An Unobserved Components Approach to Separating Land from Structure in Property Prices: A Case Study for the City of Brisbane

The study develops a spatio-temporal model of hedonic pricing that explicitly separates the land and the structure components of property prices. This is illustrated with a dataset for Brisbane, Australia, constructed by combining commercial real estate, local government databases and GIS-based spatial analyzes. The land component of prices has increased from 42% in 2000 to 66% in 2010. This has implications for a broad range of planning and policy issues, including property tax rates, town planning, and options for climate adaptations.

Metropolitanisation and political change in South Africa

The International Metropolitan Observatory is an international network studying metropolitanisation. Firstly, it aims to develop a data base which will help facilitate systematic cross-national analysis of social, spatial and political shifts in metropolitan areas. Secondly, as the data base is developed, it can be used to explore hypotheses about metropolitan patterns and politics in a rigorous comparative way. A number of hypotheses were tested across the 15 country network in Phase 1 of this project. Hypothesis 1 was that metropolitan areas, consisting of cities and suburban peripheries or interlinked cities, increasingly dominate advanced industrial societies. It was also advanced that metropolitan dynamics are also increasingly present in developing countries. In South Africa this proposition was largely correct, although not to the extent that one might have imagined. Hypothesis 2 was that suburban settlement (relatively low-density ‘sprawl’) outside the central city or urban centre is increasing as a proportion of metropolitan areas, and absorbing a growing proportion of populations. If suburban settlement can be interpreted as relatively low-density outside the central cities, this hypothesis is largely valid in South Africa in that the low-density areas are increasing as a proportion of metropolitan areas. Hypothesis 3 was that with the increasing expansion beyond central city boundaries, metropolitan areas are increasingly geopolitical. In South Africa, the hypothesis that there is increasing geopolitical fragmentation in metropolitan areas is not applicable. Hypothesis 4 was that along with the above dynamics (geopolitical fragmentation), social and economic polarisation has occurred among places within metropolitan areas, especially between cities and their peripheries. The study has shown that while there is virtually no fragmentation in South African cities, social inequality has actually increased over the last 10 years. Hypothesis 5a was that the rise of middle and uppermiddle class areas outside central cities has created new bases of support for conservative parties. Election results in South Africa seem to suggest that conservative parties do have disproportionate support in low-density fringe areas. Hypothesis 5b was that new areas outside central cities demonstrate more independence from established party orientations or greater volatility. There was no available evidence to test this hypothesis in South Africa, but it is unlikely to be valid

A Search for Star-Disk Interaction Among the Strongest X-ray Flaring Stars in the Orion Nebula Cluster

The Chandra Orion Ultradeep Project observed hundreds of young, low-mass stars undergoing highly energetic X-ray flare events. The 32 most powerful cases have been modeled with the result that the magnetic structures responsible for these flares can be many stellar radii in extent. In this paper, we model the observed spectral energy distributions of these 32 stars in order to determine, in detail for each star, whether there is circumstellar disk material situated in sufficient proximity to the stellar surface for interaction with the large magnetic loops inferred from the observed X-ray flares. Our spectral energy distributions span the wavelength range 0.3-8 um (plus 24 um for some stars), allowing us to constrain the presence of dusty circumstellar material out to >10 AU from the stellar surface in most cases. For 24 of the 32 stars in our sample the available data are sufficient to constrain the location of the inner edge of the dusty disks. Six of these (25%) have spectral energy distributions consistent with inner disks within reach of the observed magnetic loops. Another four stars may have gas disks interior to the dust disk and extending within reach of the magnetic loops, but we cannot confirm this with the available data. The remaining 14 stars (58%) appear to have no significant disk material within reach of the large flaring loops. Thus, up to ~40% of the sample stars exhibit energetic X-ray flares that possibly arise from a magnetic star-disk interaction, and the remainder are evidently associated with extremely large, free-standing magnetic loops anchored only to the stellar surface.Comment: Accepted to the ApJ; 26 pages, 6 tables, 6 figure

Priority setting in international trade – application of multiple criteria decision analysis for Australian-Indonesia trade in the health sector.

