to complications of T1DM strongly increases with ageing of patients. The economic burden of inpatient care of T1DM is substantial.

Qualitative study of patients' choice between public and private hospital emergency departments

Objective The aim of this study was to gather patients' perceptions regarding their choice between public and private hospital EDs for those who hold private health insurance. The findings of this study will contribute to knowledge regarding patients' decision-making processes and therefore may contribute to the development of evidence based public policies. Methods An in-depth semi-structured guide was used to interview participants at public and private hospital EDs. Questions sought to identify the issues that were considered by the participants to decide to attend that hospital ED, previous ED experience, expectations of ED services and perceived benefits and barriers to accessing services. Interviews were audio recorded, transcribed verbatim and analysed using content and thematic approaches. Results Four core themes emerged: prior good experience with the hospital, perceived quality of care, perceived waiting times and perceived costs that may explain patients' choice. Patients' choice between public and private EDs can be explained by the interaction of these core themes. The principal issues appear to be concern for gap payments at private hospital ED and waiting times at public hospital ED. Conclusions Patients who choose to attend public EDs appear to value financial concern over waiting time; those who choose to attend private EDs appear to value waiting time ahead of financial concerns.

Implementation costs of Agricultural Management Practices for Water Quality Improvement in the Great Barrier Reef Catchments. CSIRO: Water for Healthy Country National Research Flagship

Executive summary. In this report we analyse implementation costs and benefits for agricultural management practices, grouped into farming systems. In order to do so, we compare plot scale gross margins for the dominant agricultural production systems (sugarcane, grazing and banana cultivation) in the NRM regions Wet Tropics, Burdekin Dry Tropics and Mackay Whitsundays. Furthermore, where available, we present investment requirements for changing to improved farming systems. It must be noted that transaction costs are not captured within this project. For sugarcane, this economic analysis shows that there are expected benefits to sugarcane growers in the different regions through transitions to C and B class farming systems. Further transition to A-class farming systems can come at a cost, depending on the capital investment required and the length of the investment period. Obviously, the costs and benefits will vary for each individual grower and will depend on their starting point and individual property scenario therefore each circumstance needs to be carefully considered before making a change in management practice. In grazing, overall, reducing stocking rates comes at a cost (reduced benefits). However, when operating at low utilisation rates in wetter country, lowering stocking rates can potentially come at a benefit. With win-win potential, extension is preferred to assist farmer in changing management practices to improve their land condition. When reducing stocking rates comes at a cost, incentives may be applicable to support change among farmers. For banana cultivation, the results indicate that the transition to C and B class management practices is a worthwhile proposition from an economic perspective. For a change from B to A class farming systems however, it is not worthwhile from a financial perspective. This is largely due to the large capital investment associated with the change in irrigation system and negative impact in whole of farm gross margin. Overall, benefits will vary for each individual grower depending on their starting point and their individual property scenario. The results presented in this report are one possible set of figures to show the changes in profitability of a grower operating in different management classes. The results in this report are not prescriptive of every landholder. Landholders will have different costs and benefits from transitioning to improved practices, even if similar operations are practiced, hence it is recommended that landholders that are willing to change management undertake their own research and analysis into the expected costs and benefits for their own soil types and property circumstances.

Influence of plant traits on production costs and profitability of strawberry in southeast Queensland.