We demonstrate a use case of Multiple Criteria Decision Analysis (MCDA) in collaboration with industry stakeholders in forums as a way in which governments can undertake a 'soft' industry policy in international trade given the complex and changing global environment, and facilitate, rather than steer, the prioritisation of sector-specific facilitation. International trade is increasingly a balancing act with multiple competing objectives including security with open competition, economic growth with inclusion, and social and environmental protection. Post-pandemic, government efforts to stimulate export-led recovery and refine trade priorities within the rule bound by members of the World Trade Organisation are set to ramp up. To assist governments, guide their limited resources we advocate for the use of MCDA to assist with greater trade policy transparency and enable strategic decision making between multiple stakeholders While MCDA is often used in areas such as healthcare and environmental resourcing, it is not widely used in international trade. We demonstrate the use of MCDA to determine potential trade priorities in the healthcare sector under the Indonesia-Australia Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement. MCDA was applied in real-time during online workshops hosted by Australia's Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade with 38 industry stakeholders. The pilot determined clear priorities for trade promotion in a transparent process. These are discussed along with the potential to further develop and apply MCDA and the limitations of the analysis for effective use in international trade

Investigation of translocation, DNA unwinding, and protein displacement by NS3h, the helicase domain from the Hepatitis C virus helicase

Helicases are motor proteins that are involved in DNA and RNA metabolism, replication, recombination, transcription and repair. The motors are powered by ATP binding and hydrolysis. Hepatitis C virus encodes a helicase called non-structural protein (NS3). NS3 possesses protease and helicase activities on its N-terminal and C-terminal domains respectively. The helicase domain of NS3 protein is referred as NS3h. In vitro, NS3h catalyzes RNA and DNA unwinding in a 3’ to -5’ direction. The directionality for unwinding is thought to arise in part from the enzyme's ability to translocate along DNA, but translocation has not been shown explicitly. We examined the DNA translocase activity of NS3h by using single-stranded oligonucleotide substrates containing a fluorescent probe on the 5’ end. NS3h can bind to the ssDNA and in the presence of ATP, move towards the 5’-end. When the enzyme encounters the fluorescent probe, a fluorescence change is observed that allows translocation to be characterized. Under conditions that favor binding of one NS3h per DNA substrate (100 nM NS3h, 200 nM oligonucleotide) we find that NS3h translocates on ssDNA at a rate of 46 ± 5 nt s−1 and that it can move for 230 ± 60 nt before dissociating from the DNA. The translocase activity of some helicases is responsible for displacing proteins that are bound to DNA. We studied protein displacement by using a ssDNA oligonucleotide covalently linked to biotin on the 5’-end. Upon addition of streptavidin, a ‘protein-block’ was placed in the pathway of the helicase. Interestingly, NS3h was unable to displace streptavidin from the end of the oligonucleotide, despite its ability to translocate along the DNA. The DNA unwinding activity of NS3h was examined using a 22 bp duplex DNA substrate under conditions that were identical to those used to study translocation. NS3h exhibited little or no DNA unwinding under single cycle conditions, supporting the conclusion that NS3h is a relatively poor helicase in its monomeric form, as has been reported. In summary, NS3h translocates on ssDNA as a monomer, but the translocase activity does not correspond to comparable DNA unwinding activity or protein-displacement activity under identical conditions

Complete Genome Sequences of Paenibacillus Larvae Phages BN12, Dragolir, Kiel007, Leyra, Likha, Pagassa, PBL1c, and Tadhana

We present here the complete genomes of eight phages that infect Paenibacillus larvae, the causative agent of American foulbrood in honeybees. Phage PBL1c was originally isolated in 1984 from a P. larvae lysogen, while the remaining phages were isolated in 2014 from bee debris, honeycomb, and lysogens from three states in the USA

A comprehensive study of GRB 070125, a most energetic gamma ray burst

We present a comprehensive multiwavelength analysis of the bright, long duration gamma-ray burst GRB 070125, comprised of observations in $\gamma$-ray, X-ray, optical, millimeter and centimeter wavebands. Simultaneous fits to the optical and X-ray light curves favor a break on day 3.78, which we interpret as the jet break from a collimated outflow. Independent fits to optical and X-ray bands give similar results in the optical bands but shift the jet break to around day 10 in the X-ray light curve. We show that for the physical parameters derived for GRB 070125, inverse Compton scattering effects are important throughout the afterglow evolution. While inverse Compton scattering does not affect radio and optical bands, it may be a promising candidate to delay the jet break in the X-ray band. Radio light curves show rapid flux variations, which are interpreted as due to interstellar scintillation, and are used to derive an upper limit of $2.4 \times 10^{17}$ cm on the radius of the fireball in the lateral expansion phase of the jet. Radio light curves and spectra suggest a high synchrotron self absorption frequency indicative of the afterglow shock wave moving in a dense medium. Our broadband modeling favors a constant density profile for the circumburst medium over a wind-like profile ($R^{-2}$). However, keeping in mind the uncertainty of the parameters, it is difficult to unambiguously distinguish between the two density profiles. Our broadband fits suggest that \event is a burst with high radiative efficiency ($> 60$).Comment: 50 pages, 33 figures, sty file included, Appeared in 20 Aug 2008 edition of Astrophysical Journa

Predictors of early growth in academic achievement : the head-toes-knees-shoulders task

Children’s behavioral self-regulation and executive function (EF; including attentional or cognitive flexibility, working memory, and inhibitory control) are strong predictors of academic achievement. The present study examined the psychometric properties of a measure of behavioral self-regulation called the Head-Toes-Knees-Shoulders (HTKS) by assessing construct validity, including relations to EF measures, and predictive validity to academic achievement growth between prekindergarten and kindergarten. In the fall and spring of prekindergarten and kindergarten, 208 children (51% enrolled in Head Start) were assessed on the HTKS, measures of cognitive flexibility, working memory (WM), and inhibitory control, and measures of emergent literacy, mathematics, and vocabulary. For construct validity, the HTKS was significantly related to cognitive flexibility, working memory, and inhibitory control in prekindergarten and kindergarten. For predictive validity in prekindergarten, a random effects model indicated that the HTKS significantly predicted growth in mathematics, whereas a cognitive flexibility task significantly predicted growth in mathematics and vocabulary. In kindergarten, the HTKS was the only measure to significantly predict growth in all academic outcomes. An alternative conservative analytical approach, a fixed effects analysis (FEA) model, also indicated that growth in both the HTKS and measures of EF significantly predicted growth in mathematics over four time points between prekindergarten and kindergarten. Results demonstrate that the HTKS involves cognitive flexibility, working memory, and inhibitory control, and is substantively implicated in early achievement, with the strongest relations found for growth in achievement during kindergarten and associations with emergent mathematics.This is the publisher’s final pdf. The published article is copyrighted by the author(s) and published by the Frontiers Research Foundation. The published article can be found at: http://www.frontiersin.org/Psychology.Keywords: academic achievement, measurement, self-regulation, executive function, early childhoo

Mass Loss in Pre-main-sequence Stars via Coronal Mass Ejections and Implications for Angular Momentum Loss

We develop an empirical model to estimate mass-loss rates via coronal mass ejections (CMEs) for solar-type pre-main-sequence (PMS) stars. Our method estimates the CME mass-loss rate from the observed energies of PMS X-ray flares, using our empirically determined relationship between solar X-ray flare energy and CME mass: log ( M CME [g]) = 0.63 × log ( E flare [erg]) – 2.57. Using masses determined for the largest flaring magnetic structures observed on PMS stars, we suggest that this solar-calibrated relationship may hold over 10 orders of magnitude in flare energy and 7 orders of magnitude in CME mass. The total CME mass-loss rate we calculate for typical solar-type PMS stars is in the range 10 –12 -10 –9 M ☉ yr –1 . We then use these CME mass-loss rate estimates to infer the attendant angular momentum loss leading up to the main sequence. Assuming that the CME outflow rate for a typical ~1 M ☉ T Tauri star is <10 –10 M ☉ yr –1 , the resulting spin-down torque is too small during the first ~1 Myr to counteract the stellar spin-up due to contraction and accretion. However, if the CME mass-loss rate is ##IMG## [http://ej.iop.org/icons/Entities/gsim.gif] {gsim 10 –10 M ☉ yr –1 , as permitted by our calculations, then the CME spin-down torque may influence the stellar spin evolution after an age of a few Myr.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/98581/1/0004-637X_760_1_9.pd