In Queensland the subtropical strawberry ( Fragaria * ananassa) breeding program aims to combine traits into novel genotypes that increase production efficiency. The contribution of individual plant traits to cost and income under subtropical Queensland conditions was investigated, with the overall goal of improving the profitability of the industry through the release of new strawberry cultivars. The study involved specifying the production and marketing system using three cultivars of strawberry that are currently widely grown annually in southeast Queensland, developing methods to assess the economic impact of changes to the system, and identifying plant traits that influence outcomes from the system. From May through September P (price; $ punnet -1), V (monthly mass; tonne of fruit on the market) and M (calendar month; i.e. May=5) were found to be related ( r2=0.92) by the function (SE) P=4.741(0.469)-0.001630(0.0005) V-0.226(0.102) M using data from 2006 to 2010 for the Brisbane central market. Both income and cost elements in the gross margin were subject to sensitivity analysis. 'Harvesting' and 'Handling/Packing' 'Groups' of 'Activities' were the major contributors to variable costs (each >20%) in the gross margin analysis. Within the 'Harvesting Group', the 'Picking Activity' contributed most (>80%) with the trait 'display of fruit' having the greatest (33%) influence on the cost of the 'Picking Activity'. Within the 'Handling/Packing Group', the 'Packing Activity' contributed 50% of costs with the traits 'fruit shape', 'fruit size variation' and 'resistance to bruising' having the greatest (12-62%) influence on the cost of the 'Packing Activity'. Non-plant items (e.g. carton purchases) made up the other 50% of the costs within the 'Handling/Packing Group'. When any of the individual traits in the 'Harvesting' and 'Handling/Packing' groups were changed by one unit (on a 1-9 scale) the gross margin changed by up to 1%. Increasing yield increased the gross margin to a maximum (15% above present) at 1320 g plant -1 (94% above present). A 10% redistribution of total yield from September to May increased the gross margin by 23%. Increasing fruit size increased gross margin: a 75% increase in fruit size (to ~30 g) produced a 22% increase in the gross margin. The modified gross margin analysis developed in this study allowed simultaneous estimation of the gross margin for the producer and gross value of the industry. These parameters sometimes move in opposite directions.

Learning from insurance data: Injuries to other road users in motorcyclist at-fault crashes

In multi-vehicle motorcycle crashes, the motorcycle rider is less likely to be at-fault but more commonly severely injured than the other road user. Therefore, not surprisingly, crashes in which motorcycle riders are at-fault and particularly the injuries to the other road users in these crashes have received little research attention. This paper aims to address this gap in the literature by investigating the factors influencing the severity of injury to other road users in motorcyclist-at-fault crashes. Five years of data from Queensland, Australia, were obtained from a database of claims against the compulsory third party (CTP) injury insurance of the at-fault motorcyclists. Analysis of the data using an ordered probit model shows higher injury severity for crashes involving young (under 25) and older (60+) at-fault motorcyclists. Among the not at-fault road users, the young, old, and males were found to be more severely injured than others. Injuries to vehicle occupants were less severe than those to pillions. Crashes that occurred between vehicles traveling in opposite directions resulted in more severe injuries than those involving vehicles traveling in the same direction. While most existing studies have analyzed police reported crash data, this study used CTP insurance data. Comparison of results indicates the potential of using CTP insurance data as an alternative to police reported crash data for gaining a better understanding of risk factors for motorcycle crashes and injury severity.

Phosphine Resistance in the Rust Red Flour Beetle, Tribolium castaneum (Coleoptera: Tenebrionidae): Inheritance, Gene Interactions and Fitness Costs

The recent emergence of heritable high level resistance to phosphine in stored grain pests is a serious concern among major grain growing countries around the world. Here we describe the genetics of phosphine resistance in the rust red flour beetle Tribolium castaneum (Herbst), a pest of stored grain as well as a genetic model organism. We investigated three field collected strains of T. castaneum viz., susceptible (QTC4), weakly resistant (QTC1012) and strongly resistant (QTC931) to phosphine. The dose-mortality responses of their test- and inter-cross progeny revealed that most resistance was conferred by a single major resistance gene in the weakly (3.2x) resistant strain. This gene was also found in the strongly resistant (431x) strain, together with a second major resistance gene and additional minor factors. The second major gene by itself confers only 12-206x resistance, suggesting that a strong synergistic epistatic interaction between the genes is responsible for the high level of resistance (431x) observed in the strongly resistant strain. Phosphine resistance is not sex linked and is inherited as an incompletely recessive, autosomal trait. The analysis of the phenotypic fitness response of a population derived from a single pair inter-strain cross between the susceptible and strongly resistant strains indicated the changes in the level of response in the strong resistance phenotype; however this effect was not consistent and apparently masked by the genetic background of the weakly resistant strain. The results from this work will inform phosphine resistance management strategies and provide a basis for the identification of the resistance genes.

25th Anniversary of the Linked Life Insurance Commemorative Medal

Obverse: Inscription. Reverse: The life insurance emblem, a house with family inside, shekel coin on the roof of the house.

Comparison of the pregnancy rates and costs per calf born after fixed-time artificial insemination or artificial insemination after estrus detection in Bos indicus heifers

This study compared pregnancy rates (PRs) and costs per calf born after fixed-time artificial insemination (FTAI) or AI after estrus detection (i.e., estrus detection and AI, EDAI), before and after a single PGF2α treatment in Bos indicus (Brahman-cross) heifers. On Day 0, the body weight, body condition score, and presence of a CL (46% of heifers) were determined. The heifers were then alternately allocated to one of two FTAI groups (FTAI-1, n = 139) and (FTAI-2, n = 141) and an EDAI group (n = 273). Heifers in the FTAI groups received an intravaginal progesterone-releasing device (IPRD; 0.78 g of progesterone) and 1 mg of estradiol benzoate intramuscularly (im) on Day 0. Eight days later, the IPRD was removed and heifers received 500 μg of PGF2α and 300 IU of eCG im; 24 hours later, they received 1 mg estradiol benzoate im and were submitted to FTAI 30 to 34 hours later (54 and 58 hours after IPRD removal). Heifers in the FTAI-2 group started treatment 8 days after those in the FTAI-1 group. Heifers in the EDAI group were inseminated approximately 12 hours after the detection of estrus between Days 4 and 9 at which time the heifers that had not been detected in estrus received 500 μg of PGF2α im and EDAI continued until Day 13. Heifers in the FTAI groups had a higher overall PR (proportion pregnant as per the entire group) than the EDAI group (34.6% vs. 23.2%; P = 0.003), however, conception rate (PR of heifers submitted for AI) tended to favor the estrus detection group (34.6% vs. 44.1%; P = 0.059). The cost per AI calf born was estimated to be $267.67 and $291.37 for the FTAI and EDAI groups, respectively. It was concluded that in Brahman heifers typical of those annually mated in northern Australia FTAI compared with EDAI increases the number of heifers pregnant and reduces the cost per calf born.

Accounting for risk: The advent of capped conveyancing title insurance

Title insurance companies originating from America, have, in the past 15 years become part of the Australian conveyancing landscape. However for most residential freehold owners, their activities would be a mystery. A purchaser does not routinely obtain title insurance, with the companies presently focussing on servicing the mortgagee sector. While the lack of penetration in the residential purchaser market may be attributed to the consumer’s lack of knowledge, evidence from Ontario and New Zealand illustrates that title insurance is likely to become an additional cost in the conveyancing process in Australia. In this article we highlight the reasons why, and demonstrate how title insurers have, by working with the legal profession been able to subtly move the risk of responsibility for compensation for loss, (at least in the first instance) from the state to the insurer, but with the added benefit for the state and the conveyancing agents that the cost of the insurance is ultimately borne by the consumer. In New Zealand this development is being accelerated by the introduction of capped conveyancing title insurance. Whether title insurance will become part of the conveyancing process is no longer the relevant question for Australia, (it undoubtedly will), but the unknown issue is just how title insurance companies will work with conveyancing agents to infiltrate the market, and what response this infiltration will have in terms of the state’s view as to their continued role in the provision of assurance. We suggest that developments from New Zealand in relation to capped conveyancing insurance are likely to be replicated in Australia in the near future, and that the state’s role in providing an assurance fund will continue, though the state may seek to expand the areas in which the right to compensation is restricted.

Letters from Moise and Jacob Seixas to K. K. S. I. regarding reduction in seat costs because they are refugees

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Copy of bill of costs for Lewis Gomes' denization

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